30 Milkstone Rd Rochdale OL11 1EB
At some time in the not too distant past it seems to have lost its fascia board.
After also trading as HMA Launderette.
Google streetview.
On my way somewhere else with time to spar I popped in.
Launderette Rochdale
Rochdale Observer
The Rochdale Observer is a local newspaper published on Wednesdays and Saturdays for the Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale.
It has been Rochdale’s main newspaper since 1856.
This is the original building on Drake Street.
This was replaced by the current building, which is no longer home to the newspaper.
Its foundation stone was laid in 1954 by the Rochdale-born singer and actress Gracie Fields.
Architect – Frank Bradley of Bolton.
Image – Mike Ashworth
It has subsequently been converted to apartments.
Behind the Observer offices on Drake street are the former Observer print works on Greenwood Street.
Chorley Walk – 2026
Once upon a time it was 2022 and I was in Chorley.
Then all of a sudden it wasn’t and I was elsewhere – fast forward to yesterday and I was in Chorley again.
Arriving at the Railway Station.
The current railway station is a modern version from the 1980s that was built on top of the original station – it is entirely functional, but more than somewhat undistinguished.
Crossing over the road to Market Walk.
Whether it’s fashion, gifts, everyday essentials or an entertaining day out that you’re after, Market Walk has it all. With over thirty shops along an outdoor parade, plus entertainment and hospitality venues, there’s something for everyone.
AEW Architects were appointed by Chorley Council in 2015 as Architects for the Market Walk Scheme.
The Council’s aspiration was to breathe life back into the town centre by enhancing Chorley’s retail and leisure offer and refocusing Chorley’s centre as a destination for local residents and surrounding towns. The development needed to entice new, and retain existing, businesses in the town. Aesthetically, the development also needed to be a landmark for, and create a modern gateway into, the town – driving footfall towards Chorley’s commercial centre.
Next door is the Bus Station, opened in February 2003 replacing the previous structure.
Opening of the previous Bus Station – Ribble the area’s operators, before the Stagecoach arrived.
The Post Office – with its later extension.
Though dated 1935 the architect Charles Wilkinson died in 1927 – posthumous construction following his earlier plans?
Former Fine Fare finds a new occupant the Big Bargain Store.
The NatWest Bank is still a NatWest Bank.
Next the Royal Bank of Scotland presenting and passing as a Post Office.
My good friend Mainstream Modern informs me that the architects were Cruickshank & Seward.
The distinctive white tiles of 2020 having become a living wall.
Long gone – this swish interior with its alarmingly charming calendar.
Let’s have a look around the back.
Next door this sinister functionalist brick structure.
Next to the Chorley Theatre, formerly the Empire Electric Theatre and currently the Empire Cinema.
Opened on on 3rd September 1910, one of the nation’s longest continuously running cinemas.
I spent some time chatting to the chatty guardian of the booking office, I learnt that the recently installed blue plaque commemorates the areas links to esteemed Beano artist Leo Baxendale.
Leo attended St Mary’s School which was sited opposite the theatre, he had a miserable time there, an experience which formed the basis for the famed Bash Street Kids.
He may well now chuckle to himself in comic book heaven, knowing that the school was demolished in 1982.
It’s only right that the town boasts a Leo Baxendale Trail.
Furthermore, I was ever so excited to hear that the really surreal Leonora Carrington, was a local lass and that the theatre were screening her biopic Leonora in the Morning Light.
Back down to earth with a bang and just around the bend – here’s a former Social Services building, very much in the post-war manner.
Next thing you know we are at the Police Station.
County Architect’s Report: 1963-64.
The design team was Roger Booth, Lancashire County Architect; CA Spivey, Assistant County Architect; DB Stephenson, Design Architect; and DG Edwards, AG Gass, responsible for the detailed design and construction. The seven-storey in-situ concrete framed main block was the last bespoke police station to be built in Lancashire, following this the department developed a systemised concrete construction method which was deployed across the county. The dramatic cantilevers gave the new building a stature and presence that signalled authority. The lower levels were accessed by ramps and provided space for police vehicles. To enter the police station one ascended a set of external stairs across a pool that once contained koi carp – fittingly, one boy described the new building as a ‘fishtank’ upon its completion. The magistrates’ court was finished externally in a grey brick and carried the signature pyramid rooflights that were synonymous with the Department.
Many thanks to Richard at Mainstream Modern
Next door its partner in crime the Magistrates Courts.
Opened in 1968.
The courts are up for sale – offers in the region of £800,000 – the property has planning permission for an eleven storey apartment building with fifty two flats, three ground floor retail units and roof terrace.
The disused court building was last sold in 2022 for £300,000, according to the Land Registry.
Designs for the scheme were drawn up by FWP Group.
Next door is a pub no longer a pub.
Once upon a time a Vaux Brewery house the White Hart – implausibly renamed the Snooty Fox for a brief period.
Photo Alan Winfield 1988 – The Never Ending Pub Crawl
This was a really big looking pub.
The pub was decent enough inside with a large room which was empty on our Friday dinner visit, the pub was a Vaux tied house so we were well pleased as we had not done many of them.
We had a drink of Vaux bitter which went down well.
Interior from Red Rose Collections.
Currently the Ukraine Unit Donation Centre.
Our group was created in February 2022 to try and help raise awareness of the crisis in Ukraine and to help organise and coordinate local efforts to send support from across the Borough of Chorley in Lancashire. We have since grown into a major hub for donations.
Across Chorley & District multiple educational facilities, community groups and organisations reacted and began to spread awareness and collect donations. In order to sift and sort a lot of local donations, a unit has been loaned by Chorley Council. A large percentage of the region’s aid has come into this unit and we are regularly packaging aid and supplies in preparation for the next leg of the journey to Ukraine, whether it’s transported there by us or other charitable organisations.
Our philosophy is that if we can all do a little bit, together we can make a big difference.
Bouncing back to what was and never shall be no more Barclays Bank.
Almost finally we find ourselves at the Council Offices 1982.
