My Lancashire - My accounts of the local area

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Campaign to Preserve Our Disappearing Roadside Heritage

The Beginnings of The Milestone Society The following are pages from a letter sent from R. Gregson to Mervyn Benford, care of The Daily Telegraph newspaper 'Weekend' supplement. As far as why the pages are with me now goes, they were passed to me by my Sister-in-Law. She is R. Gregson's niece. R. Gregson was Rodney Gregson, but for some reason he became known as Bob. That's not a normal hypocorism. Bob liked all things history, but was in particular a railway enthusiast. He was a well-known author with regard to Railway History Books, well at least locally in Lancashire. I perhaps met Bob, at my Brother's wedding, but he's not somebody that I had regular contact with. I worked for Bob's brother David (Dave) for the best part of a decade. He founded a very successful software company that is now based on Buckshaw Village, Chorley, Lancashire. Initially, I wasn't sure if there was any outcome following Bob's letter. Posting on th...

A Slave's Opinion of The War. The Reverend John Sella Martin at Preston

A Slave's Opinion of The War At the Corn Exchange in Preston The Corn Exchange in Preston. The Former Public Hall. When looking for information about the former Corn Exchange in Preston , I came across these articles in the from 1863 in the Preston Chronicle. The Corn Exchange in Preston is a listed building, but only a portion of it remains. It is now home to Preston's most unique Restaurant and Bar, called 1842. I knew that the building had been used for meetings and performances later in the nineteenth century, as it had been modified to be the Public Hall. However, I always thought that when it was the corn exchange it sole purpose would have been commerce and trading. It is clear from the following articles that it was always used as a general public meeting place, even before it became the much grander Public Hall. When contributing to the Historic England Missing Pieces Project, via their website, I noticed a 'Pinned Post' (one that's always at the t...

Preston-Then and Now. The Changes of Half a Century. No. V.

Preston-Then and Now. 1813-1893. The Changes of Half a Century. No. V. Jackson's Farm, Avenham, Preston, circa 1860 PRESTON-THEN AND NOW: 1813-1893. THE CHANGES OF HALF A CENTURY. No. V. The change in Avenham Park is perhaps greater than in any other part of the town, because the conformation of the ground has been greatly altered. At one time this favourite resort of the people was called "Avenham Fields." A narrow lane, between thorn hedges, ran down from the end of the Colonnade to the lower portion of the ground. In reference to the colonnade it may be here stated that though it was never a true Colonnade, the front of the upper storeys of the houses was supported on pillars until about twenty-five or thirty years ago, when the lower storeys were brought forward and the pillars, of course, dispensed with. On the left of the lane was "Jackson's Garden," in the midst of which stood Jackson's Cottage, and on the right a cottage stood close to the two as...

Preston-Then and Now. The Changes of Half a Century. No. IV.

Preston-Then and Now. 1813-1893. The Changes of Half a Century. No. IV. PRESTON-THEN AND NOW: 1813-1893. THE CHANGES OF HALF A CENTURY. No. IV On the right of Deepdale-road, opposite the Enclosure, stands the finest line of private residences in Preston. It was built about 1846 by Mr. George Mould, contractor, who had then in hand the construction of the Preston and Long-ridge railway tunnel under the west side of the town, from the then Deepdale terminus to Maudland, for the Fleetwood, Preston, and West Riding Railway Company, who had bought the line. At the inauguration of this extension of the undertaking, the late Mr. T. B. Addison, Recorder of the Borough, and Chairman of Quarter Sessions, took part, and, having been induced to don a navvy's smock look frock for the occasion, he cut his one sod and trundled it in a barrow about twenty yards, "amid the cheers of the spectators." Mr. Addison was chairman of the directors of this previously unprosperous railway, whi...

Preston-Then and Now. The Changes of Half a Century. No. III.

Preston-Then and Now. 1813-1893. The Changes of Half a Century. No. III. Preston Town Hall, Market Square, Preston PRESTON-THEN AND NOW: 1813-1893. THE CHANGES OF HALF A CENTURY. No. III A change that would be one of the greatest surprises to a long-absent Prestonian is our beautiful Town Hall, occupying the place of its dingy brick predecessor. About two years before the Guild celebration of 1862 there was a good deal of dissensions in the Town Council as to the site and plan of the new structure. The late Mr. J. J. Myres (afterwards, alderman, and twice Mayor, 1868-78), proposed that a resolution passed at a previous meeting of the Council, to build it on the ancient site be rescinded, and that the new Town Hall be erected between the Old Shambles and Lancaster-road, a plan involving the demolition of all the houses, and shops in Church-street standing between those thoroughfares. Councillor Myres showed that if his plan were adopted the building could be set back considerabl...