Accrington's action-packed fun and beautiful surrounding scenery by brilliant Blazefield bus!

Accrington. Say it out loud and it already sounds like a place that means business. Add a bus window, a bit of Lancashire sunshine and a whole lot of surrounding countryside, and you have the makings of a magnificent day out. This is a town that punches well above its weight, a place where mill-town grit meets moorland grandeur, where football legends were forged, where the world's hardest brick was fired and where a warm welcome is as reliable as the kettle in the corner. And the best way to arrive? By brilliant Blazefield bus, of course, part of the Transdev family that has quietly turned the Pennine bus ride into a genuine scenic treat.

The joy of leaving the car at home for Accrington starts long before you step off the bus. From Burnley, Blackburn, Manchester and beyond, the Blazefield network threads through some of Lancashire's most photogenic country: dry-stone walls stitching hillsides together, chimneys still standing tall as reminders of the cotton age, sudden bursts of green where the moors take over from the terraces. The drivers are famously friendly, the fares are cheerful and the top deck gives you a rolling cinema of Rossendale, Hyndburn and the West Pennine Moors. You settle in, the engine hums, and the countryside starts doing its thing.

Roll into Accrington and you sense straight away that this is a town with stories to tell. It grew up on cotton, calico printing and coal, then found its true fame in bricks. The famous Accrington NORI (iron spelled backwards) is one of the hardest, densest bricks ever made, so tough it was reputedly used in the foundations of Blackpool Tower and in Battersea Power Station. Wander the older streets and you'll spot that deep red-brown Accrington brick everywhere, a warm, glowing colour that seems to soak up the light. It is, quite literally, the fabric of the town.

Head for the town centre and you'll find the magnificent Accrington Market Hall, a proud Victorian survivor with a splendid clock tower and a lively bustle of stalls inside. It is the kind of place where you go in for a loaf and come out with a bunch of tulips, a slice of parkin and a very strong opinion about the correct way to make a brew. Just around the corner sits the Town Hall, another handsome piece of civic swagger, and the Peel Institute, all reminders that Accrington took itself seriously when it was built and still does today.

The absolute jewel in the town's cultural crown, though, is the Haworth Art Gallery. Perched in leafy grounds a short stroll from the centre, this handsome Tudor-style former home holds something genuinely astonishing: the largest public collection of Tiffany glass in Europe. Yes, Tiffany, the shimmering, iridescent, jewel-bright American glass, right here in Accrington, gifted to the town by Joseph Briggs, an Accrington lad who rose to become manager of Tiffany Studios in New York. Standing in that gallery, watching the light play through peacock blues and molten golds, is one of those "how on earth is this free?" moments that make British days out so brilliant.

Sporting Accrington deserves its own paragraph, and then some. This is, after all, the town of Accrington Stanley, one of the twelve founder members of the Football League back in 1888. Generations of children have grown up chanting "Accrington Stanley, who are they?" thanks to a certain milk advert, and the club has answered emphatically ever since, clawing its way back to the Football League with the kind of underdog spirit that makes neutrals grin.

A trip to the Wham Stadium on a Saturday afternoon is a proper slice of northern football, all pies, banter and heart-on-sleeve support. Cricket lovers, meanwhile, will nod knowingly at Accrington Cricket Club, one of the historic Lancashire League grounds where the legendary West Indian batsman Everton Weekes once graced the crease. There is sporting pedigree here that far bigger towns can only dream of.

Accrington has produced its share of characters, too. Jon Anderson, the soaring voice of prog-rock giants Yes, is an Accrington lad, as is broadcaster Jeanette Winterson, who set her celebrated novel Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit against the backdrop of the town's terraced streets and chapels. Then there's the deeply moving story of the Accrington Pals, the local Kitchener battalion whose losses on the first day of the Somme in 1916 shook the town to its core. The Pals memorial and displays at the Accrington Pals Chapel are humbling, quiet places, and they anchor the town's proud, poignant sense of itself.

Peckish? Accrington's cafés, chippies and bakeries do that lovely Lancashire thing of feeding you generously and cheerfully. The market hall is a fine spot for a butty and a brew, and independent coffee shops in and around Broadway will happily set you up with cake for the road. And if you fancy a proper Lancashire tradition, keep an eye out for black peas, pie and mushy peas, and the sort of steaming meat and potato pie that could power a small mill.

Now for the countryside, because Accrington's real trump card is its setting. The town sits cradled between the West Pennine Moors, the Rossendale Valley and the edges of the Ribble Valley, and Blazefield buses make it beautifully easy to explore. Head out towards Haslingden and Rawtenstall and the landscape swells up into windswept ridges and reservoirs. Look north and the whaleback of Pendle Hill dominates the horizon, that brooding, witchy hill immortalised in the Pendle Witch Trials of 1612 and still one of Lancashire's most atmospheric walks. A short ride away lies the Leeds and Liverpool Canal at Church and Oswaldtwistle, where a towpath stroll delivers instant calm, herons, narrowboats and the odd cheerful dog walker.

For a proper big-view moment, aim for the Coppice, the wooded hilltop that rises straight up behind the town. It's a short but satisfying climb and the reward is a panorama that stretches from Pendle to the Bowland Fells, taking in Accrington's rooftops glowing in that unmistakable NORI red. On a clear day you'll see for miles, and you'll wonder why more people don't shout about this corner of Lancashire.

That, really, is the delight of Accrington. It doesn't shout. It just quietly gets on with being interesting, warm, sporty, arty and surrounded by scenery that would make grander places blush. Add in the sheer pleasure of getting there by Blazefield bus, with those moorland views unfurling from the window and not a car park charge in sight, and you have a day out that feels older, kinder and richer than the usual retail-park routine. So grab your ticket, grab a window seat and let Accrington action-pack your next adventure. You'll come home with tired feet, a full camera roll and a soft spot for a town that truly is one of Lancashire's loveliest surprises. It's really so easy by bus from all parts of Lancashire, including Manchester on the slick X41, the Burnley and Blackburn Bus Companies, which are part of brilliant Blazefield, make it all possible, so check out https://www.transdevbus.co.uk/the-blackburn-bus-company/ or https://www.transdevbus.co.uk/the-burnley-bus-company/ to plan your action-packed Accrington adventure!