A walk in Preston, Roebuck, 5th February 2025

5th February 2025 a beautiful blue sky for a walk from the Preston dock up to Roebuck Street and towards the centre of Preston.

The former Preston Dock Office, now Old Docks House.   Visiting inside many years ago it had wooden panelling and old high wooden desks with high seats.  The Dock Board Room was behind the lower windows on the left.  If my memory recalls well?

After walking along Stocks Road parallel to the Lancaster Canal then turning right onto Roebuck Street the next turn was into Parker Street.  The mill on Roebuck Street is replaced by a park but here’s the old mill wall on Parker Street.  It was a big mill single storey like the photo a few down.

These are quite long streets and at the other end of Parker Street is Plumbs soft furnishing in an old cotton mill called Brookhouse Mill.  The mill on the left 1844 and the mill on the right 1858, ref Cotton Mills of Preston.  This area has a good collection of remaining former cotton mills of various styles although the chimneys and water towers are gone.   This section of road is called Old Lancaster Lane which could be quite interesting, if it was the old road to Lancaster.

The Brookhouse Pub, now derelict.  Quite a decent building and where my father disappeared into with his brother every Friday night in the 1950s.  I didn’t know where it was until long after as we moved when I was too young to go that far.

Shelley Road Mill still used for fabric, clothing.  Roebuck Mill looked something like this.

The Lancaster Canal at it’s end now, near Acquaduct Street.

The former Savoy Cinema, now Savoy Timber off Fylde Road, in Ashton Street.

St Mark’s Church, now apartments, on St Mark’s Road.  View from Abbey Street which is right from Ashton Street.  Looking across the Blackpool to Preston line.

 

St Walburg Church with it’s landmark spire on Peddar Street.  Also a nice interior.

From here walk into the centre of Preston via Marsh Lane or past UCLan and along Friargate.

 

Two more murals spotted 28th June 2024

Two more murals in Preston.  Both viewable for the delight of train travellers.   Although one isn’t new.

This first one appears new and can be seen from a train inbound from Blackpool.  Four o’clock low when you see the docks.  Blanche Street, behind the Wheatsheaf pub, Water Lane.

This is almost on a par with the mural ‘Mother’ for skill and meaning and painted by the same artist, Shawn Sharpe.

As a first thought binding Preston’s cotton mill heritage to the workers at the mill and the hand that picked the cotton.

As another thought, a feminist feel perhaps.  The dungaree wearing lady has a 1940s land girl style, representing the part women played in the mills and fields since industrialisation began.  The mill is Tulketh Mill with it’s iconic chimney and tower, now a call centre.  The lady could be Sally, pride of our Alley, hard working, tired and strong.   PP, or Proud Preston, with a pink background, traditionally female pink?

The great thing about this are the multiple themes and interpretations.  You could write a book.

The link to cotton - a mural in Blanche Street Preston
The link to cotton – a mural in Blanche Street Preston

 

The second mural has been there quite a while and faces the Railway Station Butler Street entrance on the side of the Station pub.  It’s well painted with an urban feel.  This one has been done before the recent trend for meaningful and locally themed murals.

On close inspection it’s very well painted with a lot of detail such as the marking on the cheeks and in the blue rim. Melting on the left and underneath.   To try to interpret it brings us to fanciful words about the melting of society and global warming when perhaps it’s just an urban feeling.  A night out.

This is the ramblings of an aged gent, open to thoughts.

A mural in Butler Street in Preston, facing the railway station.
A mural in Butler Street in Preston, facing the railway station.

Lancashire Archives funding campaign for Horrocks Collection

Horrocks Collection Funding Campaign
Some of the pattern collection

John Horrocks – A Textile Pioneer

The Lancashire Archives are held in Bow Lane Preston and contain an extensive collection of textile information reflecting Lancashire’s position as the centre of the world’s textile industry in the 19th and early 20th centuries.  The plan is to hire an archivist to catalogue and promote the collection.   An appeal for £12,000 has been made and donations can be made either on line or by post.  Please read more on the Friends of Lancashire Archives Website linked below.

http://www.flarchives.co.uk/catalogue-horrockses.html

Preston Guild 2012 – I was there – Saturday 1st September 2012

Preston Guild is once every 20 years so we weren’t going to miss this one.  We loved the Royal Jubilee, the Olympic Games and we were sure we’d enjoy Preston Guild.

