Grafton St To Shut Down For 6 Months

Grafton Street in Broadgate is to be closed to traffic, and even resident's parking for up to 6 months. The whole street will resemble a massive building site, as it will be open only to contractors vehicles, the work is scheduled to begin in May, and may last until October.

Broadgate residents are preparing themselves for months, if not years of traffic chaos, as the work will continue along Strand Road, and involve the sinking of several tunnel shafts.

The crucial work is part of the Preston Tunnel Project, a major piece of civil engineering by United Utilities which will allow, when it is finished, for the storage of up to 30,000 cubic metres of storm water overflow, and will include 5 kilometres of pipework which will transfer waste water to the Clifton Marsh Water Treatment Works.

While residents are concerned about the inconvenience, noise, dirt and dust, most are aware of promises by the authorities that this work will significantly improve Preston's flood defences, as it enables much more effective drainage of storm waters that create the kind of flash flooding we're now all too familiar with, as well as improving water quality in the River Ribble, and in the Estuary.

The tunnels in Preston will follow the paths of existing roads and will not travel under buildings apart from those owned by United Utilities. Restoration will also be carried out after the underground work is complete.

Three shafts will be dug at Watery Lane, Marsh Lane and Fishergate Hill to allow digging machines to travel 26m underground to create a tunnel between the sites.
From Preston the pipes will travel under the river to a new pumping station in Penwortham, before passing beneath farmland and the river to Clifton Marsh.

The project has been planned to help the river comply with European legislation on bathing water quality.

Once complete, improvements should be seen to shellfish waters along the estuary and to beaches at Southport, Ainsdale, St Annes and Blackpool.

Broadgate People's History 1927 and 1953

Thanks to Bill Pinder I’ve come across a fascinating Directory of Preston and District published by Barretts in 1927. It features all the roads in Broadgate and who lives in them and most interestingly what they did for a living.

Naturally I plunged straight for Meath Road, where I live, but curiously it doesn’t list Meath Road as existing. It follows Broadgate along and correctly states that between 42 and 43 is Ardee and between 52 and 53 is Balderstone. Nothing between 46 and 48. Ardee starts at number 10 and a J Selby lived at 22 and he was a car finisher – whatever that was.

The Directory also lists churches with a brief history and accordingly St Stephen’s was built in 1888 in the early English style from designs by Mr Joseph Harding. Owing to limited funds only a portion of the church had been completed i.e. the nave and the south aisle and cost, including fittings, was £4,500. The original design included nave, chancel, north and south aisle, transept, organ chamber, vestry and tower of 92 feet. The walls are faced with Yorkshire parpoints in diminishing courses ( no, I don’t know what that means ) and red sandstone dressings. It contained 393 sittings (?) all free. There was a vicarage held by the Rev Oswald Albert Peach MA. It was a successor to the Bairstow Memorial Chapel built in 1869. I’ll try to find out some information on this in a future edition.

It would be a bit boring just to list the roads and occupants so I’ve chosen a few which are a bit different like at somewhere not numbered but past 13 Riverside where a Mr T A Cooton lived who was a boat builder. Mr William Bee had the Hotel Continental.

The lucky devil at number 12 South Meadow Lane was a Mr S Burgess who was an Engine Driver – my dream job. At 6 Fishergate Hill there was an L Welcome, Dentist. And between Beech Street and Elm Street was the L.M. and S. Railway Company’s engineering department.

I’m not sure whether Mr W McKillop of 26, Hartington Road would be pleased to see himself advertised as an Excise Officer. Christ Church Street had a few interesting professions in 1927. There was a picture framer at 58, a violin maker at 46, several engine drivers, a mariner and not least a dress maker.

Bill also provided me with the Directory for 1953 and it was interesting to read how the professions in the area had changed a bit over the years. 48 Broadgate now has a Mr Pickup who was a traveller. The Salvation Army had its HQ at number 38. There was a radio dealer at 38 Fishergate Hill and a Messrs H & G Gooizee, Confectioners at 55. Bring that one back.

I think that at some point in the future I’d like to take one small street and trace the occupiers and professions over a longer period of time. If anyone could help with that it would be appreciated.

Incidentally – Meath Road is in in 1953. There was a Mr J Howson at number 3 who was a watchman (?). A body builder called Dean at 5, several policemen, an electrician called Aspden at 8 and over the road at number 6 a clerk by the name of Helme. This is a bit addictive.

What Do You Like Best About Broadgate?

There's lots to like about Broadgate. At it's best, it's a peaceful leafy enclave between the city, the River Ribble and Avenham Park. It's so convenient for a quick hop on the bus up to town, or an energising stroll up Fishergate Hill, or alternatively to wander along the Ribble Banks, to admire the Ribble Steam Railway, the wildlife of the Ribble, and the beautiful countryside along it's southern bank.

Some of us like the housing, mainly traditional terraces that still hang on to a sense of community, and others like the people, from so many varied backgrounds that live here together, and most of the time get along just fine.

