PRESTON LANCASHIRE ENGLAND Information on Preston a town in Lancashire the northwest of England

The Preston coat of arms, which can be seen on many buildings in Preston.

The City of Preston at "PRESTONIAN.CO.UK" by R. M. O'Gara.

The Red Rose of Lancashire.

It's the City of Preston! 14th March 2002 - The town today became England's 50th city to mark the Queen's Golden Jubilee celebrations.
Proud past, ambitious future

This site last updated on Jan 2004

CONTENTS

What's New

New Book Recommendation:

"A PRESTON MIXTURE" Compiled by Bob Dobson from Landy Publishing. Click here for info

Search for your ancestors in Burnley, Blackburn and Preston Cemeteries http://www.cemsearch.co.uk

Link to some photos from Lancashire and around http://uk.geocities.com/dlg_ie/england.htm

New link to Preston Docklands - Riversway - Marina - Albert Edward Dock - River Ribble

Aerial Photograph of Preston - from GetMapping.com

From Rod Carter. tigerseye@abbeyroaduk.net

A pic of 114 115 Adelphi Street about 1958. East side of the road. Opposite the Oddfellows Arms. The bus stop was 'Byron Street'. This was his father's shop. Now the site of the new university.

NEW DECEMBER 2002

New web page New Cock Yard in the '70s

New Book Recommendation: "Preston in Focus" by Stephen Sartin from Landy Publishing. Click here for info

Looking for local history then check out LANDY PUBLISHING. Interested read more here..

Photo below From Mike McCullough, shot from the top of St. George's Car park. mikem@newsquestmedia.co.uk OR www.newsquestmedia.co.uk

New summer 2002: A 1920's brochure from the company "G.Reed & Sons steeplejack and brickstters" kindly sent in by one of their daughters. Interesting document for the old photos of some of Preston's landmarks and facts about their structures.

NEW LINKS:

.Lancashire Ancestors; Using all the existing information that you can supply, they will endeavour to trace your family history as far back as you want to go - or records allow. We will do this using parish registers of baptism, marriage and burial, censuses, and wills.
www.chillingtales.co.uk -this identifies Keith Johnson keith@johnson150.fsnet.co.uk Preston and Lancashire books on local history.
Old maps and photos from Ian Cowburnbeing a rail fan, http://www.geocities.com/fraterl/prestonmaps/ The whole area around the Station got to me, so anyway, I've uploaded a series of maps of Preston from 1715 to the 1960s, and I'll be uploading photos and other things I have from my library here in France where I live now.
Preston on the web at; www.prestonontheweb.co.uk/
www.green.glowinternet.com A site about the history of Preston's Cinemas. In the 1940's Preston boasted of 18 Cinemas in the town. Today Preston still has 18 Cinema screens but only two MULTIPLEX CINEMA.
Link to old photos of Preston. at Frith prints and photographs.
You may be interested to know that Aloysius Smith who was in later life better known as Trader Horn, was born in York Street Preston was later brought up in St. Ignatius Square. He had two films made about his life/stories one in 1931 and one in 1973. see www.geocities.com/adpeschke/people/thorn.htm (submitted by john.f.lomax@operamail.com ).
Preston directory: A collection of Preston links in a directory of geographically organised links.
Also info about my Grandad
It's for the Stanley Cup that the players fight, season after season. And it's of the Stanley Cup that all hockey players dream, from childhood onwards. The Cup, symbol of excellence in the world of hockey, owes its name to Lord Stanley of Preston

Visit Preston North End football club at www.pnefc.net OR The country's National Football Museum which is located there. www.nationalfootballmuseum.com		Recommended Link www.winckleysquare.org.uk Local history of Winckley Square in the centre of town.
LINK: A collection of commemorative items for Preston Guilds from 1822 till 1992 and includes quite a lot of background history on the Guilds.http://mysite.freeserve.com/preston_guild New (Dec 01) images of Riversway (old Preston Dock) New (DEC 01) Watery Lane Avenham and Miller parks New (April 01) St. George's Church New (April 01) Historical dates of Preston Updated April 2001 St. John's Parish Church also NEW detailed history of the church St. John's History. Updated Jan 2001 Corn Exchange and The story of the "Lockout". New (Oct. 2000) photos of the Flag market

"Hi, come on in and sit thy down, mined you brush your feet though!"

