Parlick

For the cheese named after Parlick, see Parlick Fell cheese.

Parlick (also known as Parlick Pike) is an approximately cone-shaped steep-sided hill at the extreme south of the main range of Bowland fells in Lancashire, England. It has an elevation of 432 metres (1,417 ft) above sea level.

Parlick
View of the fell's southwesterly slopes
Highest point
Elevation	432 m (1,417 ft)
Prominence	c. 34 m
Coordinates	53°53′59″N 2°37′00″W
Geography
Parlick Location in the Forest of Bowland Show map of the Forest of Bowland Parlick Location in Lancashire Show map of Lancashire Parlick Location in Wyre Borough Show map of the Borough of Wyre Parlick Location in Ribble Valley Borough Show map of the Borough of Ribble Valley
Location	Lancashire, England
Parent range	Forest of Bowland
OS grid	SD599453
Topo map	OS Landranger 102

Origin of the name

Regarding the origin of the name, Professor Eilert Ekwall, in his 1922 The Place-names of Lancashire, writes:

".. (caput de) Pirloc 1228 C1R, Perlak 1228 WhC 371, Pireloke 1338 LPR, Pyrelok pyke c 1350 ib. The name cannot mean "pear orchard" as Wyld suggests. But the etymology may be correct with a slight amendment. O.E. loc means "fold for sheep or goats." A sheep fold at which grew a peartree (O.E. pyrige) may very well have been at the foot of or on the slope of the hill; this may have been called Parlick (Pirloc) and have given the hill its name. For a probable earlier name see under Core, p. 143."^[1][a]

Recreation

Parlick has an elevation of 432 metres (1,417 ft) above sea level and a prominence of about 34 metres (112 ft).^[3] The bog-free sides of Parlick make it more popular^{[according to whom?]} with walkers than the shallow boggy hills to its north. Paths zigzag up this hill from the south, or for the more strenuous ascent a straight path can be chosen. This hill is usually green — different from the often thorny brown to red of the northern hills. A thin neck joins Parlick onto Fair Snape Fell with well-worn paths linking the two.^{[citation needed]}

The summit consists of little more than a flat collection of stones, leaving the walker to look at the view, south to Preston and Winter Hill near Chorley, east toward Pendle Hill, and west towards Blackpool and the Irish Sea.^{[citation needed]}

Parlick is a popular venue for foot-launched and conventional gliders,^[4] because it produces good ridge lift in an unusually wide variety of wind directions.^[5] The extensive west-facing bowl allows paraglider pilots to fly to Fair Snape Fell and beyond without leaving reliable ridge lift and as far forwards as Beacon Fell. Local pilots use this arena for club competitions, such as the 'Parlick Grid Challenge' ^[6]

Layout of the "Parlick Grid Challenge" for gliders. Parlick is bottom right, between grid locations 1 and 3.

The boundary between the boroughs of Wyre and Ribble Valley passes very close to the summit, with half of the hill lying within each borough.^{[citation needed]}

Local aspects

The hill and its environs are the location of the legend of the enormous Dun Cow, which was reputed to wander freely across the moorland, and to be in the habit of quenching its thirst at "Nick's Water-Pot", a well on the summit of Parlick.^[7]

"Parlick Fell" is the name of a cheese made in Longridge from sheep's milk from the area.^[8]

Gallery

• 
  The summit of Parlick in 2009
• 
  Looking down on Parlick, from the lower summit marker on Fair Snape Fell