You will be delighted to hear that Chorley Council has a Masterplan
Self Architects generated a high level Masterplan for this prominent site. The scheme proposes a boutique hotel, offices, restaurants/bars, along with apartments, aiming to transform the town centre by intervention to enhance the overall vision by:
- Establish a series of formal/informal public spaces
- Diagonally link public spaces
- Greening pedestrian streets
- Reducing dominance of cars
- Improving evening economy
Having a moment or two on my hands I ventured to the land beyond beyond – the land of the concrete bench, bin and planter combo.
They are on Hollinshead Street.
Google Streetview 2022.
Wigan Civic Centre 2026
Over ten years ago I visited Wigan Civic Centre.
It looked a lot like this:
The current Pevsner Guide remarks:
1971 built of a pre-cast concrete panel system, dour, on an awkwardly sloping site.
I beg to differ – what’s the opposite of dour?
So says the online Thesaurus – and I heartily concur, for the whole building has had a makeover and a half.
Civic is a super energy-efficient workspace in the centre of Wigan town centre. The BREEAM Excellent building has space for business of all sizes, from desks for solo start-ups, all the way to big open plan offices with their own front door.
The brutalist beast has been lovingly restored by Capital&Centric to celebrate its architecture, with original waffle ceilings, corduroy concrete and stunning feature windows that flood the space with light.
The redevelopment was supported by cash from the UK Shared Prosperity Fund – UKSPF.
Dave Molyneux, the leader of Wigan Council, said:
I had an office in here for quite a while and it had that 1970s retro, concrete building style but this is something special.
For businesses, we’re probably the best located local authority in Greater Manchester because of the West Coast Main Line and the M6 motorway.
It was great to visit and tour Wigan Civic Centre on Millgate, to see the inspiring work being done to create sustainable workspaces and amenities in the centre of our town. This development, alongside others taking place and planned across the North West, will help to revitalise our public spaces
Lisa Nandy MP
The refit was handled by shedkm.
With students, start-ups and professionals situating themselves elsewhere in Greater Manchester, Wigan town had been missing out on the economic and cultural vitality that high quality workspace brings. Civic’s transformation represents not just the overhaul of a tired concrete building, but a wider renewal of place and opportunity for Wigan.
Main interior contractors were Workspace Design & Build.
Working with Wigan Council and Capital & Centric, we completed the refurbishment of the 50,000 sq ft building that is Wigan Civic Centre. Delivering aspirational office accommodation to stimulate economic growth with the goal to create a lasting social impact in Wigan. In addition to exemplar market-leading workspace, amenities include a rooftop terrace, mini cinema, gym studio and co-working/coffee shop space.
Here’s the exterior.
Many thanks to the Cotton Café Bar for kindly allowing us in after hours.
Diners image Canning O’Neill – spaces to let.
Ultimately, civic stands as a symbol of optimism for Wigan, proving that intelligent commercial design can catalyse economic renewal, secure a sustainable future, and truly lift a town’s spirits, without erasing its history. It is a gold standard for the adaptive reuse of 20th-century landmarks.
Judge, BCO Awards 2026
Open for business bob along pronto.
Squires Gate to Blackpool Pleasure Beach
On Wednesday 21st January, I boarded the 9.33 for Blackpool from Platform 14 Manchester Piccadilly station.
10.35 the train terminated at Preston – thus far and no further.
Thinking on my feet, I legged it rapido to Preston Bus Station and just about caught the 68 bus to Blackpool.
Already an hour or two behind time I elected to alight at Squires Gate, and take a walk along the South Promenade toward the town centre.
The promenade is home to a plethora of public art works and sculptural shelters.
The Great Promenade Show originated from the major redevelopment undertaken by the then Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs to replace and strengthen the 2km long South Promenade’s seawall flood defences. This £20 million project entailed removing the existing Victorian promenade and replacing it with a new well-designed concrete promenade on two levels. The upper level was to incorporate ’roundels’ every hundred metres, on which it was intended to site specially designed features, including wind shelters and visual displays possibly representative of the history of Blackpool. A Millennium Lottery bid was made by the Council to this end, though a commitment to start building had to be made before the outcome of the bid was known. The bid was unsuccessful, but the sites for visual features along the new promenade remained, as did the Council’s commitment to occupying them. At this point, responsibility for managing the project shifted from the Council’s Technical Services Department to its Education, Leisure and Cultural Services Division.
The Frankenstein Project by Tony Stallard
Like a sinister exhibit in one of Blackpool ‘s Victorian freak shows, the skeleton of a killer whale made from pulsating dark blue neon can be viewed through portholes within a metal tank like a decompression chamber.
The work was subsequently removed.
The structure has been on display for the public to enjoy for over 15 years and was deemed unsightly due to corrosion, which is why the decision was taken to remove it. PTSG Building Access Specialists Ltd planned the decommissioning and contract crane lift from start to completion.
Water Wings by Bruce Williams
Designed to be viewed in motion from the adjacent tram track and road, the photographic image of a swimming child laser cut into an 8m long curved stainless steel screen gradually resolves and disappears again as the viewer moves past.
Glam Rocks by Peter Freeman
Inspired by Las Vegas and the Blackpool Illuminations, three large pebble-like modelled shapes glitter after dark, as hundreds of fibre optic light points on their surface slowly change colour and sparkle.
They Shoot Horses, Don’t They? by Michael Trainor and The Art Department
Blackpool is known as the “ballroom capital of Britain”. This rotating ball 6m in diameter, covered in almost 47,000 mirrors, has been claimed as the world’s largest mirror ball, and is named after the 1969 film about a depression era ballroom marathon in the USA.
Desire by Chris Knight
An abstract sculpture 8m high, contrasting rusty corten steel with shiny stainless steel spikes, inspired by the town’s reputation as a destination for ‘dirty weekends’, and its hidden ‘fetish scene’. It casts the shadow of a spiky heart on the promenade.
Swivelling Wind Shelters by Ian McChesney with Atelier One
Three 8m high, stainless steel shelters turn like weather vanes, keeping their occupants away from the prevailing wind. Designed by architect Ian McChesney, in collaboration with engineers Atelier One, the graceful sculptural form of the shelters, shaped like whales’ flukes, is structured like an aircraft wing, vibrating in strong gusts of wind.
Sandcastle the UK’s largest indoor water park.