It seemed everyone was in a great mood, the weather was good.  The streets were packed and the Square Food Festival ram jam full. The Vintage Weekend filled after the procession and Miller and Avenham Parks were in good form.

Read our account with photos on the webiste.

http://www.madeinpreston.co.uk/General/PrestonGuild2012report.html

Preston Guild 2012 turns up the heat

Preston comes together as events are announced for the 2012 Guild.  Here are four unmissables:

The new multi-million pound ‘Discover Preston’ display in the Harris Museum, opened on 28th July, is something I’ve been burning to see.  On Friday 17th August 12noon to 3pm it will be closed for it’s official opening.  There’s a joke there somewhere.  Read about it on the Harris Museum website:

http://www.harrismuseum.org.uk/current-exhibitions/7-new-history-gallery

The Vintage Guild Weekend website and video have been produced with style and the food, craft, art, music, dancing, pop-up theatres will show Preston off in the attractive and decorative Miller and Avenham Parks and the Winckley Street area on September 1st and 2nd:    http://vintageguildweekend.com/

Watch the Vintage Guild Weekend YouTube video with Paul Hemingway:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WXH_8iNrgKM&feature=player_embedded#!

The Deltic prototype at the Ribble Steam Railway in Preston is something I never thought I’d see and represents one of the most iconic things ever made in Preston.  Deltic locomotives were the pride of the East Coast Main Line hauling the top link expresses from Kings Cross to Edinburgh Waverley for over 20 years. Find out more on their website:

http://www.ribblesteam.org.uk/

The Made in Preston theme has been adopted by the Guild and 9 projects covering an imaginative range of themes including memories of English Electric and Leyland Motors will be presented.

http://www.prestonguild2012.com/made-in-preston

It can never be allowed to pass that Made in Preston has been the name of this website for over 10 years and will support the Guild whole heartedly but has no official links with it and gets no thanks.  None wanted though and no worries.  Come together, right now:

http://www.madeinpreston.co.uk/

 

Industrial Revolutionaries in Preston

The Industrial Revolutionaries is a display at the Harris Museum in Preston.  The revolutionaries are the people who made an impact in Preston and include cotton magnates and reformers, mill workers and inventors.  The display was funded by a number of organisations to make that key part of Preston’s history come alive for locals and tourists.  This is achieved to some degree although if you already have a decent knowledge of local history it might not be deep enough whereas to many it will be just right. 

Entering the museum it isn’t obvious where the display is if you come in when the monitor is showing something else. It’s on the third floor.

The information is in a modern well presented display made of a number of islands in subdued light. The story is formed around 7 people in different segments of society which can still be recognised to this day in the UK wrapped in 200 years of new legislation while the changes from rural to urban industrial can be seen today in the development of China.  As a side issue, sort of worrying about where we are heading, we need some new inventors in the north west. 

For me the most interesting part was the 100 year old film of the raw cotton being processed into material in the Yard Mill.  Looking at the workers, their reactions to the camera and thinking they were walking round Preston over a 100 years ago sparked curiosity.  Ladies in shawls, men in flat caps or bowlers.  We see where the flat cap worker image comes from in the north, whereas in the south it often represents the wealthy country gentleman.  The story of the workhouse and prison reform was interesting as well.  They’re all interesting and even though it might not appear too deep there is enough, as it would be a good test to name the main characters on leaving. I’d fail. 

It would be good if this could be made into a permanent exhibition coupled with updating the History of Preston exhibition.  Having been ‘Stuarted’ which is  a term used for those intercepted and spoken to by the enthusiastic and knowledgeable museum worker Stuart, it appears that to do that will cost a lot of money and probably at this time the cash will be difficult to find.  If I win the Euro Millions maybe. Been to see this twice now and overall it’s definitely worth a visit. On until 6th November 2010.  Website;  http://www.revolutionaries.org.uk/index.php