Welcome to Preston, the best town in Lancashire and my home town. Although I was born in London and my father is American my mother and her family are from Preston and I have lived here since being a young kid. This site reflects my interest in the place and its' history. Preston is situated on a hill above the river Ribble and on the main (and ancient) routes both north and south, and east and west. There has been a settlement here in this area for well over a 1,000 years. This was the first point on the river Ribble where it was safe to cross by ford and today it is still the first place to cross by bridge.

Below a list of CONTENTS with links to the various articles on this site. It is hoped to maintain this page with the information for events, links and facts about the town of Preston.

The "PP" in the coat of arms is said by locals to stand for Proud Preston or Preston - Priest's town, this may be because of the historic association of the church and town and certainly in the coat of arms or seal it was originally a standing lamb with banner flag - the emblem of St. Wilfrid. When the parish church changed its name to St. John in Tudor times, the pragmatic townsmen sat the lamb down and it became the emblem of St. John the Baptist. It was the wrong St. John, but they probably thought it would be standing up again soon! With regard to the 'PP' in the coat of arms it is also said it may stand for Princeps Pacis, Prince of Peace or Preston-Preston. In 1376 there were no Ps in the town seal; in 1402 there were three Ps arranged decoratively on either side and below the standing lamb. In later times one of the Ps was lost and the other two ended up below the seated lamb.

A road sign on London Rd. looking up the hill towards Preston, at the bottom of the hill is the bridge over a river Ribble south to Walton-le-Dale.

Preston is also noted for the "Preston Guild Merchant", held once every twenty years since 1179. When the whole town is on holiday for a week and there are great religious and trade processions. Entertainment's, feasts, balls, sporting events, circuses, pageants, concerts, theatrical and firework displays attracting literally hundreds of thousands of people to the festivities. There is a saying in the North of England "Once every Preston Guild' - which has come to be used in the context of a sceptical comment on a rare distant or doubtful happening!

history on the Guilds.http://mysite.freeserve.com/preston_guild

Next Guild is 2012

Images of Preston; From: Stephen singleton stevesingleton@blueyonder.co.uk

SITE CONTENTS

WHERE IS PRESTON find out where the town is.	MAP of Preston and the surrounding area with hot spots to photo & info links.
THE HISTORY of the town of Preston .	WHAT'S PRESTON LIKE TODAY find out about the town.
FUTURE of the town.	FACTS you may or may not known about Preston.
EVENTS Major Annual events in the town.	PHONE Useful Telephone numbers.
INFO LINKS to other sites connected with Preston and Lancashire.	PHOTOS list of the main photos of Preston on this site or START here for a photo tour of parts of the town.
GENEALOGY UK Information. PLUS link to local records office for genealogy research. Also see Messages	FOLK from Preston. Links to other web sites by Preston folk.
HOTELS & TRAVEL Information on some hotels in the town and now to make your way to the town, car , bus, train and plane.	MESSAGES from visitors to this site, Preston folk, ex pats and folk from around the world. Looking for info, old friends or just to post a message.
Search page Allows you to search this site.	NEW: Picture service! If you are interested in photos of a place or a street in Preston e.g. your old house or your ancestor home then for a small fee the photos can be e-mailed to you. E-mail: rmo@prestonian.co.uk

Thanks for visiting, you can E-mail me by clicking below,
I'd appreciate any constructive comments about this site.
If you do E-mail me with any questions or information I will do my best to respond, but please keep
in mind I only maintain this site in my spare time.

Wanted: I am always interested in any old picture or tales of Preston.

E-mail: rmo@prestonian.co.uk

This site is always under construction

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