Sandcastle opened on 26 June 1986 on the site of the former South Shore Open Air Baths as a joint public/private partnership. Operation of the facility was taken back into Blackpool Council ownership in 2003. A significant investment in new attractions costing £5.5M was also agreed, which was delivered in two phases, with the second opening in 2006 on time and on budget.
In 2012, Sandcastle opened two new Aztec-themed slides, one with a chamber called ‘Aztec Falls’, and a toboggan-like slide called ‘Montazooma’.
Situated adjacent to the South Pier at Blackpool was the open- air swimming bath. Elliptical in form, it was designed in the renaissance style of architecture, with white ivory terracotta, known as ‘Marmola’. It was said to be the largest and finest of its kind in the world and similar in design to the colosseum of ancient Rome.
Built at a cost of around £70,000, Designed by JC Robinson – Borough Architect, it was officially opened on the 9th June 1923, the same day as the first Blackpool Carnival, by the Mayor of Blackpool, Councillor Henry Brooks. The opening ceremony was followed by a short swimming exhibition in which Blackpool swimmer Lucy Morton took part. The following year Lucy was to win a gold medal in the 1924 Paris Olympics.
Sadly in 1983, following years of neglect and falling attendances, the bath was demolished.
Pleasure Beach Casino and Cafe 1937-40
Built to the designs of Joseph Emberton for Leonard Thompson; restored and altered 1972 and 1977-9 by Keith Ingham. Reinforced concrete in the International Modern style. Circular plan, the circle broken by three principal projections marking the main entrance and foyer, the main exit and the main public stairs. The key to the plan were the central kitchens on the ground and first floors, serving (on the former) a number of restaurants and (on the latter) a banqueting room. Kitchens now on first floor only. The result is a sequence of intriguingly curved rooms; originally there was no public access to this inner core area or directly across the building, but this has now been provided. The basement contained stores, a billiard room and sports facilities, now in mixed use. Between ground and first floor is a mezzanine office range, with private flat over. Top floor built as roof garden, provided with a glazed curtain wall in c.1940 by Emberton and largely infilled as an extra floor in 1972.
Merseyside Food Products Ltd – Liverpool
Merseyside Food Products Ltd of Marsh Lane, later 185 Regent Road.
Edible oil producers.
1939 Producing Pier Head brand margarine.
The Regent Road premises had originally been the marine engineering North Works of H&C Grayson. It appears that the southern block was converted to a warehouse at some point before being occupied by Merseyside Food Products in the 1950s.
The Regent Road factory closed in 1984.
Having a casual afternoon stroll along the road, I espied a narrow gap in the railings, whilst I could never be considered a devotee of urbex, who can resist a narrow gap in the railings?
There are those who have been here before – the 28 Days Later folk take a much deeper peep.
Uncovering some of the left behind plant.
And attracting a comment from a former employee:
I was company microbiologist at this site, The sets of broken windows at the front of the building on the first floor were the laboratories.
The main photograph shows the chemistry laboratory, my microbiology laboratory was next door.
The larger windows to the left provided light to a large open plan reception and office area. Within the factory, the main area had various packing machines for margarines, from 250g paper wrapped packets to 2 Kg catering packs.
A second packing area contained a machine that produced tinned margarine for the Ministry of Defence, who supplied it to the Army overseas.
Cratedigger
urbanchemist – 18th
Whilst feeling that familiar frisson of mild trepidation, whilst walking through the debris, dirt and decay, it’s important to recall those who have walked and worked in these now derelict premises.
With that in mind here’s what I saw whilst feeling that familiar frisson of mild trepidation, whilst walking through the debris, dirt and decay,
St Mary’s Church Interior
Broadfield Drive Leyland Lancashire PR25 1PD
May I first thanks Parish Administrator Catherine, for taking the time to open the church for our visiting group of Modernists this Saturday – and providing us with the warmest of welcomes, along with a brew and a biscuit or two.
The church was designed by Jerzy Faczynski of Weightman and Bullen. Cardinal Heenan blessed the foundation stone in 1962 and the new church was completed ready for its consecration and dedication by Archbishop Beck in April 1964.
The church is a testament to the ambition, imagination and optimism of its age. Significantly, the building was the collaborative work of both immigrant and native architects, artists and designers.
This has been celebrated by Owen Hatherley’s recent book The Alienation Effect.
A folded slab roof of ninety five feet in diameter, its concrete cast on site, bearing the marks of the wooden shuttering, contrasting with the smooth surface of the pre-cast valley beams.
The Crucifix Rex frame is by Alan Roberts and the ceramic figure by Adam Kossowski.
The organ is designed by JW Walker & Son.
The candlesticks and metal furnishings in all the Chapels were fashioned in the foundry of Messrs Bagnall of Kirkby to the design of Robin McGhie.
The curved benches are of Ghana mahogany and were made by the Robert Thompson Craftsmen of Kilburn, the steel work by GS Graham of Stokesley. The distinctive Mouseman mouse can be found on several of the bench ends.
Dalle de Verre stained glass by Patrick Reyntiens, thirty-six panels abstract totalling two hundred and thirty three feet in length.
The theme for the windows is taken from the first nine verses of Genesis, and the passage of Proverbs c. vii. Amorphous undifferentiated matter with the beginnings of definition and pattern, with here and there the promise of order and system.
The Stations of the Cross are the work of Liverpool sculptor Arthur Dooley.
The Chapel of the Blessed Sacrament is designed to seat one hundred and twenty.
The lettering on the green marble frieze is by George Thomas.
The tabernacle, crystal lamp and altar furniture were designed by Robin McGhie.
The tapestry, designed by architect Jerzy Faczynski and woven by the Edinburgh Tapestry Company, under H Jefferson Barnes and Anthony Brennan.
The etched glass panels are also by Jerzy Faczynski.
This is a church whose design and integral interior order and design, sits alongside both Coventry Cathedral and Liverpool Cathedral of Christ the King.
The finest materials and skills, working in harmony to produce a majestic whole.
Take a look outside too!
St Mary’s Church Exterior.
Broadfield Drive Leyland Lancashire PR25 1PD
I was first here in 2019 – it was raining, so snapping the exterior was a soggy task.
Returning in 2025 on a sunny day was a blessing.
This is a suburban church with the ambition of a Modernist cathedral – a radical construction in concrete, brick, stone and glass.
