Preston’s Chaotic High Street
I know that there are lots of road works, but Preston’s High Street wasn’t one of the best I’ve visited.
Preston High Street
Cars were still trying to get through the road works and shouldn’t they be in a car park somewhere? Even the Marks and Spencer was very tired and in the food department, there were no gluten-free sandwiches.
The biggest crime in my view, was the non-working clock that towered over the street. But at least Rolex had the time right.
It is definitely a High Street that needs a touch of Portasisation!
There were no maps and signposts and this was the only cafe I passed.
The Only Cafe I Passed
But then I don’t do Starbucks. Surely, there must be a locally owned coffee shop in the city.
Preston Martyrs Memorial
I like to look out for large sculpture as I travel around.
This is the memorial to those, who died in the Preston Strike of 1842.
I’d never heard of any of this until I saw the memorial, but I do feel that the sculpture does not do those who died, justice.
Wayfinding In Preston
Preston didn’t offer much in the way of information to help walkers. Typical was this finger post and map.
Signposts and Maps In Preston
It’s not even as good as it looks, as some of the fingers weren’t pointing in the right direction.
Preston Covered Market
The covered market in Preston is a Grade 2 Listed building.
It was large and busy, but most of the goods on offer didn’t interest me at all. Like the bus station is this another albatross around Preston’s neck?
Preston Bus Station
Preston Bus Station is a classic 1960s building in a brutalist style. I decided to visit, when I heard about the rows raging around the building as I discussed here.
The council has a problem in that the building needs a lot of repairs and have proposed its demolition. But there is a heritage lobby opposed to this and so the row is set to continue. The building has now been given a Grade 2 listing.
I quite liked the building and it does seem to my untutored eye that it does need a bit of work to be done.
But you can’t help but think that the building has problems that refurbishment won’t solve.
If you take the best train-bus interfaces in the country like Barnsley, Canning Town and now Kings Cross, the bus station at Preston is not in the right place for those arriving in the city by train. It’s akin to expecting passengers arriving at Kings Cross to walk to Euston to get a bus. They wouldn’t and I suspect in Preston they don’t!
So I come to the reluctant conclusion, that the bus station should be knocked down, despite the fact I like the building a lot.
The only way to save it, would be to create an innovative solution perhaps using a free bus that connects the rail and bus stations via the main shopping street.
But I suspect that has been looked at and discarded.
Incidentally, I wasn’t the only visitor interested in the bus station. There were perhaps three others photographing the building.
Buses In Preston
I arrived in Preston and found this information board and bus stop map at the station.
Bus Information In Preston
But it was a start and is so much better than you get in many places.
However, the stop I needed to use to get to the bus station is on the other side of a busy road. How’s that for joined up thinking?
The Bus Stop At Preston Station
So it had a seat and a litter bin, but the light controlled crossing was some distance away. Why wasn’t the stop for the bus to the bus station actually inside the entrance to the station? The whole station entrance road seemed to be full of taxis waiting for not many passengers in the middle of the morning
Getting on the bus was the usual palaver of taking your ticket out putting it flat on the machine and then being issued with a pointless ticket. Why do bus companies outside London not have a touch and go system that recognises free bus passes, like London does? Or even one, that allows you to show your ticket to the driver, as you do in London with a British Rail ticket with an added London Travelcard?
The bus was one of those single entry/exit types and I was the only passenger, although a lot had got out at the station.
All Alone Am I
How does a driver organise someone getting out in a wheelchair, at the same time as someone with twins in a double buggy gets in, on these outdated single door buses? It always puzzles me, that new buses as this one undoubtedly was, are still built this way!
But at least it got me to the bus station!
Are East Midlands Trains Serious About Running Trains?
Although, I’m an Ipswich Town supporter, I live in London, a short bus or Underground ride from Kings Cross and St. Pancras stations. So as this week, Ipswich are playing at Derby and Sheffield Wednesday, you’d think it would logical that tomorrow, I go to Derby and on Saturday I go to Sheffield from St. Pancras.
You would be wrong!
As there is no direct return train from Derby back to St. Pancras, I decided to go via Preston and Manchester to Derby, as I have things I want to see for this blog and someone to meet in Manchester. The latter solves my supper problem, as we’re meeting in Carluccio’s in Piccadilly. I can also get an excellent gluten-free breakfast on Virgin trains on the way up.
I did think about staying overnight in the Travelodge by Derby station, but after trying to buy a ticket to get back on Wednesday morning, I decided that the prices on offer, were just too steep. Other similar distance journeys, early in the morning to London, were certainly cheaper than those on offer from East Midland Trains.
So I decided to get home via Birmingham and Virgin Trains for £22.00 after the match. And that includes First Class from Birmingham to Euston. But I do get into London at 01:30 on Wednesday morning.
On Saturday, I’m going to Sheffield via Lincoln, as I have an old friend I want to see and can get a train from Lincoln to Sheffield. It’s not as roundabout as you’d think.
But I’ve done this before, as last time, I went to Sheffield Wednesday, I went via Doncaster, as the First Class on East Coast, is so much better than that on East Midland Trains.
My INR For September 2013
As September is now finished, I can show a graph of my daily INR tests for September 2013.
My INR For September 2013
The average INR for the month was 2.4 with a standard deviation of 0.2. This is well within the range of 2 to 3 and just below the target of 2.5.
Note the drop in INR starting at the 19th. This was when the weather started to get colder and fresher. The lowest value of 1.9 on the 27th was after a particularly cold night.
Compare this graph with previous results for August 2013.
A Dilemma For Alex Salmond
I didn’t know that Scotland had a dark sky park and a gold tier one at that in the Galloway Forest Park.
It was funded by the Scottish government and as an amateur astronomer, who recently saw the wonderful skies in Sweden, I think that these dark sky reserves and parks are a very good idea.
But now Alex Salmond has a dilemma, as outlined by the BBC in this report. As a big supporter of wind turbines, does he give planning permissions for these around the park. As they are lit at night, they wouldn’t make the Scottish Dark Sky Observatory any better.
The Astronomer Royal for Scotland is not amused and has said this.
Installing any large structures that require illumination (whether visible or infra-red) would be akin to putting a factory in Glen Coe or electricity pylons along the Cuillin Ridge.
I have no direct interest as I live in London, but knowing the pleasure I get from observing the skies when I can, I think we need more dark sky parks. We also need one that is very easily accessible. Obviously, a road through such an area to an observatory would be a generator of light pollution, but surely there must be somewhere in the UK, where a train station is in a dark sky area, that could be used to take visitors in and out, without making too much light pollution.
The Anonymous Widower 