Giving us a glimpse of life in Preston back in 1950, these are some of our best archive pictures of the city back at the halfway point of the 20th century, depicting scenes of everyday life which just go to show how much things have changed over the subsequent 73 years.
1. 1950s Preston
This picture was sent in from E.H. Simister it shows February 1950 and a prototype Leyland Olympic (How Appropriate) turns left into Church street, Preston. These buses were a joint venture with Leyland Motors and Metro-Cammel Weymann. Picture reproduced with kind permission of the British Commercial Vehicle Museum, Leyland. Photo: RETRO
2. 1950s Preston
Park Court, Preston c.1950 Viewed looking north towards Fishergate. Park Court was located just east of New Cock Yard, sandwiched between Glovers Court and Cannon Street. The homes seen here were swept away in the late 50's as part of the town's re-housing scheme. A plan that was partly designed to reduce the population density of the town centre. Photo: PDA
3. 1950s Preston
North Road & Horn Street, Preston 1950 An early Victorian shop window with 30 small rectangular panes at the corner of Horn Street, on the east side of North Road. Photo: PDA
4. 1950s Preston
Owen Owen, Preston 1950 This building was the rebuilt portion of Frederick Matthews, drapers, following a major fire in 1918. Owen Owen originally hailed from Liverpool where he opened a drapery store on London Road. The company finally going into administration in February 2007 Photo: PDA