It more than deserves its Grade II Listing.
The Benedictines came to Leyland in 1845 and the first Church of St. Mary’s was built on Worden Lane in 1854. The Catholic population was small at this time, but had grown to around 500 by 1900. Growth was assisted by the industrial development of Leyland and after the Second World War the town was earmarked as the centre of a new town planned in central Lancashire. By the early 1960’s, the Catholic population was 5,000. Fr Edmund Fitzsimmons, parish priest from 1952, was a guiding force in the decision to build a large new church of advanced liturgical design, inspired by progressive continental church architecture of the mid 20th century. The church was designed by Jerzy Faczynski of Weightman and Bullen. Cardinal Heenan blessed the foundation stone in 1962 and the new church was completed ready for its consecration and dedication by Archbishop Beck in April 1964.
Dalle de Verre stained glass by Patrick Reyntiens.
Large polychrome ceramic mural representing the Last Judgment by Adam Kossowski occupies the width of the porch above the two double-doored entrances.
Let’s take a turn around this stunning building – the etched glass on the Chapel of the Blessed Sacrament is by Jerzy Faczynski.
Take a look inside too!
Lower Falinge – Rochdale 2025
I came along to take a look around in 2017 – at this point all of the homes are occupied.
Fast forward to 2025 and the estate looks very different, a minority of the blocks have been refurbished.
The remainder have been, or are to be demolished.
Rochdale’s 2021 planning statement for Lower Falinge is beguiling in its talk of ‘a better quality and mix’ of housing, better public space and better links with surrounding areas. It goes on to say that the ‘the delivery of market housing within this area is required to deliver this diversification and to ensure the sustainability of retained affordable housing in the area’ – a sentence containing the claim that a tenure mix of public and owner-occupied housing is a good in itself, whilst also acknowledging contradictorily that affordable housing (how affordable?) is only possible by cross-subsidy from market sales’
Some 560 new homes were proposed in Lower Falinge. The plans as a whole proposed the loss of 720 primarily social rent homes and their replacement by 560 new homes of indeterminate tenure.
The tenants in the refurbished blocks with whom I chatted were convinced that demolition was not the answer, further renewal could take place, Rochdale Boroughwide Housing, despite a well prepared save our homes campaign thought not.
In March, we told you that we planned to demolish the six empty maisonette blocks – Ollerton, Newstead, Romsey, Quinton, Ullesthorpe, and Vaynor, in Lower Falinge, as well as the former RSPCA buildings and the former car wash on High Street, within the next 12 months. This will make way for the development of new family homes across a larger site that we will work with the community on designing.
Rochdale Boroughwide Housing July 2025
Our beautiful mature greenery here on Lower Falinge is showcased in this wonderful video. We are proud of living here surrounded by all this nature – it really is like living in a park.
Unfortunately our urban oasis of calm is at risk of being destroyed if RBH demolish 128 homes and eventually build on the land.
These homes are destined to be demolished.
Whilst this adjoining block has been refurbished.
Along with this block of shops.
Once home to the Highland Laddie pub which closed in 2010.
The remainder of the estate remains in limbo.
Next door the new homes have been built.
A major housing regeneration scheme which includes the construction of 30 energy efficient, affordable homes is breathing new life into the Lower Falinge neighbourhood in Rochdale.
The project is being carried out for Rochdale Boroughwide Housing by Rochdale-based main contractor The Casey Group with OMI Architects. This is the largest of 3 schemes that Casey has carried out for RBH.
College Bank Flats – Rochdale 2025
College Bank Flats aka The Seven Sisters, one sunny morning in late August.
Following visits in January 2017 and March 2017, I was in town to take a group of Modernists on a Rochdale Ramble.
In recent years these homes have been under threat of both demolition and refurbishment.
Rochdale Boroughwide Housing – RBH had sought help from a developer to pay for its £107m plans to refurbish the College Bank high-rise apartments, known in the town as the Seven Sisters.
But the social housing landlord has been unable to reach a commercially viable agreement to help improve the blocks where 250 people live.
Amanda Newton, RBH chief executive said the lack of a deal was disappointing but all options for the future of the site would still be explored.
Many of the apartments spread across the Seven Sisters remain unoccupied after a plan was announced to demolish four of the blocks in 2017, leading to an exodus of hundreds of tenants. RBH later reconsidered the plan, and instead signed a deal with developer Legal & General Affordable Housing last year, to find a viable way of refurbishing the apartments.
All 700 flats in the 1960s blocks were set to be redeveloped under the plans, but the pair’s agreement has now come to an end without a solution emerging.
John Hurn, who has lived in the Tentercroft tower block with his wife Sharon, for 18 years, said:
Not knowing what’s happening, I get frustrated, this is home to me, Rochdale is home.
So an unsatisfactory stasis prevails across the windswept piazzas, podium garages and towering towers.
Local photographer Ellie Waters has her pictures of the flats displayed in the underpass.
Notes From College Bank is an ongoing project which documents the College Bank buildings in Rochdale, Greater Manchester. Known locally as ‘The Seven Sisters’, College Bank is formed of seven high-rise social housing blocks, four of which have come under recent threat of demolition.
Drawing from found imagery and photographs taken by my late Grandfather – M J Burgess – who like me grew up in Rochdale, I’ve been working with past and present residents to create a collective record of life in and around College Bank.
This project is ongoing, if you would like to share your stories of College Bank please get in touch via email – notesfromcollegebank@gmail.com
Here is a recent post from Municipal Dreams outlining the history state of play – Rochdale Housing Part II.
Fast forward to the present, the Seven Sisters still stand – an impressive architectural statement in the heart of Rochdale and, to my mind, as powerful a testament to municipal endeavour and aspiration as the town’s nearby town hall. But much has changed. In the slow evolution that affected council housing more broadly, the flats became less desirable, even, in some eyes, a ‘sink estate’. In Robin Parker’s view, the Council started re-housing people in the blocks ‘not suitable for high-rise living’ – a typical occurrence when the most vulnerable on the waiting list and those with least choice are allocated to so-called ‘hard to let’ estates.
Magistrates’ Court – Preston
Lawson St Preston PR1 UK
We have often walked by the Magistrates’ Courts on the Preston Walk.
