Foulridge

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Foulridge
District	Pendle
Shire county	Lancashire
Region	North West
Constituent country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	COLNE
Postcode district	BB8
Dialling code	01282
Police	Lancashire
Fire	Lancashire
Ambulance	North West
European Parliament	North West England
List of places: UK • England • Lancashire

Foulridge (pronounced "foalridge") is a small village and civil parish in Pendle, Lancashire, close to the border with North Yorkshire in England. It is situated just beyond Colne, on the route from the M65 to Skipton, and is an important stopping point on summit pound of the Leeds-Liverpool Canal, just before it enters the Foulridge Tunnel. Noyna Hill, a well known local landmark, sits 1 mile east of the village.

An old tale is of a cow falling into the canal at one end then passing through the tunnel before rescue. It is said it was taken to the nearby pub and revived with a drink. There is also a large reservoir that feeds the canal and boating takes place on here. Barge trips are also available on the canal.

Foulridge has always been part of Lancashire and was about 1½ miles from the boundary of the old West Riding of Yorkshire. With the creation of Pendle district in 1974 parts of Yorkshire (including Earby and Barnoldswick) moved into Lancashire and Foulridge moved further away from the White Rose county. There is an old village sign which used to mark the boundary with Yorkshire which has been affixed to the Village Hall in the centre of Foulridge. There is a large reservoir in the village which feeds the canal and which in turn is fed from other smaller reservoirs around the village.

Looking towards the canal on the left from Colne the remains of the derelict railway line from Colne to Skipton can be seen, a little further along is the small village of Salterforth, there is a canalside pub here called the "Anchor", an unusual feature of which is that when a road and bridge were built outside it needed another storey to be built on, so the original upstairs of the old pub is now the present pub, the original pub is now the cellar and it has a second cellar, this has water leaking through from the canal and has stalactites and stalagmites.

Foulridge also had its own railway station, but was closed by the Beeching acts.