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Fire at The Singleton Row Windmill on Harrison Hill

Fire at The Singleton Row Windmill on Harrison Hill in Preston ALARMING FIRE . About a quarter to twelve o'clock on Monday night, an alarm was given at the fire-brigade station that the wind corn mill in Singleton-row, Harrison-hill, in the occupation of Mr. Henry Walker, was on fire. A full complement of men were soon got together, and hastened to the mill with one engine, and on their arrival found the flames issuing from the doors and windows of the two lower storeys, and also from the door communicating with the stage that surrounds the mill at the third storey. It was at once seen that one engine would not be sufficient to subdue the fire, and another was immediately sent for. The lower part of the mill had the appearance of an immense furnace, and the heat and smoke utterly forbade any attempt to extinguish the fire from below. The men accordingly spliced some ladders together, and laid them from the roof of an adjacent low building to stage of the mill, and by crossing the b...
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A Pair of Replica Sevastopol Cannons in Avenham Park at Preston

Meltdown...! This is a repeat of a Facebook post from about two years ago.  At the time, I wasn't entirely sure how we'd come to have two replica cannons in Avenham Park, Preston, and not the real things.  It turned out the real ones had disappeared, but earlier than I was thinking... I am frequently flabbergasted by the flagrant disregard for history, and it’s often around this town (Preston in Lancashire).  The coming and going of the Obelisk that's not an obelisk, the disappearance of the Canal Basin and the infamous Town Hall, to name but a few.  As is often the case, I stumbled across one of my own photos when looking for something else, and I thought that I would try to find out any relevant information about it. The subject of the photograph was one of a pair of replica Sevastopol (Sebastopol) cannons modelled on those used in the Crimean War, which can be seen in Avenham park.  I think, that I have always known that they were replicas.  However, I a...
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Messrs. John Whitehead and Co. Works, Syke-street, Preston

John Whitehead and Co. Syke-street, Preston Our Local Industries. No. 18. Published in the Preston Chronicle in November 1884, this article forms part of the newspaper's "Our Local Industries" series, which highlighted the leading manufacturers and businesses of the town. It provides a fascinating contemporary tour of the Albert Works in Syke Street, home of John Whitehead & Co., one of Britain's foremost makers of machinery for the brick, tile and sanitary pipe industries. As well as describing the workshops, foundry and machine shops in remarkable detail, the article reflects the pride Victorians took in engineering achievement, export success and industrial innovation. Like many nineteenth-century newspaper features, it also contains a generous measure of promotional enthusiasm, but it remains an invaluable snapshot of a Preston engineering firm whose machines were being exported throughout the world. ~ OUR LOCAL INDUSTRIES. MESSRS. JOHN. WHITEHEAD AND CO. BRIC...
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Howick House and the Relics from the Old Town Hall

Howick House in Penwortham and the Relics from Preston's Second Town Hall  Generally, I either spot something on my travels and photograph it, or alternatively learn about it online and then go and photograph it.  This time I did the later, as far as finding it online goes, but I honestly didn't think that the item was around anymore to photograph. It was another one of the Internet Rabbit Warren exercises.  I started off with a picture of Howick House that was included in an illustration within the book 'Gamonia'.  When I previously posted that online, somebody questioned in the comments whether Howick House was now, and had been for some time, Galloways (Galloway's Society for the Blind).  One thing led to another. Howick from Blashaw Wood. Gamonia the Art of Preserving Game. Howick on the Ordnance Survey map drawn in the late 1840s. Howick House  In the process of trying to find more information about Howick House and perhaps more pictures or photog...
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The Preston Guild in the September 1862 Illustrated London News

The following article is a long contemporary report of the Preston Guild Merchant of 1862, one of the most significant civic festivals in Victorian Lancashire. It frames the Guild as a historic institution dating back several centuries, originally formed to protect the rights and privileges of Preston’s freemen and burgesses. Held roughly every twenty years, the “Guild Merchant” was both a ceremonial renewal of civic rights and a major public celebration, combining civic governance, tradition, and large-scale festivity. The piece sets the 1862 Guild against a backdrop of economic hardship and social distress, noting contemporary debate about whether such expensive celebrations were appropriate. Despite this, the Corporation proceeds, partly justifying the event on the basis that it would bring economic benefit through visitors and trade, and potentially contribute to charitable relief funds. The article also reflects on the historical origins of guilds more broadly, tracing them back t...
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