Tag Archives: #Preston

Unnatural Histories; The Tragic Tale of Private Patrick McCaffery

In the latest addition to my Unnatural Histories collection I return to a part of Lancashire I grew up in to look deeper into the background of a ghost story we heard many times as children.

It is a tale of murder, trial, execution and haunting, and was made even more chilling for us as our tall red-brick town-house directly faced the black gates of the barracks it occurred in.

Tarleton Then and Now

A Condensed History of the Lancashire Village of Tarleton, Spanning from its Viking Origins to the Modern Day At the heart of West Lancashire’s fertile mosslands, roughly 19 miles northeast of Liverpool and 9 miles southwest of Preston, sits Tarleton, a quiet and pretty village that owes its existence to the fertility of the surroundingContinue reading “Tarleton Then and Now”

HARP in Bowland; The Refurbishment of the Haweswater Aqueduct and its impacts on the communities of the Hodder Valley

The Haweswater Aqueduct delivers water from Haweswater Reservoir in the Lake District to over two million people throughout Cumbria, Lancashire, and Greater Manchester.  It’s a 110km/82 mile-long pipeline, carrying up to 100 million gallons per day under gravity induced flow, built in the 1930s to 1950s and is currently undergoing extensive upgrades. This refurbishment isContinue reading “HARP in Bowland; The Refurbishment of the Haweswater Aqueduct and its impacts on the communities of the Hodder Valley”

The Elusive Bitterns of Brockholes

Nestled in the flood-plain of the River Ribble near Preston, Brockholes Nature Reserve is a testament to nature’s ability to recover from seemingly irreversible destruction, especially when given a helping hand by committed conservationists. Once an expansive sand and gravel quarry, supplying material for construction projects like the nearby M6 motorway, this area has beenContinue reading “The Elusive Bitterns of Brockholes”

Bridges over the river Hodder; Cromwell’s Bridge

The elegant and enigmatic arches of Cromwell’s Bridge cross the river Hodder at Great Mitton and are all that remain of a bridge originally commissioned by Sir Richard Shireburne and other locals in 1561 to enable the Anglican parishioners of Mitton Church, which the Shireburn family also built, to cross the river to go toContinue reading “Bridges over the river Hodder; Cromwell’s Bridge”

The Temp, a short history of the Temperance Hotel in Quernmore

Quernmore is a small, picturesque, and very peaceful village situated on the western fringes of the Bowland fells about 3 miles east of Lancaster, its population as of the 2011 census was 567 although it is thought to have once been much more when it was a local hub for farming and quarrying. The villageContinue reading “The Temp, a short history of the Temperance Hotel in Quernmore”