Made In Preston – the blog

The High Speed 2 Company submitted its plans to Lord Adonis who will declare the preferred routes in March 2010.  To date the proposal has shown a line up the west coast via Preston to Glasgow but yesterdays newspapers seemed cooler on this idea.  The routes being showed seem to favour going to Leeds from Manchester and then to Newcastle with Glasgow being fed via Edinburgh. With a route via Nottingham, Sheffield to Leeds as well. One paper said the Conservatives favoured the east coast route to Scotland, missing Preston, and that Lord Adonis is trying to get all party agreement on the routes.

Politics will play as big a part as economics in the decisions. Already noises are being made about damage to the countryside and cities are vying to get a station on the route. This matches the French experience where too many stations were built as a political sop and made the service less attractive.

The timescale for the service is also much too prolonged.  To say the service will start to Birmingham in 2025 means the north won’t be linked possibly for 30 years.  By then the technology will be on the verge of obsolescence.  High speed rail has been around for 40 years now, after 70 years most transport technologies are looking old.

Making the service available in under 10 years could bring a boom. With London 1 hour from the northern cities it could transform work and leisure.

If Preston doesn’t get this line it will damage the local economy and the north west beyond Manchester will become a remote area. This space needs watching.

Big surprise news today - PNE have sacked their popular manager Alan Irvine. It was thought he’d have more time.  Not long ago everyone was sweating on whether he’d go to WBA and even if he’d manage Scotland.  There was gratitude he stayed and it seemed a loyal decision.

When writing this it has to be considered that someone we like has been hurt today. Although going into sport makes winning and losing,  apparent justice and injustice seem part of all the jobs, and there is good compensation in many cases.

What can have brought the board to this decision now? Could it be any combination of the following:

Going down? A string of poor results pointing PNE more towards the bottom than the top.

Not scoring?  That the team are looking poor at the front and maybe that stretches into other areas of creativity.

Lack of money?  The possibility that there is no-one to sell without damaging the team and no-one to bring in cheaply who might become valuable.

Timing?  That the board believe that to bring in a new manager after the transfer window would not set him off in the best position.

Negotiating?  That changing managers later when in desperation isn’t a good position to be in.

Opportunities?  That the board have someone else in mind who is available now.

Looking at the list of potential managers in the Evening Post isn’t encouraging. I’d put Alan Irvine above many of those.

Rob Kelly is stepping in as temporary manager. Is there a possibility he has matured to be the man? Sometimes people in their mid-forties get a blast of realisation and it all comes together to make the real thing.  I know a few who did that, but it didn’t happen in my case.

On the boards decision and Derek Shaw. Stepping above the fray and making wise, if harsh, decisions is what a board has to do. Perhaps they could have waited till the new man was known, Man City announced their new manager immediately, PNE haven’t.  Perhaps they could have waited a few more games.

Interesting to see what will happen in the next few weeks and decide then if it was the right decision. Football isn’t like that though, it’s about venting immediate emotion more than logic most of the time and it wouldn’t be the same if it wasn’t.

Alan Irvine did a great job last year and at the beginning of this year.  Everyone on the terraces has great regard for him.  Best wishes to Alan. Let’s hope the team plays better though and it has undiverted support.

Middlesbrough announced that they are returning all 4 of their loan players and that means Sean St Ledger back at Deepdale. He played 15 games and scored once for Boro. Since he left both teams have had poor results and as said before this might be coincidence.  PNE received £1.5m up front and a transfer fee of £4.5m was to be completed in January.  As Boro sank in the division it seemed less likely it would go through and Gordon Strachan, their new manager, must have other ideas.

It is said Sean didn’t want to leave North End and most fans will welcome him back.  Where that leaves the cash situation will need to be addressed but the way the team were going it might have been a lesser worry.

If the strikers have got new shooting boots for Christmas maybe things will look up.

Notts Forest 3 PNE 0.  With died in the wool North Ender Paul McKenna scoring the opener for Forest.  Forest are on a roll at the moment under Billy Davies. Can he get 3 clubs into the play-offs?  So from that point of view maybe there wasn’t going to be much today for PNE whatever.