If you scroll to the bottom of the blog, you'll find a poll, where you can vote for the things YOU like best about Broadgate. Make sure you vote!

Homelessness and the Alma Hotel

The Alma Hotel, at the top of Fishergate, was closed down a fortnight ago. The hotel, almost on the doorstep of County Hall, was regularly the source of all kinds of problems for local people and the police. The hotel was badly managed, with many rooms being sub-let. It had become a destination for many people living on the margins of society, including ex-prisoners, drug users, alcoholics and people with many other kinds of problems.

BRAG and PACT worked hard to get the Alma hotel closed down. PC Carl Ingram spent months collecting a catalogue of examples of anti-social behaviour, drug and alcohol related disturbances and event after event that had made the lives of neighbours an unrelenting misery. Some members of BRAG showed particular courage and leadership by standing up and speaking out in the witness box in court, despite the real possibility of repercussions, when the Alma case was heard.

At the BRAG meeting where the Alma closure was announced, BRAG members passed a vote of thanks to Carl Ingram for the work that he put in to making sure that the Alma was closed.

Sensationalist press coverage of the closure, which claimed that residents were 'celebrating' the closure of the hotel has however provoked a backlash. In reality most people felt it was a sad neccessity, and regretted the fact that some people were made homeless. Some people blamed the landlord more than anybody, as his management of the hotel had allowed it to go completely out of hand, and while residents lost their homes as a result of the closure, all he lost was 3 months rent.

Greg Smith, who has devoted his life to working with the homeless, feels that some voices have not been heard. he said

Personally I found the headline "Crack House Closed Down" totally unnacceptable, as was a lot of the press coverage of the case of the Alma Hotel. It suggested everyone in the community was jumping with glee at what the police and the courts had done.

I for one wasn't.

I know it was a difficult problem and I know the local police acted in good faith thinking what was the best solution all round, and they tried very hard to find shelter for the people who lived there. But despite all that there was too much "collateral damage" with lots of people ending up homeless, proabably about half a dozen added to the total of rough sleepers. What's more as I understand it none of the residents was charged or brought before the courts for any crime.

In Britain the law is supposed to presume people innocent until proven guilty. But in this case it seems a pretty rotten law that can deprive anyone of the only home they have without proving that they have done anything wrong, leaving them without any rights to be rehoused. Headlines like the one in question push us all into thinking that everyone involved was a notorious criminal. It just ain't fair and it just ain't true.

Greg wrote the following article to express his views in response to the coverage in the Lancashire Evening Post and the Broadgate News:

The recent closure of the Alma Hotel has highlighted some of the uncomfortable issues facing some of those trying to make a home in our community. When for whatever reason you are poor and vulnerable you get ripped off all round, by landlords, by drug dealers, by cider sellers and by your own mates. You get stressed out and start behaving badly and then you get blamed by everyone. Before your know it you are being moved on and you benefit gets stopped and the police are after you. You might go to jail for a while and then when you come out with nothing, the cycle starts all over again.

What the story should lead us to is great sadness and increased concern for those who are on the edges of society. There are plenty of rough sleepers, homeless and near homeless in Preston and the type of properties at the top of Fishergate Hill have tended to concentrate them in our neighbourhood.

Last week someone (probably homeless) was found dead locally there. http://www.homelessinpreston.btik.com/news/18108115725.ikml Most days when I walk my dog through the fields near the river I see people sleeping in tents, or in bivouacs. The other day we disturbed a chap sleeping in the open in the long grass, I thought at first it was a dead body. And they say there is not a huge problem of rough sleeping in Preston, when they tried to do an overnight count they've only found half a dozen or so, but that's because its only within the city centre, and rough sleepers tend to hide pretty well anyway.

In my day job I work with and have become friends with some of these guys and girls who are destitute, who come to drop ins at various churches or who sell the Big Issue. Whatever any of them have done, however they behave and smell, they all have a story, often a sad story of how people and society has failed them and rejected them. Above all they are all human beings and deserve to be treated with dignity. As a Christian I always try to ask "How would Jesus deal with them?" and the short answer is "with compassion not with contempt."

When people get into such trouble it is usually a great long struggle to turn their life around. We have known many who have failed, others who have taken two steps forward then one back and a few who with proper support and the help of good services have made it back into mainstream community life and to earning their own living. We should be thankful that in Preston there are a group of agencies who care and work hard to make a difference to such people, working together through the network of the Preston Homeless Forum. If you want to know more about this and how best to do something to help the homeless contact the forum through its website at
http://www.homelessinpreston.btik.com or via The Foxton Centre, Knowsley St.,Avenham, Preston PR1 3SA, tel 01772 555925


Greg Smith

What's your view of the Alma closure?

Are you glad it's closed because this makes life better for local people?
Are you concerned that it just shifts the problems somewhere else?
Are you worried about those who now sleep rough as a consequence?
Are you worried that we will get more of the same when the 3 months' closure is up?
Was there really any alternative to the closure?
Is there really no way to help people out of the spiral of drugs, crime, prison and homelessness?

Please let us know what you think by posting your comments below.