The Land of the Lune - Drakkar Press

236 Chapter 15: Into Morecambe Bay
The River Cocker
The Cocker is barely large enough to be a river but is
not sprightly enough to be a beck. It arises north of
Cocker Clough Wood on a ridge between the Conder and
the Wyre, carefully avoiding both. It runs past Hampson
Green, under the M6 and railway line, past Bay Horse,
and is joined by Potters Brook just before crossing the
Lancaster Canal.
Potters Brook flows from Forton, known to many
through the distinctive Forton (recently renamed
Lancaster) Service Station, with its tower no longer a
restaurant-cum-viewpoint. For travellers from the south
the tower marks a gateway to the dramatic northern
landscapes. Forton has long been on travellers’ routes:
before the railway and canal, the Roman road from
Lancaster passed here, probably by Forton Hall Farm
and Windy Arbour. Today, Forton consists mainly of new
bungalows, plus the 1707 United Reformed (formerly
Independent) Church, with bright yellow door to enable
it to be located in the overgrown churchyard.
The Cocker swings north towards Ellel Grange.
This Italianate villa, as it’s always described, was built
in 1859 for William Preston, who became High Sheriff
of Lancashire in 1865. It is said to be modelled on Queen
Plover Scar lighthouse
Victoria’s Osborne House (completed in 1851), but then
so are innumerable contemporary British villas. The
grange is now the international headquarters and Special
Ministries Unit of the Ellel Ministries.
The Cocker continues south past Cockerham,
flowing under Cocker House Bridge, where there is
an old boundary stone. Cockerham is an old village,
appearing in the Domesday Book as Cocreham. Its
church, thought to have been founded in the 11th century
and rebuilt in the 17th century, 1814 and 1911, is a plain,
sturdy structure standing apart from the village.
At the north end of Cockerham is the vicarage built
in 1843 for the Rev. Dodson, whom we met in Littledale.
The earnestness we saw there is seen also in his
determination to rid Cockerham of all sinful activities,
such as cock fighting, hare coursing, horse racing and
even bowling. After the Rev. Dodson left, a public house
was built in 1871 without, it seems, unduly disturbing
the peace of the village. Apart from the pub, the only
other establishments in Cockerham today seem to be a
beauty salon and a funeral directors. I’m not sure if the
Rev. Dodson would approve of the implicit philosophy
of life.
The Cocker dawdles through flat land drained by
many ditches in Winmarleigh Moss. This is Lancashire’s
This is Chapter 15 of The Land of the Lune (2nd edition), http://www.drakkar.co.uk/landofthelune.html, Copyright © 2010 John Self