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[edit] Education
The city is home to the University of Central Lancashire. Formerly known as Preston Polytechnic, "UCLan" is now the sixth largest university in the country. The university currently has over 33,000 students.[23] As well as the university, the Preston area is home to many other higher and further education institutes:
[edit] Local Radio Stations
[edit] Newspapers
Deepdale, home of The Invicibles
Preston is famous for Preston North End F.C. (one of the founder members of the Football League and the first team to be crowned English football champions) and the National Football Museum, the home of English football heritage, currently located at Deepdale Football Ground. Deepdale is the oldest continuously used professional soccer venue in the world. Dick, Kerr's Ladies are arguably the most famous early women's football team in Britain and called Preston home.
Preston Hockey Club was established in 1903 and has since remained one of the North's most prominent clubs. With six men’s, four ladies and two junior sides playing each weekend plus a regular mixed team, the club offers competitive and social hockey for all ages, abilities and sex. The men's 1st XI wishes to achieve National League status and with every side in the club strengthening its league standing year after year, the club's aim to become the strongest and most successful in the North is on course. The ladies 1st XI play at North Premier level.
The Preston Arena is used for cycle racing.
England Test Cricket all-rounder Andrew Flintoff is a Preston native.
The Preston Mountaineering Club is based in the town and has been in existence for over 70 years.
Speedway racing, then known as Dirt Track Racing was staged at Farringdon Park in the late 1920s and early 1930s. The Preston team raced in the English Dirt Track League of 1929 and the Northern League of 1930 and 1931. The best known rider of the team was Joe "Iron Man" Abbott who went on to Test Match successes riding before the war for Belle Vue. After the war Joe appeared for Harringay and Bradford.
[edit] Religion
[edit] Christianity
Preston has a strong Christian (particularly Catholic) history and tradition. One of the proposed derivations of the name Preston is from 'Priests town' and the Lamb on the city emblem is a Biblical image of Jesus Christ.
As well as mainstream denominations like Roman Catholicism and the Church of England, the city has seen a recent emergence of new evangelical churches. Preston has a strong history for Free Methodism, as there are currently four Free Methodist churches in the area. Preston's Guild Hall plays host to a large evangelical worship music event called 'Encounter' every year.
Preston was the location of the world's first foreign mission by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints from the American State of Utah (otherwise known as the Mormons). 1998 saw the completion of the second largest Mormon temple in the world (after Salt Lake City) which, though actually located in neighbouring Chorley, is known as the Preston England Temple.[24]
The city has a number of well established mosques.
[edit] Notable people
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Plaque commemorating birthplace of Robert W. Service on Christian Road near the railway station
Robert W. Service, the poet associated with the Yukon, was born in Preston and lived for a time on Winckley Street in the city centre. There is a Blue Plaque commemorating this.
The parents of legendary American outlaw Butch Cassidy lived in Victoria Road in Preston and emigrated to escape religious persecution of their Mormon faith. It was said that, unlike Paul Newman's cinematic portrayal, Butch spoke with a thick Lancashire accent.
Benjamin Franklin (one of the Founding Fathers of the United States) once owned a property on the corner of Cheapside and Friargate in the city centre (on the site of what is now a coffee bar). A Blue Plaque on the wall of the building commemorates the spot.
Preston is the home city of the animator Nick Park, the creator of Wallace and Gromit, and in September 2007, the City Council announced that it would be raising £100,000 in order to build a bronze statue of the two characters.[25]
[edit] Twin cities/towns
[edit] References
- , "'Proud Preston' wins city status", BBC News, 14 March 2002. URL accessed on 6 June 2006.
- , Preston welcomes Councillor John Swindells as new mayor
- , Census 2001: Preston, Office for National Statistics. URL accessed on 6 June 2006.
- , Hunt, 1992. p. 9.
- , Hunt, 1992. p. 10.
- , Hunt, 2003. p. 31.
- , Hodge, 1997. pp. 3-5.
- , Walsh and Butler, 1992.
- , Hodge, 1997. pp. 6-10.
- , The County of Lancashire, England, UK
- , Fitzroy Maclean, 'Bonnie Prince Charlie' 1988
- , Karl Marx in the New York Daily Tribune 1854 (1854-08-01). Retrieved on 2006-09-20.
- , The Livesey Collection. Retrieved on 2006-09-20.
- , Neighbourhood Statistics
- , Census 2001: Statistics. URL accessed on 6 June 2006.
- , Media Newsroom. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (2007). Retrieved on 2007-05-22.
- , Mormons reveal secrets of the temple. www.telegraph.co.uk. Retrieved 4 June 2008.
- , Guide to Preston. Retrieved on 2007-08-24.
- , Confirmation of Relocation. Retrieved on 2007-04-25.
- , £800 million plan could cause more traffic chaos. Retrieved on 2008-02-22.
- , Flood plain housing plan slammed. Lancashire Evening Post, June 30th 2007. Retrieved on 2007-07-01.
- , Save The Ribble. Retrieved on 2007-06-22.
- , "Pocket Facts"PDF (708 KiB), University of Central Lancashire. URL accessed on 6 June 2006.
- , Preston England Temple Main. Retrieved on 2008-06-03.
- , Wallace and Gromit statue planned for Preston (2007-09-06). Retrieved on 2007-06-12.
[edit] See also
- Hodge, A. C. [1984] (1997). History of Preston: An Introduction. Preston: Carnegie Publishing. ISBN 1-85936-049-1.
- Hunt, D. (1992). A History of Preston. Preston: Carnegie Publishing. ISBN 0-94878-967-0.
- Hunt, D. (2003). Preston: Centuries of Change. The Brredon Books Publishing Company. ISBN 1-85983-345-4.
- Sartin, S. (1988). The people and places of Historic Preston. Preston: Carnegie Publishing. ISBN 0-94878-925-5.
- Walsh, T. and Butler, G. (1992). The Old Lamb and Flag. Preston: Carnegie Publishing. ISBN 0-94878-979-4.
[edit] External links
(Source: Wikipedia) |
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