Since Sean St Ledger left for Middlesbrough both teams have moved down the table, with PNE now 15th and Middlesbrough just above. Is this coincidence?   Will Sean be returning when the payment is due or the payment be less? North End’s main problem seems to be an inability to score goals. I’ve long thought Neil Mellor was going to be the man but it seems I was wrong.  He’s been available most of the season and hasn’t scored much and from what I’ve read isn’t looking like he will.

In reality the results havn’t been that bad but have been going from inconsistent to poor. Losing at home to Reading who were almost bottom, then winning away. More recently drawing at home and away or losing by the odd goal without replying which is becoming ominous.

Naturally Alan Irvine will come under pressure if it continues over the next 3 games. PNE have reached a point in the table where they can still easily get into the play-offs or slip into the relegation zone.   Alan’s name has been mentioned for higher places and all the supporters were glad he stayed. Now he’s got a test and we hope he get’s through it.

Next three league games against Yorkshire teams and at least 6 points are expected although 4 might be more realistic.

The Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) and Big Lottery Fund (BIG) agreed a grant of £1.75m to Avenham and Miller Parks. This tops up the £2.7m granted in 2005. Also the Lancashire Museum in Stanley Street has been allocated £0.9m from the lottery and £0.8m from Lancashire County Council.

In the parks, the original design by landscape designer Edward Milner will be restored including newer additions such as the Japanese Gardens. The 2005 grant built the modern pavilion in Avenham and restored it’s buildings.  Both of these parks are in fine settings sloping steeply down to the River Ribble and overlooked by period buildings. With only the 1960’s boxlike addition blotting the landscape over Miller Park.  Will this building ever become fashionable?

This work coupled with the Georgian buildings of Winckley Square and the planned refurbishment of the square itself,  the old but attractive terrace housing,  including the listed buildings near the park, Avenham Walk promenade and the Harris Institute will make the area from the river to the main shopping street, Fishergate, a characterful and attractive area to walk. Although if I was to comment the cars and vans parked and skips that always seem to be in Winckley Street spoil its appearance. Although it’s a short street it could be a smart entrance to the square and parks.

The lottery is funding parks all over England in it’s Parks for People programme which has allocated £150m and is continuing at £20m a year. As a condition of the funding the parks have to achieve Green Flag status every year which means they are to be maintained to a high standard.  Preston must have got it’s share of lottery funding as Burnley and Wigan are on a list of places that havn’t had their fair share.

In the Lancashire Museum the funding will renovate the building and create new interactive galleries and the ability to display items previously stored as well as a cafe and shop. The museum will therefore be closed all 2010 which is a shame.  I’ve often thought more could be made of this museum as it has some interesting displays but appears a bit ignored and isolated. It has good car-parking but the entrance fee doesn’t help.  With it’s location next to the prison it would be appropriate to have a prison history display. How about that?

Lord Adonis, today, put more substance behind the pre-budget statement that seemed to cover electrification of only Manchester – Preston. It now includes Blackpool, which makes more sense.  His statement reads:

”The first line is between Huyton – on the line running from Liverpool to Manchester – and Wigan, on the already electrified West Coast Main Line. This will allow electric trains to operate between Liverpool and Wigan via St Helens. The second line is between Manchester and Euxton Junction – just south of Preston on the West Coast Main Line. This will allow electric trains to operate between Manchester and Preston, via Bolton. The third line is between Blackpool North and Preston. This will allow electric trains to operate between Blackpool North and both Liverpool and Manchester.

Our plans envisage that, once electrified, these three lines will be served by thoroughly refurbished electric commuter trains transferred from the Thameslink line. This will increase rail capacity and reliability between key cities and towns in the North West. It will allow 30 year old ‘Pacer’ diesel trains to be retired, and modern diesel trains to be transferred to other routes requiring extra capacity. It will also help to reduce the long-term cost of operating the railway, and reduce carbon emissions.’

Gordon Brown has said he thought the north didn’t get it’s share of infrastructure projects and that this will help against the recession.  I’d agree with that.  Although the line will still have some non-electrified gaps such as the trains to Buxton and to Manchester Airport.  There are also a number of trains that go on the route via Lytham although in general they go to Blackburn. It is a complicated business and a start is needed somewhere.