So, it’s about time this low lying white tiled delight received some well deserved attention.
Though recently there have been structural problems:
The safety of everyone who uses our courts is paramount and the decision to temporarily close Blackpool and Preston Magistrates’ courts was made in line with professional advice following the detection of defective Reinforced Autoclaved Aerated Concrete. These court buildings will reopen once they are assessed as safe by professionals following the completion of required remedial works.
There have also been solutions:
Preston Magistrates’ Court is currently scheduled to reopen in January 2024.
Local lad Tom Finney was unable for comment, though saddened to hear that the Microgramma sign was no longer in situ.
Copyright Rex Shutterstock
Microgramma is a sans-serif typeface designed by Aldo Novarese and Alessandro Butti for the Nebiolo Type Foundry in 1952. It became popular for use with technical illustrations in the 1960s, and was a favourite of graphic designers by the early 1970s.
The building is the work of the Borough Architects under John Hatton – though I am reliably informed that County Architect Roger Booth took an advisory role.
The Courts certainly echoes many of the stylistic and material characteristics of his work, particularly the County Archives, with similar piloti and glazing.
So let’s take a circuitous tour.
This is the seriously neglected seating area.
The Courts once had a Roger Booth Police Station as a neighbour.
Photographs – Richard Brook
Converted to apartments in 2013, with current plans for further developments.
More than 200 student flats are set to be built on part of Preston’s former divisional police headquarters. Preston City Council planning officers have recommended that councillors give the go-ahead to the scheme – at the junction of Walker Street and Lawson Street, to the rear of the magistrates’ and crown courts.
The part of the plot where the new ‘studio apartments’ would be erected is currently occupied by a multi-level public car park, accessed from Saul Street, which has been operated as a pay and display facility by Chorley-based Parking Eye for the last nine years.
Other Roger Booth police stations have also been visited by the wrecking ball, Blackpool and Bury are now no longer extant.
Burnley Central Railway Station
Burnley Central railway station is a stop on the East Lancashire Line, it is managed by Northern Trains, which also provides its passenger service.
Architect: RL Moorcroft of British Rail 1964-1966
Described by Claire Hartwell in the Buildings of England Lancashire: North as – of blue brick, bleak.
The station was opened by the East Lancashire Railway in 1848, as part of its route from Bury and Blackburn to Colne; here, an end-on junction was made with the Leeds and Bradford Extension Railway line from Skipton that had been completed several months earlier. The service from Colne through the station to Manchester Victoria, via Accrington and Bury, was well used from the outset by the owners of the local cotton mills, who travelled from their homes in the area to make their purchases of raw cotton at the Royal Exchange several times each week. It was also possible to travel from the station by direct train to Blackpool, Liverpool and Skipton and even through to London Euston, via Blackburn, Manchester Victoria and Stockport.
1964 Red Rose Collections.
However, the cutbacks of the 1960s affected the station badly, with through trains to Manchester via Bury ending in 1964 (two years before the withdrawal of the Accrington to Bury service) and those to Liverpool in 1969 whilst the line to Skipton was closed to all traffic in 1970. This left the station on a 10.5 km long dead-end branch line from Rose Grove to Colne.
The station was rebuilt in 1965, its ground floor is at street level and the first floor at platform level.
1985
On the day of my visit the hourly service to Colne was almost due, there were two passengers on the platform.
A single track to a dead end town, the booking office and waiting room locked.
Blackpool to Cleveleys Walk
I have previously written about the Blackpool North Shore here and here.
Observing the shore from the promenade.
The shore was designated as a conservation area in 2018.
Yesterday, Wednesday 21st May 2025, the sun was shining and the tide was out, I decided to walk along the sands, and look towards the land.
To the right the Imperial Hotel – 1866-7 by Clegg and Knowles of Manchester, wing added 1875 by Mangnall and Littlewood.
The hotel was established in 1867. Charles Dickens stayed at the hotel in 1869. In 1904, the hotel was extended with the addition of a large neo-baroque style dining room. In 1912, Princess Louise, Duchess of Argyll stayed at the hotel.In the mid 20th century, Winston Churchill, Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother, Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon and The Beatles stayed at the hotel. Queen Elizabeth II stayed at the hotel when visiting Blackpool. In 1985, Margaret Thatcher celebrated her 60th birthday in the hotel. In 2002, US President Bill Clinton and Prime Minister Tony Blair stayed at the hotel for the Labour party conference.
The hotel is Grade II listed.
Join us at The Imperial Hotel Blackpool for an unforgettable experience where entertainment, family fun, and group leisure come together. Book now and start creating memories that will last a lifetime.
Grand Hotel – the hotel was built as the Pembroke Hotel in 1982, became the Hilton Hotel in 1999 and The Grand Hotel in 2017
The hotel was built next to the site of the Derby Baths 1939 – architect: John Charles Robinson who between 1920-1944 designed many of Blackpool’s landmark civic buildings including libraries, schools, swimming baths, leisure facilities and tourist infrastructure.
Sadly, the baths were demolished in 1990.
To the right the Savoy Hydro Hotel.
The Savoy Hotel, just north of Gynn Square, is one of the series of large red brick and red terracotta hotels built around the turn of the century. The architect was TG Lumb and the hotel opened in 1915; the sun lounge in Hathern’s cream faience was added in 1935 by Lumb and Walton.
Architects of Greater Manchester
The Cliffs Hotel started in 1921 – architect Halstead Best substantially rebuilt and enlarged the building 1936–37 and added an underground carpark
Castle Casino – architect: Arthur Hindle 1906
Arthur Knowles built the Castle at 64 Queens Promenade North Shore for his wife, who unfortunately stayed in France. The couple stayed in the house for a mere nine months during 1929. Apart from housing Belgian refugees during World War 1, it stayed empty until 1935. It then opened briefly as an old people’s home, before being bought by Lawrence Wright – AKA Horatio Nicholls, as his home.
Wright sold it in 1941, and after several years as the home of the Blackpool and Fylde Motor Club, it became the Castle Casino of today in 1965, first owned by wrestler Jack Pye, who moved to Blackpool in 1950. It has had various identities, and was last taken over in 2005, now being known as the Genting Club – part of a national chain of that name.
