Around Preston

This is a great walk that starts from Pleasington Station, going north, to Billinge End Road, with great views over Preston. It took me about 75 minutes, and is quite hilly. Not suitable for wheelchairs and pushchairs. Pleasington Station is on the line from Preston to Blackburn. Given the size of the town, and how close it is to Cherry Tree Station, it is remarkable the station is still open. Just south of the station is the Railway Hotel. However, we are heading the other way, north along Victoria Road, which, at the far end features another pub and the priory. The pub is the Butler's Arms, and seems to have closed. I would guess it is named after John Francis Butler (or his family anyway), who, in 1816, paid for the priory to be built. Its full name is the Church of St Mary and St John Baptist. Just beyond the priory is the old school building, where we turn right into Old Hall Lane. I think the old hall is still extant, but beyond where I could get to on the lane. The public fo

 I took a walk that included a section of the Leeds Liverpool canal, as well as much of Feniscowles and Cherry Tree, to the west of Blackburn. I started near the Feilden's Arms pub, in Feniscowles (pronounced feni-scoals by the way). The Feilden family were important land owners, but we will get to that later... I headed west, down Preston Old Road. It is a short way out of Feniscowles into the countryside, and the land on the right falls away dramatically, down to the River Darwen. This image does not really do it justice, but you are at the height of the top of the trees. The trees clear, to reveal this derelict building. This is Feniscowles Hall, built by the Feilden family in 1808. Unfortunately for the family, over the next few decades the River Darwen became ever more polluted as all the industrial and household waste of Blackburn and Darwen got dumped in it, and eventually the stink was such that the house was no longer habitable. After attempts to improve the situation fail

 A wander up Church Street, heading east to west... The first pub, on the left side, is the Lamb Hotel , which closed in 1999, and, after many years, is going to be turned into accommodation. It is a Grade II listed building, dating to some time in the nineteenth century, one source says mid- and another early. Another listed building just a few along from the Lamb is the George Hotel , possibly called the Horse Shoe before 1926/7. An image here indicates it was in good condition in 2003. Apparently it featured in an episode of Ghost Hunters. Further along, opposite Pole Street, are some old livery stables, at one point used by the mounted police. The building dates from the mod-nineteenth century, and has been very well updated, so it looks clean and modern, but retains it original features. Next door, we have Ye Old Blue Bell ; listed again - but this one is open! Apparently the white frontage was removed in 2015 to restore it to the original brickwork, though an image here sugges