Lancashire Post Chief Reporter Brian Ellis looks back at iconic Preston pubs we've loved and lost over the years.
These cathedrals for the working classes have been declining in number at an alarming rate in recent decades.Some have been demolished and replaced by houses, shops or offices. Of those that remain, very few like the city's most famous pub - the iconic Black Horse in Friargate - have been preserved for posterity, frozen in time from a golden era.
Here are just some of the best that Preston folk have loved and lost.
5. Shawes Arms
Dating back to at least 1824, the Shawes sat by the London Road bridge on the Preston side of the River Ribble. Used to be the Black Horse Inn, but changed its name in 1843. In the days before all day drinking, both Preston and South Ribble had different opening hours. Preston opened in an evening from 6 to 11, while the Bridge Inn on the South Ribble side opened at 5:30pm and closed at 10:30pm, thus causing a mass jog across the bridge by customers eager to get another half hour's drinking in. Plans to turn it into a restaurant and apartments appear to have fallen through and now it is up for sale once more. Photo: Neil Cross
6. Greyhound Hotel
Tragic pub in London Road where, in November 1960, a roof collapse killed three customers and the landlady Ethne Ratcliffe. The disaster happened just as Ethne was calling last orders in the afternoon. The pub had been undergoing some renovation work and landlord Eric Ratcliffe decided to keep a temporary bar open for drinkers rather than shut down while the work was being done. There were four customers in the bar at the time, with Ethe behind the pumps. One emerged from the rubble with only bruises, but the four others died. The pub was rebuilt, with Eric continuing as landlord for the next 30 years. It was finally closed in 2012 to be converted into a restaurant. Photo: n/a
7. Theatre Hotel
Another replacement pub for an older establishment of the same name, the Theatre sat in a prominent position on Fishergate, next to the former ABC Cinema (once the town's oldest playhouse the Theatre Royal). It was one of the most popular of the town's Boddingtons pubs and enjoyed many bumper years trade. But in the late 1980s the brewery took the unusual step (for them) of spending thousands of pounds on a complete refurbishment, only to sell it to a development company within a matter of months. Now it forms part of a row of shops. Photo: Send in
8. Cricketers Arms
Only recently demolished in South Meadow Lane, off Fishergate Hill, the pub took its name from its proximity to Preston's cricket ground down the road at West Cliff - and also from one of its first landlords. Cornelius Coward, who took over the pub in 1867, was a professional cricketer who not only played for Preston and Lancashire, but also for England. His younger brother Frederick was also a Lancashire player and had a spell as landlord of the Cricketers. The site now has planning permission for six terraced houses. Photo: Neil Cross