Lancashire nostalgia in 1972: Preston pride; home for PNE stars; and hunt for a naked woman

Here's a look at some of the stories that were making the headlines back in 1972:
Once every Preston Guild - the Guild celebrations are surely something Preston can be proud of?Once every Preston Guild - the Guild celebrations are surely something Preston can be proud of?
Once every Preston Guild - the Guild celebrations are surely something Preston can be proud of?

Are you really proud of YOUR Preston?

Proud Preston they call it. But they have a funny way of showing their pride. And when they get down to details Prestonians take rather a critical view of their town.

They don’t think much of its public transport, or its car-parking facilities, or its sign-posting. They are not at all satisfied with its public conveniences. They think its hotels and restaurants are poor.

Mr Bob Bolton and Mr Tom Flanagan outside the hostel for young PNE apprenticesMr Bob Bolton and Mr Tom Flanagan outside the hostel for young PNE apprentices
Mr Bob Bolton and Mr Tom Flanagan outside the hostel for young PNE apprentices
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They feel it is industrially static, and they seem to harbour the belief that it is a recreational and cultural desert.

Though sometimes wrong-headed and sometimes misinformed, they do have lots of bright ideas on how to improve Preston - and high hopes of the New Town.

Yet, despite some of the harsh things they say, they still are, in their own way, proud to be Prestonians.

This is the picture that emerges from the pages of a Preston Junior Chamber of Commerce survey into the public view of services and amenities in Preston.

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The survey was originally planned for the Chamber’s own internal use, to explore ideas for major projects. But it was thought the results were so interesting that they should be made public.

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Look back at a selection of pictures from 1972 here

Hostel is a home from home for future North End stars

Worried mothers who think football clubs might be cradle-snatchers, ready to take their offspring and throw them into the glamour of English league football, are likely to change their ideas if they see a hostel at Preston North End.

For North End boast one of the few hostels for young players in the country, and vice-chairman Mr Bob Bolton and hostel steward Mr Tom Flanagan, a former Blackpool footballer, claim it is the best.

“Other clubs have nothing to compare with this,” said Mr Bolton.

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Other clubs, whose names are higher in the league tables, have sent representatives to the hostel in Moor Park Avenue to see how the young hopefuls are nurtured.

About 20 prospective soccer stars between the ages of 14 and 18 stay in the hostel in its pleasant surroundings, just five minutes walk from Deepdale.

The apprentices and the boys who come for trials sleep in semi-dormitories in the plushly-furnished hostel.

The hostel, painted in blue and white, of course, solves the problem of finding digs in a strange town for a boy who could be worth £200,000 in a few years.

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“It is a shop window for the club. When parents come to see where their lads will stay it gives them every confidence. It can seal the deal, said Mr Bolton.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: Last week we published archive pictures from 1971

Hunt is on for naked woman to shock vicar

Has anyone seen a nude woman? If they have, Leyland St Ambrose Players would be glad to hear from them, as they need one for their next production.

“It seems strange in these permissive days that nobody seems to have one,” said property mistress for the production, Mrs Joan Eccles. “But we have searched all over Leyland and can’t find one anywhere.”

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The script of the play, Philip King’s farce Pools Paradise, calls for an 18in high statue of a naked woman to be placed on the mantelpiece of the country vicarage where the action takes place.

“It is essential to the play really,” said Mrs Eccles, “because the vicar has to be suitably shocked by it.”

Now, with the dress rehearsal of the play less than a week away, all the Players have been able to find is a porcelain lamp base, depicting a scantily dressed and rather buxom lady. But that is not really suitable.

“If anyone has got a nude tucked away somewhere, we would be very glad to hear from them,” said Mrs Eccles.

Meanwhile the society is mounting one of their biggest publicity campaigns to date, distributing more than 1,000 leaflets to home in Leyland.

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