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The celebrated Richard Arkwright was born at Preston in 1732, and here, in 1768, he commenced, in connection with a mechanic named John Kay, some of his improvements in the cotton-spinning mechanism.

We may here call the attention of the tourist to the premises of our agents, Messrs. CUFF, BROTHERS, the eminent booksellers, the Agnews of Preston. In their well-stored depôt may be seen a collection of fine bronzes, globes, drawings, paintings, &c., &c.; and further, the visitor may rely upon courteous replies to his inquiries for local information.

For the comfort of the visitor, we may also mention that the Victoria Hotel is our hotel, and can be recommended to our friends as a good hostelry, possessing every possible accommodation, and under excellent management.

Nor can we omit a word of commendation for the Preston Chronicle, a liberal journal, published under the auspices of Messrs. W. & J. Dobson, which advocates the political, commercial, and agricultural interests of the county, and is especially mindful of the local intelligence of the district. Three other papers are published in this town.

Before quitting Preston, we may remark with justice that the management of the railway-station is admirably managed, and tourists will receive the most polite attention from all the officials connected with it.

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The environs, in which are many handsome villas, inhabited by opulent families, abound with richly diversified scenery, and the high grounds afford extensive and interesting prospects. There are several pleasant and extensive promenades, of which the principal are Avenham Walk, belonging to the Corporation, by whom it is kept in order; Common Bank, from which are extensive views; and the Marsh, along the margin of the river, by

AVENHAM PROMENADE, PRESTON.
(From a beautiful Lithograph issued by
Messrs. Cuff.)

which an ancestor of Sir Walter Scott, with his comrades, escaped to

Liverpool during the siege of Preston, in 1715. The views of the Vale of the Ribble are extremely interesting, and will well repay the visit. The Lancaster Canal passes on the west side of the town, and connects it with the great canal system of the manufacturing districts ; while the town is still better connected by railways with the great centres of commerce. It is surrounded by a rich agricultural district, which furnishes in abundance every kind of farming produce.

The town is pleasantly situated upon an eminence rising from the north bank of the river Ribble, about eleven miles from its entrance into the Irish Sea. It is well built, and has a general air of opulence, and consists of four principal streets, one of which is nearly a mile in length; and is also well paved, and has good roads in all directions. There are a handsome town-hall, assembly-rooms, an exchange, a theatre, custom-house, county gaol, almshouses, infirmary, &c.

A railway twenty-two miles in length connects Preston with the mouth of the Wyre, where is situated the new watering-place of

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FLEETWOOD, with an excellent hotel, erected by Sir P. H. Fleetwood.

As a bathing-place it possesses very superior attractions.

From Preston the visitor may proceed by the Preston and Accrington Railway, twelve miles and a-half in length, to BLACKBURN, situated twenty-nine and a quarter miles from Manchester by the Manchester and Bury Railway, twenty miles from Settle, and one hundred and seventy-seven and three-quarter miles from Euston Station. It is a parish and market-town in the county palatine of Lancaster, containing a population, in 1851, of 46,536. The parish, which is fourteen miles long by ten miles broad, was originally part of the parish of Whalley. The district comprises some of the most extensive cotton-mills, calicoprinting works, and other manufacturing establishments, in Lancashire. Blackburn (population 46,536) formerly the capital of a sterile district called Blackburnshire, stands on a small stream, anciently called Blakeburn, or the "Yellow Stream," and is sheltered by hills on the N.E. and N.W. The streets are irregularly built, but contain some good houses. There are a theatre, assembly-rooms, subscription libraries, and various public buildings, societies, charities, and educational establishments. The infirmary is admirably conducted. The system of separate pavilions, with windows on each side opposite to each other, is adopted, somewhat too confined by the chapel and dining rooms, but displaying a considerable advance towards a model arrangement. There are no less than twenty-two churches in this populous district, besides numerous places of worship for various bodies of Dissenters. The parish church of Blackburn, originally part of the ancient monastery of Whalley, was almost entirely rebuilt in 1819.

The inhabitants are chiefly employed in the various branches of the cotton-manufacture. In 1821, of 9,795 families in this parish, only 552 were employed in agriculture. In 1838, there were 44 cottonmills, employing 14,460 hands. The manufactures of Blackburn appear to have arisen in the time of the Commonwealth. The first fabrics for which this place was distinguished were called "B Checks," a species of cloth consisting of a linen warp and cotton woof, one or both of which being dyed in the thread, gave to the piece, when woven, a striped or checked appearance. This article was afterwards superseded by the "B Greys," so called from the colour, neither the warp nor the weft having been dyed. The component parts of this cloth consisted of a mixture of linen and cotton, and when manufactured, the pieces were generally sent to London to be printed. The great era of improvements

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in the cotton-business, which opened about 1765, led the manufacturers of this district to turn their attention to the making of calicoes,-so called from their resemblance to the Indian manufacture brought from the province of Calicut,-and from that time to the present, Blackburn has enjoyed the advantages of this branch of the cotton-business more perhaps than any other place in Lancashire.

James Hargreave, a carpenter of Blackburn, in 1767, constructed an engine that would at once spin twenty or thirty threads of cotton into yarn, for the fustian-manufacture; but because it was likely to answer, in some measure, the end proposed, his engines were burnt and destroyed by a mob, and himself driven out of Lancashire.

One main cause of the extent of the cotton-manufacture here, is to be found in the abundant supply of fuel furnished by the southern part of the parish.

The town is governed by Commissioners, appointed according to Act of Parliament. Under the Reform Act it returns two members.

Blackburn has now got its public park, one described as "not excelled by any in the kingdom." It was opened October 22nd, 1857

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and was purchased and laid out with the proceeds of a sum paid by the East Lancashire and Blackburn Railway Companies for the "Town

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