I was in general impressed by the way Preston has retained so much of its Victorian urban fabric, particularly the brick housing round Winckley Square and south to Avenham, including the Harris Institute:-
I was intrigued by a comment by Pevsner – ‘it is curious that some people should have moved on recently to a nostalgia for the grimmer aspects of Victorian architecture’ (p.198 1969 edition).
Look at the entrance to Sainsbury’s, converted from a Victorian bank in 2014:-
| Charles | Saumarez | Smith | 
I used to go to Preston quite a bit in the mid 1980s when I was employed by a trade union to go into textile factories and write reports on the machinery they had, and the likelihood that they would stay in business (I was a lecturer in textile technology at the time). I always liked it – it felt very much like a place with a real civic pride. It is also a place with a very strong Catholic history.
You are right about the strong Catholic history. There were five enormous Catholic Churches within walking distance of the town centre described as built with the pennies of the poor. St Augustine’s is now sadly closed but St Walburge’s(grade 1 listed) with the tallest parish church spire in the country and the others continue. Celine.