[Closed] Preston Lancashire

Haven't lived there but did work there commuting in from further north. Thought Preston itself was a bit of ****hole frankly. Sorry. If I had to live there I'd be hoping I could find something in one of the surrounding villages - there's some very pretty places. That said, even if you're living in P, you're well placed for getting out to Trough of Bowland, south Lakes etc

commute from kendal?

I have a couple of colleagues who live in Preston and commute into Manchester every day as they love the place. I wouldn't fancy that myself but I suppose there must be something about the place if they're prepared to do that sort of distance every day. I have been up there quite a bit recently although into the town centre which is a particularly uninspiring place (think seventies architecture and lots of discount shops).

The drunk being sick outside the Guild Hall one week day morning didn't add to the overall ambience of the place and when I asked for a recommendation to have a meal and a business meeting I was directed to the local wetherspoons...

On the plus side you've got lots of countryside and good riding on your doorstep.

I was there as a student for 2 years 30 years ago - it was a shit hole then and every time I've been through it over the years its a little bit worse

I was a student there in the early 90s. I quite liked it, but then coming from a deprived old mill town staying in Beirut would probably have been paradise.

Like most areas it has its nice bits and it's not so-nice bits. It is very much a student town though. Lots of folk in their late teens / early 20s, or at least it was when I was there.

Preston is a bit of a hole, but some of the surrounding towns and villages are lovely. Obviously property prices are higher in places like Clitheroe though.

Work in Preston, live out of Preston.

Surprisingly Preston is like most large towns / small cities. It has it's good and bad bits. I live in Longridge a few miles away. I've lived and worked in Preston. It's what you make of it, like anywhere and depends what you're looking for. Is the interview in Preston or just in the Preston area as the PR postcode is quite large. What's the name of the firm? The Ribble Valley is on the doorstep which is a beautiful part of the country as well as the Forest of Bowland. Road Riding is good round here not so much in the way of MTB due to the poor bridleway network, although you're an hours drive from the Lake District, The Yorkshire Dales a couple of hours from The Peak District, well situated to hop on the ferry from Heysham to The Isle of Man, even North Wales isn't that far away. We've got a pretty good road network although the road conditions aren't the greatest at the moment. Most folk would probably advise living in a commuter area such as Longridge, Grimsargh or Goosnargh. There are some nice villages in the South Ribble area such as Longton and Hutton (I went to school there) but I'm not overly familiar with the other side of the river!

Preston itself isn't great but so many nice villages surrounding it.

All this. I had to do two weeks of jury duty in Preston a couple of years ago, which gave me the opportunity to wander around the centre and explore a bit. Apart from the ghastly 60s shopping mall attached to the bus station it's (whispers) [i]not a bad place[/i], the actual bus station, source of much controversy, needs a facelift but works well with the car park and the town centre has some decent Georgian and Victorian buildings.

The hospital is good and there's a Booths opposite the front entrance, which is a sure sign of a good area. North of Preston is nice as long as you don't stray into Blackpool. Preston is on the West Coast main line and has a decent station with good parking. It does have the slowest traffic lights in Britain though. There are plenty of Polski Skleps and Asian restaurants although no good Middle-Eastern food yet, though you'll find kebabs. Preston has an excellent sixth form college, Cardinal Newman, where my son is right now and he's enjoying himself there. Property prices are OK and traffic isn't too bad as long as you stay off the M6. Most importantly from Preston you have a choice of flat cycling out on the Fylde or hilly if you head east. Mountain biking isn't great around there because it's mostly agricultural though you're only an hour from the Dales and Calderdale or even Gisburn if you don't know how to use an OS map. If you want to know more don't hesitate to PM and I'll do my best to help; I could even arrange guiding for a bike tour or car-borne recce of the area if you bought my lunch!

It's a toilet. nice villages out toward chorley and eastwards (not chorley though).

Had a good mate who lived in Longbridge which I though was a nice place, used to go up often and end up in Preston a lot at night, as everyone is saying above, there are some nice places around it.

Like everyone else said, it's a northern mill town.

I live between Preston and Manchester and my town is a hole but I can grin and bear it when I can jump in the van and be in the lakes, peaks or dales in an hour.