Former Miners Convalescent Home 1925-27 – architects: Bradshaw Gass & Hope, Grade II listed
Converted to apartments in 2005 – trading as Admiral Point.
Norbreck Castle Hotel originally built as a large private country house in 1869, it was bought around the end of the 19th century by JH Shorrocks, who used the house to entertain friends and colleagues at lavish weekend parties. The popularity of these parties led to Shorrocks running them on a commercial basis by taking paying guests.
The S Block by architect WH Longworth 1912 – the N Block by Halstead Best 1933-34.
In the 1970’s the Motel wing was added along with, the large Norcalympia exhibition hall, the name was changed from the Norbreck Hydro to Norbreck Castle.
European Regional Development Fund cash of £450,000 was granted towards a regeneration project on Cleveleys Promenade. Wyre Council improved 64,000 sq ft of the promenade to create a more attractive place for visitors to the town. The latest work complements the £20m sea defence installation.
Broadbent Studio worked collaboratively from the outset with Wyre Council, Ferguson & McIlveen and Faber Maunsell in 2008, to create an exciting new promenade and sea defence scheme for the coastline at Cleveleys.
The Sea Swallow is a 10m tall structure that brings to life Wyre’s Mythic Coast storybook ‘The Sea Swallow’. The coated aluminium sculpture, has the feel of ‘a book coming to life’, with the two sea swallows symbolic of the town’s protectors emerging from the page.
St Thomas Estate – Radcliffe
By Wilson and Womersley 1968, the project architect was John Sheard.
New-towny, dense low-rise housing irregularly grouped around and over pedestrian access paths.
The 2003 masterplan recommence its removal.
The masterplan states that Radcliffe has many unattractive buildings and few architectural assets. But this could work to its advantage as a lack of protected or noteworthy buildings makes it easier to replace them with contemporary structures.
This could include demolishing the “unwelcoming” St Thomas Estate and replacing it with a mix of private and social housing on the old street layout. Existing tenants would be rehoused in the new houses so that the community would not be broken up.
JL Womersely famously Sheffield City Architect:
During his term, Sheffield’s housing grew upwards with multi-storey flats constructed at Low Edges, Park Hill, Hyde Park, Netherthorpe and Woodside. It was Womersley’s response to 13,000 families on the council’s waiting list and 10,000 condemned properties waiting to be demolished.
Wilson and Womersley were responsible for the Hulme Crescents and Manchester Arndale.
In the space of a decade they shaped Manchester’s urban fabric, leaving a questionable legacy. The technical quality of their buildings was undoubtedly poor, but their qualities – bold forms, monolithic materiality and streets-in-the-sky – were of the moment, and captured a particular brand of urban renewal, imported from North America and inflected through British post-war planning.
Social housing has been, and continues to be, a contentious arena. This seemingly well-constructed estate was once deemed unfit for habitation by its residents.
Tenants of the St Thomas’ Estate in the town centre allege they have been forgotten by Six Town Housing, which manages the properties.
Magda Csatlos, former chairman of the now disbanded Tenants and Residents Association said rotten bricks with visible gaps between them, badly-designed leaking roofs and damp and mouldy conditions plague many of the 90 homes.
Happily the Local Authority are able to remedy the problem.
After some residents on the estate, who were visited by Bury South MP Ivan Lewis, called for the properties to be “condemned”, the Council agreed to invest £2 million to bring the homes up to standard.
A total of 90 social housing properties on St Thomas Estate have been provided with new external rendering, roofing, windows, doors, insulation and brick cladding.
On the day of my visit the long term tenants with whom I spoke were happily, happy with their homes.
Here are some photographs, taken under the watchful golden eye of a low winter sun, hence the dramatic light and shade.
Heaton Park Reservoir Pumping Station
Built between 1954-5 by the Manchester City Architect’s Department, Chief Architect Leonard C Howitt, for the Manchester Corporation Waterworks. Alan Atkinson, engineer. Incorporates large relief by Mitzi Cunliffe, signed and dated 1955. Yorkshire sandstone, with Westmorland greenstone from Broughton Moor used as relief. Roof not seen above dentiled overhang.
Carved relief is a highly stylised depiction of the bringing of water from Haweswater to Manchester with contemporary figures supporting the pipeline and a curious flat relief designed to be seen from below. It was designed to commemorate those who constructed it as well as the origin and course of the aqueduct. Beneath it five plaques tell the history of the Haweswater supply.
Haweswater Dam – Paul King
Completely preserved interior fully lined in beige marble, with contrasting green marble skirting continued as door surround. Behind the Cunliffe mural is a wood relief section in sycamore depicting the 82 mile route of the pipe.
The bringing of water to Manchester from a new reservoir at Haweswater was a major undertaking which cost £14,000,000. The sectional relief plan and the mural were conceived as part of the original brief to give a ‘monumental’ character to the city’s remarkable achievement. Included as a remarkable synthesis of architectural design and fine sculpture, with the dominance of the latter in this tiny building. The building materials and the reliefs are all symbolic of the achievement in bringing of water from the Lake District to Manchester.
Historic England Grade II Listed
In 1929 work started to build the dam wall across the valley floor. At the time of construction, its design was considered to be at the forefront of civil engineering technology because it was the world’s first hollow buttress dam.
Before the valley was flooded in 1935, all the farms and dwellings of the villages of Mardale Green and Measand were demolished, as well as the centuries-old Dun Bull Inn at Mardale Green. The village church was dismantled and the stone used in constructing the dam; all the bodies in the churchyard were exhumed and re-buried at Shap.
I have previously led Mitzi Cunliffe walks in south Manchester – taking in her works at Owens Park and Manchester High School for Girls.
Mitzi Cunliffe is primarily known as the designer of the BAFTA Award, but her work encompasses both ceramics and textiles, in addition to her extensive public art works – as illustrated here.
Mitzi Cunliffe – An American in Manchester is available from the Modernist Shop.
I took the tram to Heaton Park Station and walked the rest of the way.
The imposing structure, clad in the dramatic relief dominates this domesticated street of well behaved semis. As I stood admiring the work, a passerby joined me in a mutual appreciation of its beauty and significance.
Do yourself a favour – take a trip, take a look for yourself.
