page_title: Colne
section_title: Sports and leisure
hierarchical_section_title: Colne / Sports and leisure
caption_attribution_description: English: Municipal Hall, Colne, Lancashire, UK
context_page_description: Colne is a town and civil parish in Lancashire, England, 6 mi northeast of Burnley, 25 mi east of Preston, 25 mi north of Manchester and 30 mi west of Leeds. It is a market town and the cross allowing a market to be held there dates to the 15th century. The cross was originally at the junction of Colne Lane and Church Street. It was first moved to the grounds of The Gables on Albert Road, the location of Colne Library until around 1970. It has now been relocated to outside the Market Hall on Market Street, part of the main road through the town centre.
  The town should not be confused with the unrelated Colne Valley around the River Colne near Huddersfield in West Yorkshire.
  Colne is close to the southern entrance to the Aire Gap, the lowest crossing of the Pennine watershed. The M65 terminates west of the town and from here two main roads take traffic onwards towards the Yorkshire towns of Skipton and Keighley. Colne railway station is the terminus of the East Lancashire railway line.
  Colne adjoins the Pendle parishes of Foulridge, Laneshaw Bridge, Trawden Forest, Nelson, Barrowford and Blacko.
context_section_description: Colne F.C., established in 1996, is the town's football team; it currently plays in the North West Counties Football League Premier Division. Their predecessor at Holt House Stadium Colne Dynamoes F.C. received heavy investment from a local entrepreneur in the 1980s, but after winning the Northern Premier League crown in 1989/90 were refused entry to the Football Conference and folded before the start of the following season. Burnley F.C., which plays in the Premier League enjoys strong support in the town. The town also has a junior football club, Colne JFC, which runs teams for 8 to 16-year olds, as well as a senior team.
  Colne & Nelson Rugby Union Football Club play at Holt House Playing Fields and the club celebrated its centenary in 2015. It runs two senior teams a Ladies' team and a massive Junior and Mini Colts section.
  Colne Cricket Club was formed in 1830 and is the oldest cricket club in the Lancashire League. It has been a continuous member of the Lancashire League since 1890. The first games were played on the Horsfield, the same field that is used today.
  Pendle Leisure Trust runs the Pendle Leisure Centre next to the railway station. The facility has two swimming pools, a fitness centre and gymnasium, sauna and sports hall. In summer 2013, the outdoor all-weather pitch was replaced by Urban Altitude. This outdoor aerial assault course is the first of its kind to be built in the UK in an urban location. It includes high and low rope courses, up to 42 ft off the ground, a 60m Zip-Wire, Leap of Faith, Power Fan Free-fall, Jacobs Ladder and Climbing Wall.
  The nine-hole Colne Golf Club is located at Law Farm, to the north east of the town.
  There are two large local parks: King George V Playing Fields on Skipton Road (A56) and Alkincoats Park, off the road between Colne and Barrowford (B6247). Alkincoats Park, once the estate of Alkincoats Hall, has bowling greens, hard surface tennis courts, pitch and put golf, a children's play area and footpaths that lead to areas close to the Leeds and Liverpool Canal and the now-dismantled Colne to Skipton railway line. The towpath of the Leeds and Liverpool Canal and the trackbed of the dismantled Colne to Skipton railway are also popular leisure destinations, as is Ballgrove Picnic Area at the eastern edge of Colne, close to Laneshaw Bridge. It is possible to walk from here to historic Wycoller.
  There is an active sailing club at Lake Burwain one of the feeder lakes to the Leeds and Liverpool Canal.
  Since 2004, Colne has hosted the annual Colne Grand Prix cycle race, part of British Cycling's Elite Circuit Series. The course follows an 800-metre circuit of the one-way road system around the town centre. In 2013, Olympic Gold medallist Ed Clancy MBE, representing Rapha Condor JLT, became the first repeat winner of the race.
  Ralph, the father of the late Roger Bannister the first sub-four-minute miler in 1954, was born in Colne, the family having lived here for 400 years. "Roger Bannister and the Four-minute Mile by John Bale"
  Every August bank holiday since 1989, the award-winning Great British Rhythm and Blues Festival has been hosted at venues throughout the town, attracting artists and visitors from across the world. Many local pubs and clubs stage music gigs; others hold 'fringe' type performances. The larger events are staged at the Municipal Hall close to the town centre.
  A second festival, the Colne Gala, has been held on every year (except two) for the past five decades; the first Gala being held in 1959. It begins with a parade through the town centre, which then proceeds towards Alkincoats Park and Holt House, where there are live events, a fairground, charity stalls and children's attractions.
  Colne also has a buoyant night-time economy, with a number of restaurants in the vicinity of its three theatres: the amateur-run Pendle Hippodrome Theatre; The Municipal Hall ('The Muni'), which hosts concerts, exhibitions and the annual pantomime, and the Little Theatre, home of Colne Dramatic Society.
caption: Municipal Hall
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