Barbara Past and Present: I Was There...Part Two

The old street I lived on growing up is not there anymore and it looked nothing like this. I like this image.

I did find a picture of the "Pub" across the street from my house. The Windsor Castle. Before demolition.

Both my older sister and I would run errands for Molly the landlady. On Friday afternoon after school she would send me to the florist shop to buy flowers for the Pub, it was quite a long walk as I remember I certainly deserved to be paid more than the sixpence she would give me for doing it. The blue door on the right was the entrance to our Doctor's waiting room at the house next door . I never liked having to go there.

An Architectural Gem for Preston.

This is the magnificent Town Hall which was built between 1862 and 1866 standing on the site of the former Moot Hall between Fishergate and the Market Square. It was designed by Sir George Gilbert Scott, a leading architect in the Gothic revival type of architecture. The clock tower, the second largest in Britain after the ‘Big Ben’ tower in London, was south west facing on the corner of Fishergate and Cheapside. However, during the planning stage officials were not sure in which direction the clock tower should face but Gilbert Scott, a man not known for his modesty, reputedly went on to say “It would look superb regardless of which elevation was chosen for the main street”.

When I was five years old this lovely Gothic building was destroyed by a mysterious fire, the next day my mother walked us down to see what was left of this building that must have taken years of skilled craftsman and stone masons working on it to build it.

After the fire.

The next few pictures are places I remember being at when I was young.

The old Saul Street Baths where I tried but never did learn how to swim well.

The Old Preston Bus Station

The New Preston Bus Station

Built in the Brutalist architectural style between 1968 and 1969, designed by Keith Ingham and Charles Wilson of Building Design Partnership with E. H. Stazicker, it has a capacity of 80 double-decker buses, 40 along each side of the building. Some claim that it is the second largest bus station in Western Europe.^[1] Pedestrian access to the Bus Station is through any of three subways, one of which links directly to the adjacent Guild Hall, while the design also incorporates a multi-storey car park of five floors with space for 1,100 cars. It has been described by The Twentieth Century Society as "one of the most significant Brutalist buildings in the UK".^[2]

On 7 December 2012, Preston City Council announced that the bus station would be demolished.^[13] They said that it would cost £23m to refurbish it and more than £5m just to keep it standing; although they also conceded that demolition would cost an estimated £1.8m. The Twentieth Century Society, which opposes the scheme, have stated that a fraction of this amount would maintain the building while proposals to retain it were being worked up.^[2]

In 2013 listed building status was applied for again by English Heritage. This time it has been granted Grade II listed building status.

The Public Hall

Home to many events I personally attended during my school and teenage years. From symphony concerts to the Friday night dances to seeing the Beatles perform after their first recording was a big hit. I was at the 1962 Perfomance

Backstage photograph of the Beatles following one of their Preston performances The Beatles performed twice at the Public Hall. The first was on October 26, 1962. The last performance was September 13, 1963

The Public Hall

The corn exchange has also been known as the public hall. It was built between in 1822 and has been used for many different reasons since then. A corn exchange is an indoor market where local tradesmen would buy and sell goods. To make such a large building pay for itself the town would use it on non market days as a meeting place and to hold local events.

The building was constructed in a Georgian style. The building used to consist of a number of large rooms around an open court covered by a glass roof.

In 1842, at the height of protests for the right of the vote for men, a demonstration took place outside the Corn Exchange and cotton workers who were protesting were fired upon by the military resulting in four deaths. A statue of the Preston Martyrs by Gordon Young was unveiled outside the Corn Exchange in the late 1980's to mark this event.

The building was remodeled as the Public Hall in 1881-82 and a hall and gallery were added for the purpose of meetings and entertainment. In its new format the building could accommodate 3,300 people.

The Public Hall functioned as Preston's smartest meeting and entertainment complex and hosted performances by artists such as The Beatles until its closure in 1972, after which it lay unused.

In 1986 demolition of all but the front entrance and foyer of the building was planned, in order to make way for the ring way.

Miscellaneous memories...

The Whitsuntide Fair on the Market Square,a far cry from Disneyland.I can remember the smell of Roasted Potatoes and Mushy Peas and riding on the Caterpillar and the Merry go Round.