Blackpool 2024
Blackpool Council says it remains committed to the Blackpool Central project amid the potential collapse of the developer leading the works.
But warning alarms sounded this week when Nikal – which was hired to oversee the project – filed a notice of intent to appoint administrators.
The £300m Blackpool Central development is billed as the biggest single investment in the town in more than a century and is planned to involve a “world-class leisure development” which would create 1,000 new jobs, bring an extra 600,000 visitors per year, and boost annual spend in the town by around £75m.
A spokesperson for Blackpool Council told the Blackpool Lead:
We have been working on the enabling phase of Blackpool Central over the last few years. The new multi-storey car park opened earlier this summer and we are currently completing preparations to demolish the old police station and courts building early in the New Year.
The proposals for the Bonny Street area can be seen here.
Plans for the area have hit further problems.
A new £40m magistrates courthouse is facing building delays after the project’s main contractor collapsed. Blackpool’s magistrates court was one of twenty two projects belonging to construction giant ISG, which was working on the scheme for the Ministry of Justice.
But the firm went into administration in September, leaving two thousand two hundred workers at risk of redundancy, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.
Work was due to start early next year with a completion date expected in 2026.
The town needs all the help it can get, time has not been too kind, whilst efforts have been made to invigorate the area around Blackpool North and the promenade, the back streets reflect the legacy of years of deprivation.
Blackpool ranks as one of the most deprived areas in the UK. Many people were already in poverty, and the cost of living pressures are having the biggest impact on this group, who need to spend a greater proportion of their incomes on household essentials. It is also affecting people on low and middle incomes, often surviving by having several jobs, who are being pushed into poverty. More people are turning to services for support, and as the winter progresses this is a serious concern.
Here is the statistical evidence as of 2021.
I have no wish to poor scorn on the area – but a short walk around the streets approximate to the coast tells a tale of failed businesses, decay and decline.
Happily there are the seeds of recovery in evidence, in the form of newly built housing.
The executive report outlines an area of regeneration to the South of the town centre. It lies broadly between Chapel Street and Rigby Road, and the Promenade and Central Drive. These have been identified as the initial areas of focus for detailed scheme development, community engagement and property acquisitions in preparation for future development.
We all deserve better.
Bury Walk
Arriving at and looking around the Interchange – 1980 architects: Essex Goodman & Suggitt
It is the northern terminus of the Manchester Metrolink’s Bury Line, which prior to 1992 was a heavy-rail line.
A new short spur line was constructed to connect the new station. The railway had originally run into Bury Bolton Street which was further away from the town centre, and was closed by British Rail on the same day that Bury Interchange opened.
It also incorporates a bus station.
Bury Interchange replaced the bus termini scattered around Bury town centre, notably around Kay Gardens.
Image courtesy of Roy Banks
An £80m transformation is coming to the Bury Interchange, which will see step-free access at the Metrolink, a “vertical circulation core” to better connect the Metrolink with the bus facility, and an integrated travel hub with spaces for cycle storage.
The work is much-needed, explained Transport for Greater Manchester’s Alan Lowe, he said that the interchange was built in the 1980s and very much is of its time.
Onward to the Art Picture House which is Grade II Listed – currently operating as a Wetherspoons.
The Art Picture Palace was a 1923 rebuild of the earlier Art Picture Hall both designed by architect Albert Winstanley. The Art Picture Palace was opened on 26th January 1923. A remarkably complete survivor of a 1920’s cine-variety house executed in an elaborate style.
Films ceased in February 1965 and it became a bingo club. Later converted into a billiard hall until 19th May 1991 when it became a bingo club again, it later became a Chicago Rock Cafe.
Cinema Treasures
Next door a typical steel glass and brick banded office block Maple House.
Around the corner and over the road to the Town Hall 1939-40 architects: Reginald Edmonds of Jackson & Edmonds then 1947-54.
Large and Dull – Niklaus Pevsner.
Back through the Interchange to the former Cooperative Store of the 1930’s.
The Portland Stone towers still visible – the elevation largely retro-clad in glass.
Passing through the Millgate Shopping Centre of the 1980’s.
Unambitious but successful, the floors cheerfully tiled – Niklaus Pevsner.
Down in the subway at midday.
The better to get a view of the Market Hall 1971 – architects: Harry S Fairhurst.
The Indoor Market Hall is currently closed due to the discovery of Reinforced Autoclaved Aerated Concrete – within the building structure. RAAC is a lightweight type of building material that was used between the 1950s and 1990s.
Back under the road – where we find a delightful Telephone Exchange.
With an adjacent Multi Story Car Park.
Around the bend to The Rock.
The Rock is a vibrant retail and leisure centre which is home to a range of high street fashion brands, independent retailers, tantalising eateries and fantastic entertainment – it’s the perfect place to visit any day of the week.
It is the work of architects BDP – completed in 2010 at a cost of £350 million.
Our masterplan for The Rock took into account the historical street pattern and public realm context to give the scheme its own identity, and make visual connections to local landmarks.
The retail and leisure scheme brings many exciting brands to Bury for the first time.
New pedestrian streets rejuvenate and improve connections to adjacent areas stitching the town back together.
The development will also contain 408 one and two-bedroom apartments.
Back to basics at a former Burton’s hiding its faience facade.
Typical inter-war infill on our crazy mixed up mongrel high streets.
Ribblesdale House
Application by Shop and Store Developments Ltd submitted August 1965. Architect on application was Samuel Jackson and Son of Ocean Chambers in Bradford but during the application process this changed to John Brunton & Partners – Brunton was a partner in Jackson’s firm, at the same address. It had a restaurant and shops on the first floor.
Off now to the Bury Bolton Street Station – currently home to the East Lancashire Railway.
The street level buildings were destroyed by fire on 14 May 1947 and were replaced with a new brick and concrete entrance and footbridge in 1952.
British Rail closed the station on 17 March 1980, when it was replaced by a new bus/rail interchange station further east into the town centre. Bury Interchange railway station served up until 1991 before the entire Bury Line was converted to light rail operation. It reopened in 1992 for Metrolink operation.
Bury was once the centre of multiple train links and the lost station of Knowsley Street.
Over the road the former Temperance Billiard Hall 1910 architect Norman Evans.
