Lancashire nostalgia in 1985: Where to for North End; bus grand prix; and sex Merry-go-Ronde

Here's a look at some of the stories that were making the headlines back in 1985:
The floodlights being dismantled at Preston North End in November 1985 - another sign of the trouble the club find themselves inThe floodlights being dismantled at Preston North End in November 1985 - another sign of the trouble the club find themselves in
The floodlights being dismantled at Preston North End in November 1985 - another sign of the trouble the club find themselves in

Can proud Preston North End pull themselves from the brink?

Punch-drunk Preston North End are teetering on the brink - soccer’s equivalent of the bemused boxer squirming on the canvas waiting to be counted out.

A group of Preston businessmen, collectively known as the Board, face up to the unenviable task of untangling the web of worry that envelopes the town football club.

Passengers are concerned about the speed with which buses leave the main station at nightPassengers are concerned about the speed with which buses leave the main station at night
Passengers are concerned about the speed with which buses leave the main station at night
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Playing fortunes have never been so low, finances aren’t too clever either and, perhaps worst of all, there is no positive sign that the famous old club is about to bounce back.

Some long-time supporters might well ask: “What’s new?”

For apart from a couple of promotion campaigns Deepdale has been on the decline for years, probably since the 1964 FA Cup final.

A variety of managers, of all types, temperaments and backgrounds, have tried to fathom the job out. Nearly all have failed - some miserably - and no-one quite knows the answer to what has become one of the Football League’s biggest mysteries.

Rehearsals for the once banned play 'La Ronde'Rehearsals for the once banned play 'La Ronde'
Rehearsals for the once banned play 'La Ronde'

Right now North End are drifting... and they are drifting nowhere.

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To be hovering around the re-election zone is disgraceful for a club of such standing, history and potential.

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Look back at a selection of pictures from 1985 here

All aboard for the bus grand prix

All aboard for the Preston grand prix - on the buses.

The race tracks of Silverstone and Brands Hatch have nothing on the town centre bus station, according to worried passengers.

Every night at 11pm on the dot the Preston transport fleet is put under starters orders for a race against time.

The last buses from town wait on the grid for the signal which sends them rolling towards the suburbs.

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A flick of the switch, the lights go out, then starts a scramble to be first out of the exit.

Interested observers, watching from the perfect vantage point of the Guild Hall’s celebrity bar, have been known to place bets on the outcome of the race.

But for passengers on board the buses the mass exodus can be quite alarming.

Sex Merry-go-Ronde play is no peep show claims director Peter

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A controversial sex play is set to be premiered on a Lancashire stage.

Tickets have been snapped up for an amateur production of the previously banned La Ronde.

Members of Preston’s Spare Parts theatre company say the play about the sexual relationships of ten very different characters could upset some people.

But director Mr Peter Hartley maintains that the Arthur Schnitzler classic is not tasteless.

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“There is a degree of undressing and caressing but it is in no way a peep show,” said Mr Hartley.

“Some people might feel a little uncomfortable but I can’t see people being offended by it. The dialogue is very good and the play is not sexually explicit.”

When the play was first performed in Vienna in 1903 it prompted riots and an obscenity trial.

In the end Schnitzler took out an injunction preventing its performance, but that expired in 1982.

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The story follows a sexual chain involving people from different backgrounds and their attitudes to sex.

The cast includes Jo-Anne Lawrie as the prostitute; Terry Alexander the soldier; Barbara Fishwick the parlour maid; Neil Hewetson the young gentleman; Janet Smithson the young wife; Andrew Hobbs the husband; and Angela Kerr the sweet girl.

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