There is also a timescale to be attached. The closest is that Lord Adonis said a percentage of trains would be electrified by 2017. This doesn’t put a timescale on the Manchester – Preston or Preston - Blackpool work. If cost – benefit is involved it might not happen as the link to Wigan will allow both Manchester and Liverpool to connect to the northbound main line which will reduce the advantages of the work on the route through Bolton to Preston.

If this all happens in a good timescale it is good news. There is part of me saying it has a strong probability of falling to the cuts that are surely going to come who-ever gets into power after the election. Presumably the more you spend more you need to cut, in my world anyway.

It is reported that the Harris Institute  at Avenham has been bought by Yousuf Bhailok, a local businessman, for just under £300,000.  Mr Bhailok also bought Harris Park in Fulwood and has been involved in the campaign to keep the football museum in Preston.

The price seems surprisingly low for such a large building although it’s size and that it’s grade II listed make it less adaptable.  Mr Bhailok is offering to rent the building to the council or an educational organisation although you might wonder why they wouldn’t have bought it themselves as I recently read that local authorities have better access to grants than private businesses. That is why Blackpool Council is taking over the Tower and Winter Gardens.

That area of Avenham including the promenade across the road and along to Winckley Square is one of special architectural interest to Preston.  In the LEP Mr Bhailok says he’s interested in old buildings, isn’t looking to make a profit and it will be a labour of love. I haven’t heard of any complaints about the Harris Park so lets hope this works and preserves the building.  I have some personal interest as I knew several people who went to school there many years ago and my father studied there some 80yrs ago, I still have the certificates.

President Obama made a great speech with many messages in Oslo when receiving his Nobel Peace Prize. The part below stood out as a lesson to everyone if viewed in the context of your personal life.

‘I know that engagement with repressive regimes lacks the satisfying purity of indignation. 

I also know that sanctions without outreach –  condemnation without discussion – can carry forward only a crippling status quo….’

I can think of a lot situations where it sounds a bit naive but it can feel good to take the moral high ground. We’ll see.

Yesterday, 9th Dec, the Chancellor stood up in Parliament and said in his pre-budget announcement;

‘I can tell the House today that I have also given the go-ahead to further plans for rail electrification between Liverpool, Manchester and Preston. The SoS for Transport will announce further details shortly.’

This has been widely interpreted in the Preston region as meaning the line between Preston, Bolton and Manchester will be electrified.

Some are saying it will happen within 4 years. Others are saying it might mean the line between Manchester and Liverpool with the link into the West Coast Main Line.  Even more extreme, others are saying plans have the go-ahead not the actual work. 

Then there are the pre-election conspiracy theorists who see the line going through key Labour seats but in reality it being a pointless piece of electrification that won’t happen.

It does appear most trains on this line go on to non-electrified lines that weren’t mentioned, such as Preston – Blackpool, Oxenholme – Windermere, Manchester  -  Buxton. So unless a re-jig of the services is afoot it isn’t clear that this will be any more than a diversion line and only benefitting  Manchester – Scotland trains.  That would only need the extra line just south of Wigan electrifying not the Preston to Bolton section.

The full pre-budget statement appeared to contain more proposed spending than you would expect in an almost bankrupt economy so the conspiracy theorists have some credibility.

A full statement is promised next week, so we look forward to that with a mixture of optimism and scepticism.

Householders in Lostock Hall have been sent a questionnaire asking what use they would like to be made of the designated open space on the old railway engine shed and sidings. It is quite a large area on both sides of Watkin Lane between the two railway lines and bridges.

Suggestions in the questionnaire include parkland, wildlife area, allotments, BMX park, sports area and how often will you use the site.  All those things will be good although allotments can become an eyesore, a source of noise from the unsilenced powered tools, and their current popularity might be a passing phase.

This once proud area should have a statue of a locomotive with it’s crew and a maintenance man standing next to it. Perhaps an old shunter can be obtained and given anti-corrosion treatment.

The area has been derelict for possibly 20 years. The two bridges in Lostock Hall are quite a feature in their own right and, without studying it, crossing the road between the two park areas might be an issue.

Sounds a good idea, time to get on with it.

