5 Great Things About....Preston, Lancashire

Preston has an unusual but splendid list of fame claims; the first Kentucky Fried Chicken to open in the UK was in Preston. Impressed? No? How about the very first motorway to be opened in the UK was the Preston Bypass (now a section of the M6)? See now I have your attention. Preston is the home to the biggest bus station in Europe, it is the second biggest in the World. You can catch a bus from the biggest bus station in Europe and jump off at the UK’s first KFC; who wouldn’t want to do that?

The multi-award winning genius behind Wallace & Gromit, Nick Park, is Preston alumni and the local council are presently fundraising to build a giant bronze statue of the animated heroes in the town centre. Cracking. Benjamin Franklin (yes that Benjamin Franklin!) owned a property in Preston and Charles Dickens not only made Preston the star of one of this most famous novels (immortalised as Coke Town in ‘Hard Times’) but gave his last ever public reading in the town. Kenny Baker, better known as R2D2 is also from the city.

Preston was also the 50^th city in England, made so during the Queen’s 50^th year of rule. Regal.

The people of Preston are 114300 of the greatest people you would ever like to meet. The mix of people, from young to very old, to the annual influx of thousands of students are welcoming, friendly, generous and funny.

Preston is a microcosm of modern Britain with people from all backgrounds coming together to form a giant community; each year Preston celebrates with both a Carribean Carnival and Preston Mela (a celebration of Asian culture and heritage, now in its 14^th year in the city). Every 20 years see the mega celebration known as Preston Guild – the next one is in 2012, make sure you’re there, and each year there are events as diverse as Easter Egg Rolling and a 10k ‘Run Preston’ around the great city.

Brockholes Nature Reserve, on the outskirts of Preston, is a marvel of modern infrastructure and historical biodiversity. Until very recently, the site for Brockholes was an active quarry but thanks to £59 million regeneration fund, hundreds of talented and dedicated volunteers, massive public support and visionary decision taking, the area will be officially, and grandly, opened to the public in the Spring of 2011.

For more information about Brockholes, visit their website at http://www.brockholes.org/.

Manchester United have dominated English football for many years, before them, Liverpool, before them, many teams enjoyed periods of dominance. But it was Preston North End that was the first team to really rule supreme in English football winning two league titles and finishing runner up three times in one five-year period.

Preston’s dominance was such that in 1888, having reached the FA Cup final (and having defeated Hyde United 26-0 on the way), the players requested that they have their picture taken with the trophy before the match while their kits were still clean. They lost the game. But despite experiencing Association Football karma on that day, Preston roared back in the next season to win the League and Cup double famously remaining undefeated throughout the entire league campaign and not conceding a single goal in the FA Cup.

The home of Preston North End is Deepdale. It always has been and always will be; not for Preston the new trend of moving stadia out of town, Deepdale is the longest continuously used football ground in the World; in 2011 it will have been the home of football for 135 years.

The lustre of the history of Preston North End and its unique placing in English football led to the NationFootballMuseum being opened in the stands of Deepdale in 2001. This continued to be so until 2010 when, despite having won awards and hundreds of thousands of visitors, it was announced that the museum would move to Manchester.

Preston North End have struggled in recent times and this year marks 50 years since the club played in the top flight of English football. It is the proud history of the club that makes Preston North End one of the five great things about Preston, Lancashire.

Now it might seem a tired joke to say that one of the top five slices of greatness about a place is that it’s close to other places but that would be to misunderstand this point entirely. While not as ostentatious as its neighbours, Preston does have a lot to offer, as detailed above and one thing that it does enjoy is a happy accident of geography. Preston is the centre of the North West of England; not the political centre or the cultural centre (like I say, even if it were, Preston is not ostentatious) but a geographical centre from which, when you have exhausted Preston’s offerings, you can base yourself to experience the North West to its fullest.

Sit in a café in the centre of Preston and you are within one hour of; Blackpool, with its kitsch style and enduring popularity, illuminations, pier et al; Manchester, the diverse, mad, maddening and beautiful capital of the North; Liverpool, the former European Capital of Culture, the Albert Dock and The Beatles Museum; The Lake District which is breathtakingly beautiful every single day. This smorgasbord of attraction right on your door step seems passé to the Preston resident, as it may to the casual visitor, so you could try the delights of Wigan Pier, Morecambe Bay, wonderful Clitheroe, Snakes Pass, Camelot – well, the list can trundle on for ever and a day. All on your doorstep.