A Day In Preston: Revisiting My Past Part One

Introduction

On the 22nd of May 2024, I finally got myself in gear to go back to visit my hometown (hence the Springsteen video) of Preston and treat my sister to a birthday meal which should have happened in August 2023, but you can read about that here:

A lot has changed, but a lot is still the same, and to be honest, it has improved since I was last here.

I don't know if there will be more to follow on from this but I certainly plan to be back down there next month.

In some ways this was almost a reconnaissance visit, to see what was still there and what had changed.

I was up at 4 am and, due to train delays, got home at 8:30 pm but this has prepared me for my next visit. It helped that by using the Trainline App and my senior railcard I got a £140 return journey for a mere £20.

So here is what I saw and found out:

After getting off the train I walked out of the station up this ramp, overlooked by the "Welcome To Lancashire" wall design. There is also a commemorative blue plaque marking the end of steam locomotives as normal rail transport, but there are still steam trains running on various heritage lines.

And Now My Wander Through Preston

Leaving the station I saw this amazing mural on the Station Hotel and looked over and saw the spire of St Walburge's.

The church was built in the mid-19th century to a design by the Gothic Revival architect Joseph Hansom, the designer of the hansom cab, and has the tallest spire of any parish church in England (94m).

I went out on to Fishergate and there is a shopping centre, but I was so happy to see Brucciannis still there and thriving, next to the United Kingdom's first-ever Kentucky Fried Chicken (I was really surprised to see that still going).

I frequented Bruciannis when I was at school in the sixties and it started here in 1932. There is more information in my link in the introductory paragraph to this piece.

I then took a turn down Mount Street to see the hospital where I was born in 1957. It is derelict now and I think will probably be turned into flats. It was behind Preston Catholic College which was my school from the sixties into the seventies.

My school is long gone and has been turned into various things including flats and business accommodation, but the school church, St Wilfrid's is still going strong on Winkley Square

I was glad that the doors were open to the public and think it is even more impressive than when I attended from school. Religious architecture always impresses me even though I am not a religious person. My dad is a builder and I did work with him but even this place leaves me awe-struck.

Winkley Square Gardens is a beautiful green square but I didn't have time to walk through it as I did when I lived here, but, as I said this was an exploratory visit and I will be here again and spend some time in Avenham Park which I used to run (well walk) through on school cross-country runs. I think everybody hated cross-country runs but they were probably good for us.

Conclusion

I still have a lot of pictures to share, but they will come in a second post. I was there for around six hours and was impressed by many of the sights I saw and will share those with you over the coming weekend.

Thank you so much for joining me on this wander.