For a good view of the area travel slowly south on the M61, if you dare, just beyond the M65 bridge the whole region can be viewed up to Blackpool tower 20 miles across the flat Fylde and the superstructure of Deepdale in front slightly right if you look hard enough (not while you are driving). Another attractive view of Preston itself is across the Ribble valley from Cuerdale Lane, Walton-le-Dale.

Once in the city, park and ride schemes exist from the A6 at Walton Le Dale and from the docks. The biggest car parks are at the Bus Station, Market, St Georges Shopping Centre and Avenham.

The best built view in Preston is up Friargate to the Harris building which contains a museum, art gallery and library. The museum has a display of the history of Preston with dug out canoes found in the river through to industrial times and Horrocks' factories.

Another good spot is ornamental Miller Park next to the river and railway line. Pictured right.

There is evidence of ancient hunters having been at work, the largest ever Viking silver hoard (Cuerdale) was found just outside the boundary, the Romans had a fort, there is an ancient charter which is celebrated every 20 years in the Preston Guild. Jacobite armies camped and fought in the boundary.

Cotton came along and changed the landscape with its pointed, smoking chimneys helping to derive Charles Dickens 'Hard Times' after his visit in 1854. Other industry such as electrical motors, tram manufacturing, aircraft manufacturing, and in neighbouring Leyland, bus, truck, rubber and paint manufacturing made its mark.

Preston is the administrative centre of Lancashire and was given city status at the millenium. It houses the University of Central Lancashire and has a well appointed art gallery and museum, a theatre, attractive parks next to the river and a dockland marina. The football team is currently in the championship and has a long history of achievement. The ground, Deepdale, contains the National Football Museum. Probably the most famous event is the Preston Guild, held every 20 years, or 'once every Preston Guild' as the saying goes. Every year at Whitsun a fair takes over the city centre although recently it has moved to Moor Park. There used to be religious walks with church banners on Whit Monday until a few years ago with a Catholic walk and a Church of England walk at separate times.

In the surrounding area is lush and green farmland, such as the Ribble Valley, West Lancashire Plain and the Fylde, where as a bonus tasty creamy or crumbly Lancashire Cheese is made. The surrounding villages have their own story. This farmlife continued while from around 1800 to 1880 Preston grew from an agriculturally based economy of about 10,000 people into an industrial town of over 100,000 people, mainly based on cotton.

Preston has upgraded its central shopping areas in the last few years and has a more modern feel especially around the railway station. There are plans for more improvements. The finest buildings are old ones; Harris Museum, Miller Arcade, Parish Church (now Minster), St Walburgs, Winckley Square, Miller Park. 1960/70's buildings include the Guild Hall, Bus Station, Market Hall, St Georges Shopping Centre, Crystal House and the County Planning Office next to the Park Hotel. In the last few years the old dockland has been re-developed and is now very 2000ish. There are also several interesting parks, the best in my opinion, are Miller and Avenham.

The history of the city includes Roman settlements, a town charter granted by King Henry II in 1179 and battles in the Jacobite Rebellion.

World class engineering products have been designed and made in Preston and its surrounding area including Leyland. There are many military aircraft types such as the Canberra, Lightning, Tornado and Eurofighter Typhoon. At Leyland there is the Atlantean bus design and a long history of buses and trucks as well as paint and rubber. There are the English Electric trams and the Deltic locomotive prototype. Large manufacturing companies now include BAE SYSTEMS and Paccar (Leyland DAF). These are the former English Electric Aviation and Leyland Motors. Cotton has left its mark but no longer employs a significant number, if any. Alstom closed its factory and was the last remnant in the actual boundary of Preston of Dick Kerrs / English Electric / GEC Traction. The docks have closed to the shipping trade and are now a marina, shopping and apartment area.

Employment has certainly changed as with most places in the UK. A lot of government jobs with the Lancashire County Hall, City Council, Education such as the University of Central Lancashire. In surrounding areas the Premium Bond office is in Blackpool. Call centre work with Carphone Warehouse recently opening a large, 800 employee office to complement existing ones related to mail order and travel. Engineering companies - BAE SYSTEMS aircraft design and manufacture and Paccar Trucks assembly are major employers in the area.

Sports include Preston North End, a founding member of the football league, double winners and twice cup-winners and Preston Grasshoppers Rugby Football Club. The famous Dick Kerrs ladies football team was also from Preston. There are dozens of minor football and cricket teams filling a close typed page of results in the local paper. Within 30 miles is the best football in Europe - Man U, Liverpool, Man C, Everton, Bolton, Blackburn, Wigan. With Burnley, Blackpool in the Championship.

Located above the Ribble valley flood plain. Preston is well linked, being next to the M6 and on the London to Glasgow West Coast Main Line. It is 30 - 40 minutes drive to the great cities of Manchester and Liverpool and the major leisure locations of Blackpool, the Lake District and the Yorkshire Dales. The Lancaster Canal has recently been expanded to link it to the River Ribble and onto the national canal system. Preston could be said to be the boundary between the built up lower section of England and the less densely populated north of the UK. You can soon be either in remote country, a large centre like Manchester, a more gentile Lytham St.Annes or on Blackpool promenade. It is also geographically almost in the centre of Great Britain.

Transport links are via the M6 Junction 31 for central Preston, and Deepdale, and if you are going to the M61 / M65. Junction 32 for the M55 and north. The bus station is said to be the largest in Europe and has an unusual island design, corporation buses on one side, regional/national on the other, with what I think is Oriental styling for the car park above. The largish railway station is at the opposite end of the central area to the bus station and is set back from Fishergate with access through the Fishergate Shopping Centre. Outside rush hour the roads in Preston are usually pretty easy although traffic-light mania sets in along Blackpool Road, the A5085, and I wouldn't recommend it at any time as a through route. If you're going to Deepdale from the motorway you miss most of it.

The local paper is the Lancashire Evening Post. Local radio is Rock FM - 97.4MHz.

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