Darwen, United Kingdom

Darwen is located amid the West Pennine Moors south of Blackburn; it stands within a valley with the river Darwen flowing at its base. The river passes through the town from south to north, subsequently joining the River Ribble, which flows into the Irish Sea between Lytham St Annes and Southport. The A666 road follows the valley through the town centre as part of its route from the Ribble Valley, north of Blackburn, to Bolton and the boundary between Pendlebury and Irlams o' th' Height in Salford. The town's weather conditions made it perfect for cotton weaving and, as a result, it became one of the largest mill towns in Lancashire.

The Guinness Book of Records records that Darwen had one of the largest flash floods in the United Kingdom, in 1848; 12 people died.

The locals refer to themselves as Darreners; they are generally resistant to any attempts at submerging the identity of the town within Blackburn. A motorway service area at junction 4 of the M65 motorway lies within the town, and was originally named "Blackburn Services". Following local protests it was renamed "Blackburn with Darwen Services".

The Darwen School of Music (formerly Elite School of Music) is situated on Blackburn Road; it has a majority focus on popular music and is the parent school of the popular Begin2Sing workshop project.

Darwen Live (formerly Darwen Music Live) is a free two-day music festival held each year over the second bank holiday in May. The main stage is built outside the town hall, with other smaller stages are usually based around the town in pubs and bars. The festival has attracted artists such as Buzzcocks, China Crisis, Toyah, The Hoosiers, The Undertones and Paul Young, as well as being a showcase for local bands. It currently holds the title of the biggest free music festival in the UK by attendance, with its crowd of roughly 35-40,000 in 2024 even leading to the claim that it could be the largest in Europe.

After the passing of the Education Act 1870, many schools were established to serve the ever-growing population (many were later demolished):

Darwen Aldridge Community Academy opened in September 2008 at the premises of the former Darwen Moorland High School on the outskirts of the town, which had closed in July 2008 to reopen as the academy after the summer holidays. All pupils from Darwen Moorland transferred to the academy. Pupils have subsequently moved down to the new site, into a state-of-the-art £49 million academy, with sixth form and modern facilities.

Darwen Vale High School was temporarily moved to the old Moorland site, whilst a new build was completed on the original site. The original school façade was incorporated into the new build and Darwen Vale was transferred back to the original site in 2012. However, the move had caused major issues with the management at the school, which led to the head leaving and a new head taking over in 2013. Later in 2013, Ofsted ruled that the school was failing and the government ordered the school's conversion to academy status, sponsored by the Aldridge Foundation, despite teaching staff and parents protesting governmental imposition on the school's management.

In September 2013, Darwen Aldridge Enterprise Studio opened and the school moved to its permanent home in 2014 in the renovated former Model Lodging House on Police Street.