Town itself has little going for it but as above it's near the Trough of Bowland which is road cycling heaven, and not too far from the Lakes (via car) which is mountain biking heaven. Lancaster is much nicer and 20 mins nearer the Lakes (but terrible traffic).

Thanks for all the replies, sounds like it maybe worth popping up to have a look. Seems like most places in the UK, there are good and bad spots. I'd rather not name the firm. It's the south of Preston, Just off M61 on an industrial park. Is the traffic heavy along that road?

The East Anglia thread on here has me second guessing my decision, considering it's just up the road from my current location.

Not been for a long time however I can honestly say most of the Prestoners that I have met have all been decent unassuming folk !

Its them Chorleyites you need to watch 😉

On Buckshaw then?

It's more Chorley than Preston - plenty of nice places to live around Chorley, quite rural

Have a drive up and around

I live in Chorley, that's a hole too but the riding is excellent, Rivington and the West Pennines are on the doorstep. Folks are right about the surrounding villages, they are nice but on the whole the bigger towns are a bit shit. East of Chorley would be a good place to live, Wheelton, Abbey Village, Brinscall etc. The M61 is as busy as everywhere else at rush hour especially at M6/M61 junction.

mtb from the door* at buckshaw -
Rivi
Healey nab
Abbey thingy-bob - cant remember

Not earth shattering but plenty for mid week blasts

*well 20 mins-ish twiddle on the road

It's good for a night out though....

Jesus, Duncan Goodhew's looking his age.

PMSL; never heard of him, but a quick google shows he's an absolute spit!

Plenty of nice, affordable places to live in commuting distance (cycle or motor vehicle, dunno about trains).

What kind of thing do you look for in a place to live? Us locals may be able to suggest places.

It's the south of Preston, Just off M61 on an industrial park. Is the traffic heavy along that road?

S'got heritage architecture

[img] [/img]

A building I genuinely love.

My kids think it's very exciting driving up that ramp.

What they all said^^^
Preston itself is not nice, you wouldn't want to live there.
The outlying villages are generally nice enough though. We're in Grimsargh. It suits us just fine; close to M6; main bus route into town (which is good for kids going to college); schools are generally good once you get out of Preston itself.
Riding wise: For a full day out, it's 45 mins to South Lakes or Calderdale. For a short blast or nightride, it's 20 mins to Rivington and 30 mins to Gisburn Forest if you're a trailcentre fan.

Preston to Gisburn in 30 minutes? 😯

sorry, correction, Grimsargh to GF in about 30 mins. [edit] and not at the moment as the road is closed near Whitewell [/edit]

Stick to the A59 and go through Sawley and Holden, it's 12 minutes quicker anyway according to Maps. That road at Whitewell will be closed for a long long time.

Thanks for all the feedback. I'd definitely prefer to be outside of Preston and would prefer a village location with some good riding on the doorstep. I'm going to go up and have an explore around while I'm up there. Thanks all!

[img] [/img]

And as a bonus you can ride the curved bits like a mini ramp.

While we've got all the Preston locals attention, if anyone is interested in a weekday lunchtime session at the BMX track let me know.

It's a cracking part of the country mate. Surrounded by. Countryside, lakes, mountains and great places to live (cheap as well).

Moving from the southeast you'll think you've won the lottery

Thanks Andy. It is rather expensive down here I agree. I'd like to buy a house, but end of terrance is starting around about £300K down here. I'd rather not sacrifice my soul to the mortgage gods quite that much.

I'd definitely prefer to be outside of Preston and would prefer a village location with some good riding on the doorstep.

My first instinct would be to look around Brinscall, Abbey Village, Wheelton kind of way.

You can then get quickly off-road to Healy Nab, Great Hill, Rivington & you'll sniff out some cracking cheeky stuff.

I was also a student there back in the early nineties and I seem to remember that it rained a lot. 😮

An interview for a company just south of Preston in an industrial estate sounds ominously like where I work with the amount of jobs we are advertising at present. Does it involve 2 wheels this job?

Drop me an email if you wish for nay advice.

