Burnley

Cotton and the Trans Pennine Leeds-Liverpool canal brought success in the 19th century to a town established in the basin of two rivers in the previous millennium.

Stately homes like Towneley and Gawthorpe Halls and the carefully preserved Weavers Triangle provide plenty of interest for tourists and Turf Moor is the home of a football team that claims to be Britain's best supported.

The borough boasts two stately homes - Towneley Hall was the home of the Towneley family from the early 1400s until the turn of the 20th century, when it was sold to Burnley Corporation and converted into the town's art gallery and museum.

The other is Gawthorpe Hall, built between 1600 and 1605 and the home of Sir James Kay Shuttleworth, who successfully fought for free education for all.

Today it houses the internationally-famous Kay-Shuttleworth collection of lace, embroidery and costumes.