My Lancashire - My accounts of the local area

The Derby Arms at Inskip - Motoring Pub Museum  I stumbled across this one when looking for YouTube videos on the subject (topic) of Preston.  I knew the Derby Arms as a pub, but I didn't realise it had been this ' Motoring Museum ' novelty pub.   Motoring Pub Museum (1967) - From British Pathé Filmed at the Derby Arms at Inskip, near Preston, Lancashire. ~ Watch on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m77k03VznDA ~ The Motoring Bar, Derby Arms, Inskip Lancashire Real Photo Postcard Video Transcript [You] wouldn't expect an AA minivan to take on a rescue operation at any of these exotic Rendezvous nor would you get yourself into a position like this getting there. This is nothing to do with modern motoring we're back in the early days again just look at this lot quite rightly you're not supposed to drink and drive, but here's a very special place where they sometimes give the green light provided no one overdoes it. They're nipping into the Derby Arm...

The Walker Monument South of the Church of St Andrew in Leyland HEARE LIETH THE BODIE - part of The Walker Monument inscription The Walker Monument, which is to the south of the Church of St Andrew in Leyland, is quite remarkable.  With regard to this type of gravestone, it is the oldest that I have seen in a local parish setting, by quite some margin.  There are some seventeenth century stone slabs at St Mary's church in Penwortham.  However, this is nearly a century older. The Walker Monument - south of the Church of St Andrew in Leyland The Walker Monument is approximately twenty metres South of the Chancel of the Church of St Andrew in Leyland.  It is a raised monumental slab that is probably from 1588.  It commemorates William Walker, who was the Clerk of the Parish of Leyland, and who died in 1588.  The sandstone, rectangular slab is on a low stone base, and the surface bears a very unusual life-sized primitive figure drawn with incised line...

Mary Davies, The Historic Building Investigator, in 1972 Mary Davies was an 'Investigator of Historic Buildings'. She travelled around the North of England, visiting various old buildings and evaluating them based on their historic and architectural importance. The clip is taken from a programme originally broadcast on 23rd February in 1972.  Whilst the video features Mary working in The Lake District, she covered the whole of the north of  England in her work, so would have spent a lot of time assessing buildings in Lancashire. Watch on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZI3e3WS8mFM Journey back to 1972 with a historic building investigator traversing Northern England . They meticulously assess structures, grading them based on architectural and historical significance. Witness the process of evaluating and cataloguing these buildings for preservation. Mary Davies has spent fifteen years working as an Investigator of Historic Buildings for the Department of the Environm...

Who Was Maria Holland? A Portrait of Maria Holland - Once Hanging at St. Josephs Orphanage Mrs Maria Holland , was a wealthy Catholic woman from Preston.  She donated land and money to establish an orphanage, hospital and dispensary on Mount Street (St. Joseph's Orphanage).  These facilities served the community for over 50 years.  She died in 1878, leaving a lasting legacy of care and charity in Preston. St Joseph’s Orphanage 2004. Photo Credit: The Victorian Society That's information, which is fairly readily available on the Internet and has been copied from place to place, but without much other detail about who Maria Holland actually was.  This includes featuring on the Historic England listing for the orphanage, Urban Explorers accounts of visiting the Orphanage, and various news articles about fires at the orphanage and its gradual demise.   These articles left me with a number of questions. I had a possible connection, based on a question and commen...

Stone Gateposts belonging to the former Whinfield House On visiting the Harris Museum, after its recent reopening, I noticed a large print of a photograph that I was already familiar with on the wall.  I think it's the one that Lancashire County Council have in their Red Rose Collections. A view of the River Ribble from Whinfield House in Ashton-on-Ribble It is a view of the River Ribble from Whinfield House in Ashton-on-Ribble.  It is looking (south) east, of the drive of Whinfield House and a sailing ship moored on the river.  The  photograph is credited to the Preston Camera Club, which was once part of the Preston Scientific Society.  It was taken in 1862.  The first time I saw it, I recognised the gateposts, as they are still there now.  Information on the Preston Digital Archive also confirmed that.   The Gateposts on a view of the River Ribble from Whinfield House The text accompanying the photo on the Preston Digital Archive says that...