I live im horwich takes about 20min to buchshaw or Walton summit.

I back on to rivvy literally. Kendal an hour away dales about 80min.

It's not the most cosmopolitan of places but I like it.

I'd look at Abby village, wheelton even tockholes to live.

I love just north of Preston in Broughton, never used to like the place growing up but living here now it's not so bad. The town centres pretty run down but they've just started chucking money at it this last 18months or so. As others have said you can be in some pretty awesome riding spots within an hour but the focus locally is mainly road and with good choice, the flats of fylde to the west and trough of bowland to the east.

DTF, I actually bumped into that guy from the vid one night in town. He was a pretty sound guy, but in a much better state than in that vid haha

Spyke85, I'm an Art Director/Designer, it's with an agency near the Walton Summit Centre. I'm definitely going to be coming up to have a look. The company look good, would prefer not to name them on here for obvious reasons. As many have already said the riding is great up there, plus housing is more affordable.

Thanks for the offer of advice everyone. I may take some of you up on that offer if it progresses further.

@td75, to give you an idea, I commute to Walton Summit area from Edgworth.

In the car 35 minutes (country route), road bike 50 minutes, off road, between 1.5 hours & 2 days (if I bike pack) 🙂

you would have loads of choices, lakes 1.5 hours away, Dales 1.5 hours , Peaks 1.5 hours away, What's not to like.

Some natives I know call Preston, 'Depreston'
I don't mind it too much.
I live in Lancaster, 20 miles up the road.

I lived in Longton to the south of Preston for a couple of years & went to college there.

There is an established travellers site in the centre of Preston next to some UCLAN student halls, and I remember at the time the travellers complained to the council that the students were lowering the tone of the area 😆

Prestons not quite the armpit of the Northwest. Go along the M65 and see Nelson for that.

TBH if you're working at Walton Summit then you won't have to have much to do with Preston anyway - if you don't want to.

The area's not as bad for urban sprawl as other bits of the north west and it's really quite pleasant just a short way out of the town.

local play ground & my offraod commute home - [url= http://streetmap.co.uk/map.srf?X=366198&Y=414655&A=Y&Z=115 ]Winter Hill[/url]

DTF, I actually bumped into that guy from the vid one night in town. He was a pretty sound guy, but in a much better state than in that vid haha

😀

Funny you should say that....a mate of mine has a mate who knows him (or summaat like that). He sent me a link to his facebook page; there were a few pics of him wearing a t-shirt with his own infamous gurning face on the front!

Work in Preston live in Darwen. Easy commute and some fantastic mtb riding.
As has been mentioned Abbey Village,Brinscall Wheelton Belmont. Lovely Areas. Garstang to the North lovely. Longridge to the East and Clitheroe easy access to the M65 and Walton Summit.

Egerton in Bolton again nice village. Feniscowles at Blackburn. Edgworth at Bolton. Harwood Bolton, my mum commutes to Preston from Harwood takes 45 minutes. She enjoys the drive through Belmont onto the M65.

The M65 however is a absolute nightmare, accident everyday on it.

Where did all those cars go before they finished the M65 in 1997? Heading from Rossendale up to the Lakes we used to go around the northern Blackburn ring road and through the junction at Brownhills.

There is one potential drawback OP.

You won't want to live down in the South East again afterwards.

(I moved up three years ago and I ain't ever going back).

I'm originally from Devon. So I've got no love for the South East really, other than it's close to London. It's going to be interesting to come up and have a look around.

I used to drive the M65 quite a bit and never found it too bad.

Likewise. It's the M6 that's perpetually kyboshed.

I'm working for a certain company on Walton Summit that might sell 2 wheeled things....

I worked on Walton summit with big things with wheels.

To be fair the commute was the best part of the job

I'm about to put a nice little two bed house on the market that's in Buckshaw Village. Drop me an email if anyone is looking in that area at the moment.

You can get this for 300k
http://www.rightmove.co.uk/house-prices/detailMatching.html?prop=30077121&sale=53323598&country=england

5 mins ride to healey nab , 10 mins drive to Walton summit , maybe 20 on a bike.

Buckshaw village is good as well and has a train station for access to Manchester.