For many, the word 'Bowland' may mean nothing more than the collegewhich you have chosen or to which you have been allocated, and the 'Trough of Bowland' may be only the name of your local bar. But if you lift your eyes to the east beyond the University skyline, you will see a group of fells, the Forest of Bowland, officially classed as a 300 square mile Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. It is this western extension of the Pennine chain after which our College is named. Many are confused by the scarcity of woods in the 'forest', but that term once denoted an area of open moorland set aside for hunting – trees weren't necessarily part of the definition!

If you take the back road from the University to the village of Quernmore, you are soon in the heart of Bowland's countryside. A narrow road from there leads eventually to the original Trough of Bowland, a steep-sided pass between the Wyre and Ribble valleys. The whole area is worth a visit, especially in autumn when the fells are covered in heather. The sheep far outnumber the people, and the villages are small with attractive hostelries to rival even our own college bar. Try the 'Hark to Bounty' at Slaidburn, and the tea room by the river!

The lady in our College logo represents the personification of Bowland Forest, and is from a Lancashire map drawn by William Hole for the 1622 edition of a poem 'Poly-Olbion, or a Chorographical Description of ... the Renowned Isle of Great Britain', the lifetime's work of Michael Drayton, a friend of Shakespeare. The poem is in the University Library and the map in the Bar.

Further information on the Forest of Bowland.