Down the side and up the steps to the Unitarian Church.
The new church was designed and constructed by local architects James T Ratcliffe.
The church was opened in 1974, with a service of dedication on Saturday, 9th March. The total cost, including furnishings, was £85,000.
The People Praising by Elizabeth Mulchinock is a 12 foot high original sculpture at the front of the church which represents the family of the church.
Her work can also be seen at Sainsbury’s in West Ealing and Reading.
Next door is the former Trustee Saving Bank.
Planning application January 1965 – work started in June 1965. The architectural firm was Richard Byrom, Hill and partners. Richard Byrom was submitting building applications in the 1930s in Bury and locally.
The rendering on the building is original but the windows have been changed. The Job Centre took over the building in 1993. It is in a conservation area and the Civic Trust had some concerns!
Many thanks to David French for the above information.
Bonny Street Police Station – Blackpool 2024
The concrete and the clay beneath my feet
Begins to crumble
But love will never die
Doomed to face the demolition crew – the anti-social intrusions and falling masonry have enforced a fence, an impenetrable fence.
My requests for unforced entry were politely rebuffed by the hi-vis vest security guards.
A former police station could finally be demolished this autumn after closing six years ago when officers moved to new headquarters.
Blackpool Magistrates’ Court, which is part of the same complex, will also be bulldozed after crumbling concrete was discovered in the building in January.
In recent months, the empty Bonny Street police station has become a target for anti-social behaviour.
Clearance of the site will pave the way for investment in leisure facilities including hotels and indoor theme parks by developer Nikal.
So this is the last time around the concrete block for me – memories are made of this, my previous visit in 2022.
Yet the future still seems slightly uncertain.
It is unclear at this stage how the vision for the development has changed in the three-plus years since the outline plans were approved.
For those of you watching in colour – this is in black and white.
May be the last time, I don’t know
May be the last time, I don’t know
Lord, I don’t know
Charles Anderson Frieze – Burnley
Holme Rd Burnley BB12 0RT
Photo – Robert Wade
William Thompson was born at Richmond Yorkshire, the son of John and Catherine Thompson. William came to Burnley in 1908 and gained a place at Burnley Grammar school. Later he learned the trade of cotton weaving at his uncle’s shed. In time he was to become the managing director of this firm. William lived at Oak Bank Todmorden road, where in spite of his great wealth, he led a remarkably simple life. He had neither television nor radio, and his greatest pleasure appeared to be strolling in the nearby Towneley Park. About 1970, ill health forced William to move to his sister’s house at Ingleton Yorkshire. His illness became worse, and he was removed to a nursing home at Silverdale, near Lancaster, where after a prolonged infirmity he died on 18, August 1972. It was William and his sister, Sarah Witham who donated the £333,000 that was eventually used to build the Thompson Recreation Centre. William was never to see the gift he bestowed upon the town, for his death came just a few days before the official opening of the centre. It was his sister, Sarah who performed the opening, and she too was to die a short time afterwards on 8, December 1975. She was the last link in the Thompson family of Burnley.
Many thanks to local historian and author Jack Nadin
The Thompson Recreation Centre was decorated by a large concrete frieze by Scottish artist Charles Anderson.
Town Architects 1975
Formed from precast concrete panels against expanded polystyrene moulds – it stands 150ft long and 9ft high.
It was gifted from funds provided by the estate of local Cotton Manufacturer and major town benefactor, William Thompson. The building was a flagship symbol of progress for Burnley in 1973, it was demolished in 2006.
Fortunately, the frieze was carefully dismantled, stored and reinstated by Andrew Brown.
Mr Brown said:
This frieze has a massive place in our community. It gives me enormous pleasure to give this magnificent artwork a new home. It breathes new life into the legacy of William Thompson who did so much for Burnley.
It is now located at the Crow Wood Hotel & Spa Resort. walked from the to
Charles Anderson designed the sculpture over months at his studio in Paisley said:
I was a young man of 34 when I was approached by Burnley Council to design a frieze for the centre.
It’s one of my proudest pieces of work and definitely one of the most challenging. I was inspired by the sculptures of the Parthenon so perhaps this is Burnley’s own Elgin Marbles. It features the Three Graces from Greek mythology as well as sporting scenes such as wrestling, weightlifting, fencing, archery, football, tennis and cricket.
I walked from the town centre along Princess way in search of the work – it’s at the rear of the site, just turn right before you reach the hotel.
Bury Unitarian Church
1 Bank Street Bury Lancashire BL9 0DN
The new Bury Unitarian Church was designed and constructed by local architects James T Ratcliffe.
An interesting article was published at the time in Sacred Suburbs Portfolio, in which the church design was described as:
A well detailed, functional, yet flexible building.
The church was opened in 1974, with a service of dedication on Saturday, 9th March. The total cost, including furnishings, was £85,000 – It is now valued at about £1.5 million. The Churchwarden and Chairman of Trustees, at that time, was Bernard Haughton, who had succeeded Alex Rogers; he was to serve the Church in those capacities for the next 25 years. He was succeeded by Barbara Ashworth, our immediate past Warden. During this time, notwithstanding persistent problems with water leakage through its flat roof, the church continued to thrive and develop.
Enhancements have been made to improve the comfort and amenities of the building throughout the period with, for example, the installation of an improved heating – system, a sound – enhancement system in the church, and disabled access facilities including a lift to the upper floor. Through the efforts of Barbara Ashworth – past Church Warden, the proliferation of bequests, legacies and trusts which were complicating and restricting church-finances has been rationalised and the financial structure streamlined. Part of the land at Holebottom has been sold for development, and part has been upgraded as a public amenity.
The current congregation is still one of the best supported Unitarian Churches in the country and remains enthusiastic and committed to the Unitarian faith. There are many social groups including The Women’s League, The Men’s Fellowship, The Luncheon Club the Book Club and most recently, our Camera Club; coffee is served every Saturday morning – a session which welcomes members of the public to the church, some of whom have subsequently become church-members. Frequent social activities are organised by The Efforts Committee and are well-supported by the congregation and their friends and raise money in support of the activities of the church snd local charities.
The People Praising by Elizabeth Mulchinock is a 12 foot high original sculpture at the front of the church which represents the family of the church.
Modern Mooch 