I visited Longridge and Whalley in the Ribble Valley after it was named the happiest area in the UK

After the Ribble Valley in Lancashire was awarded the happiest place to live, I wanted to see why this was the case as well as speak to residents to see what they thought.

The study, carried out by GoSmokeFree, named the Ribble Valley as the happiest based on a number of different categories such as green spaces, weekly earnings, crime rates and unemployment rates.

So I made the trip to different places in the Ribble Valley to see if this ranking had any real meaning behind it.

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I visited Longridge, Ribchester and Whalley and the scenic beauty of all of them took me by surprise.

All three are rather quaint towns but I could definitely see how the peace and quiet amongst such breathtaking landscapes could be appealing.

I also found the people in the Ribble Valley to be extremely friendly, living up to its name as the happiest place to live in the country.

Many residents mentioned how the sense of community is one of their favourite things about living in the Ribble Valley with one woman saying how ‘people will always have time for you’.

The other major point drawing people in the area are the walks which, after seeing the pleasant scenery myself, I am not surprised about.

Whilst a large majority of the Ribble Valley is in the countryside, travel in and out of these towns was consistent.

This meant that residents could easily travel to a larger city with no fuss if they fancied a day of busy atmosphere.

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Although these picturesque towns seemed remote, they still had everything you would need including schools, churches, shops and parks.

The churches were particularly eye-catching as the Ribble Valley seems to be littered with ornate buildings which add to the historic feel.

The River Ribble also added to the natural beauty of the Ribble Valley as its winding stream cut through the towns I visited.

In a recent study it was found that Oswaldtwistle was revealed to be the happiest place in Lancashire and there was no mention of places in the Ribble Valley.