Gandhi’s Northern Weekend (via the Rebel Pen Club)

Walking guide author and Pendle Radicals volunteer Nick Burton tells us about Mohandas Gandhi and his weekend in the Ribble Valley in 1931. (Watch out for information about a ‘Walking with Radicals’ Gandhi inspired route coming later this year.)

Heys Farm – Photographer Edward Pye – image courtesy of www.oldclitheroe.co.uk

On the early morning of Sunday, September 27th, 1931, Mohandas Gandhi stepped outside the farmhouse where he had stayed overnight to declare, “It is a beautiful, glorious sight”. He was admiring the view across the Ribble Valley to Pendle Hill, staying at Heys Farm near the village of West Bradford, a guest of cotton mill owner, Percy Davies. A prominent Lancashire Quaker and Socialist, Davies and the institution of Heys Farm were briefly put in the world spotlight by the visit of the famous Indian Nationalist leader.          

You can read the rest of Nick’s blog on our dedicated Pendle Radicals blog, Rebel Pen Club

Gandhi at Heys Farm – Photographer Edward Pye – image courtesy of www.oldclitheroe.co.uk