What a shock only a black and white fuzz on  TV.  After watching it for a while decided to tell my old aunt that the signal had gone off. It wasn’t the signal that bothered her though,  it was the new remote. So complicated with buttons very close together.  I knew it was to be a long morning.

The digital switch-over man had been 2 months ago but my aunt said she’d use it on the day so thought I’d better make sure I was there. I’m so clever with the technology so taking the new remote I clicked and found it didn’t work. What am I going to do, there’ll be a fuss.   But then I noticed the new box light started blinking and thought it must be getting new channels automatically.  No such luck so I diverted my aunt while I fiddled with the remote. After about 10 minutes a blue picture came on.  Flicking through a few menu’s decided ‘new’ set up would be just the job and amazingly it appeared to be scanning for channels although the man set it up 2 months ago.  Relief when BBC came on.

That was only the beginning with my aunt looking at this remote and saying she wanted her old one. So I took out the battery, I knew she’d use the old one and mess up the TV. She did. It must have had one final button push of power without the battery.  Anyway with my beautiful diagram listing only the 5 buttons needed on the new remote there was some  channel switching and volume up and down.  A bit of TV off, then after saying don’t turn off the digital box, off it went.  The button is next to the TV off button. It got a bit complicated and my aunt threw the remote down and said put on the radio.

The next thing was the ITV button. I’m thinking what ITV button.  Oh, the TV button for on and off.  She says why doesn’t it say on and off, why does it say TV (or even ITV according to my aunt).  The other button is for the digital box. Digital box!   Oh my gosh. On leaving she was using the remote but will the TV work tomorrow.  Will it go off tonight?

Digital switchover, try telling an octogenarian who has a lifetime achievement for technophobia.

After reading letters in the Evening Post about the selected design for Winckley Square I was expecting something gross, and being someone who doesn’t want heritage areas defaced feared the worst. 

Yet the design seems fairly minimal and doesn’t appear to change the square or its character by a great deal. It opens it out and uses modern materials and features to give a more interesting  and welcoming look. 

One of the objectives is to make the area more welcoming after dark and lighting features are used. I would be a bit dubious about that aspect and it makes the square high maintenance, especially the fountains, although water is a nice feature and many other places use it, including Blackpools new square.  You can’t fault the council for ambition on that. Maybe after visiting one of the restaurants nearby a stroll on a nice evening would be good, although I think I’d walk round it rather than in it and I haven’t been in Preston centre at night for 30 years.

Will the design still look good in 10 years?  Is the design too similar to many others?  Should the design reflect an earlier time?  It isn’t clear whether something really great should have been done for Prestons finest green square or if it should just be returned to an as was state. On the other hand creating something great can be a very expensive route.   A novel design can be controversial and playing it safe with a return to an earlier date can be unimaginative.  Maybe this is a good compromise as it isn’t too extensive or modern, is interesting with small features and doesn’t detract from the overall character of the square.

When I was last in Preston we went into a cafe in Winckley Street and there was a postcard showing a photo of the square with a space for objecting to the redesign on the back. Unfortunately it didn’t say what was being proposed as an alternative but there was a photo of a rather tired looking path through heavy trees that didn’t look too good. Over the years I’ve read that many of the parks in Preston have later additions that are now treated as ‘original’, for example the Japanese Garden in Avenham,  yet there seems to be a demand to preserve Winckley Square as it was without anyone being told what it was. For that reason I didn’t fill in the form, although I’m open to changing my mind.

Disappointing that Borders will be closing in Deepdale Shopping Centre. Paid a visit yesterday and the place was busy, the 20% off signs an attraction.  It’s good to have had 2 good bookstores in Preston. Borders was a bit different with its Starbucks, Game, Calendar Club and Paperchase and having easy parking.  A loss.

What happens to the other places does it all close?  Bad time for the staff just before Christmas. Probably the other bookstores don’t like a big stock of 20% off books being available just before Christmas. So it’s bad news all round except for other coffee and game stores.

On the other hand the Deepdale centre seems to be doing well. Can’t say I’ve been a lot but the car parks always seem pretty full, if that means anything. It looks smart, probably one of the best centres of its type in the area. Borders is quite prominent so hope something worthy comes in.