Belisama
Belisama’s presence has been traced back to Romano-Gaulish inscriptions found throughout France, including one such inscription at Vaison-la-Romaine in Provence-Alpes-Cotes D’Azur. The Romans equated this Gaulish Goddess with their own Minerva, and re-named her Minervae Belissimae. She made her way to Great Britain with the migration of the Gauls and the invasion of the Romans, and it is thought that the River Ribble, “Belisama Fluvius” was named after her.
Belenus and Belisama are traditionally invoked at the May festival of Beltane. Two fires of purification were lit and the cattle that had wintered in the low pastures were driven between the fires, so that the smoke from the fires purified them before they moved to the summer pastures.
Belenus and Belisama are traditionally invoked at the May festival of Beltane. Two fires of purification were lit and the cattle that had wintered in the low pastures were driven between the fires, so that the smoke from the fires purified them before they moved to the summer pastures.
The River Ribble
The River Ribble begins at its confluence at Gayle Back and Cam Beck near the viaduct at Ribblehead, by the Yorkshire Three Peaks (Whernside, Ingleborough and Penyghent). The Ribble formed the boundary of the ancient kingdom of Mercia. Anglo-Saxon "Mierce" can be translated as "boundary".
|
|
Stainforth Fall on the River Ribble
The Packhorse Bridge was built in the 1670s. The name Stainforth, is a modern version of "Stony Ford."
