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Rochdale

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I was in Rochdale anyway, and had a short time to look around. Not sure if I really did it justice. I am counting this as near Preston; it is only 40 minutes away and used to be in Lancashire. Rochdale is on the river Roch; curiously the river is pronounced "roach". Much of the river is culverted, but there is a 200' section that is open in the centre of town. This gives a nice starting point. I think this has been deculverted; old maps indicate this area was the centre for Rochdale trams at one time. The curved building at the back in HSBC bank. This seems to be a sole survivor in an area that had a lot of banks at one time. Across the river was the Union Bank of Manchester, now the Old Bank Karaoke Bar. To the right of HSBC, and set back a bit was the Royal Bank of Scotland, now a Hogarths pub. It is not just banks. The cinema has also become a pub. Built in 1938, the new name, Regal Moon, recalls the original name, Regal Cinema. Butts Mill stood on the site previously....
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The Harris

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The Harris Library and Museum is the cultural hub of Preston - it says so on the website! It is named after  Edmund Robert Harris, a Preston lawyer, who left in his will £300,000 towards the building of a library in 1877. Building started in 1882 - the year of the Preston Guild - until 1893. A temporary library had operated from 1879. It re-opened on Sunday after being closed for refurbishment for four years, so this seemed a good time to pay a visit. It was built in a neo-classic style, with imposing columns at the front. The style continues inside, with a rotunda similarly supported by columns. The central open area extends four stories up, and they are each tall stories. The space is occupied by a pendulum, which is set swinging at regular intervals. Because of the way the planet is spinning, the swing of the pendulum slowing turns. In the photo the pendulum weight is visible towards the bottom and just right of centre. The building has a number of permanent features that b...
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Skippool Creek

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Skippool Creek is a small tributary of the Wyre. Historically it was an important dock area, until the 1840s when Fleetwood became more important. Today, well, as Wiki puts it it is "now home to mostly run-down vessels". There is a very nice walk beside it, and then along the Wyre estuary, starting from a free car park. The path is in excellent repair. I was hoping to do a circular trip, and it was Underbank Road that let me down, flooded so badly I would have to paddle to get past! This, then, is the creek. After a little way, it bends to the right, while the road goes to the left. The road goes to Blackpool and Fleetwood Yacht Club, and this is taken from their slip way, looking now at the Wyre. The bridge in the distance is the Shard Bridge where the A588 crosses the Wyre and is the lowest bridging point. More of the jetties on the Wyre. Some jetties support huts that look about ready to collapse. Another decepit jetty. A point where a steam joined the Wyre. One of the mor...
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Kirkby

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Another one that strains the definition of "around Preston", Kirkby is a town 6 miles northeast of Liverpool, and 20 southsoutheast of Preston. Until the 1930s, it was a small village, with a railway station and hotel, and a couple of dozen houses. Then World War 2 happened, and a plot of land was selected for a munitions factory - Kirkby Royal Ordinance Factory. The site opened in 1940, and employed over 20,000 people, served by the railway, with its own station to get workers to and from the place. I have read it proved 10% of the ammunition used in the war. After the war, the site was repurposed as an industrial estate, and at the same time the city of Liverpool was looking to build new houses, and the result is a town that now has a population over 40,000. To be honest, the only feature of any great significance is the church of St Chad, the foundations of which date to before the Norman conquest, though the building itself was built 1869-71. It is grade II* listed. The s...
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