Proud Preston’s the place for shopping and more

One of England’s newest cities, steeped in history and heritage but with a modern edge – no trip to our region is complete without a visit to Preston, at the heart of the Red Rose County – a great destination for shopping, leisure, culture and sightseeing. 

Arrive at Preston’s impressive Bus Station on our Hotline 152 route from Burnley, Padiham or Blackburn, and you’ll enter an outstanding example of Brutalist architecture. Opened in 1969, it was designed to convey the luxury of air travel, while catering for a predicted population boom that never came. Its 80 bus ‘gates’stand beneath a 1,100 space multi-storey car park, giving the building its unique, scalloped edge design. 

Through the 1980s and 90s the bus station declined, but following a campaign to stave off demolition, it received Grade II Listed status in 2013. Over the five years that followed, the bus station was refurbished for the modern age with buses using its eastern side, while its western side was transformed into a pedestrianised square, with easy access to shops and entertainment venues in the city centre. 

Today, Preston has many reasons to be proud, including a number of ‘firsts’. It’s the only place to hold a Guild celebration every 20 years – the next one’s in 2032 – in line with its Royal Charter, granted by Henry II in 1179. Preston was the first town outside London to be lit by coal gas, and St Walburge’s Church has a 309 feet spire – the tallest of any parish church in England, and the third tallest of any in the UK.