The old Plough Hotel will be remembered as a popular motoring stop on the way out to the Fylde coast. This was the first of two Plough Hotels that occupied this site. The property was located on the south side of Blackpool road, slightly east of the intersection with Lea Road.
The building shown here was torn down in 1962. The replacement was set back from the road and had a much larger car park. It was a popular pub for the residents of the adjacent Larches housing estate that was built in the early 1950's
The 'new' Plough was demolished c. 1998. The site is now occupied by new housing in The Ploughlands cul de sac
Traffic patterns on Blackpool road changed dramatically in the 70's due to the opening of the new M55 motorway. This (and the little box in the corner) contributed to the hotel's demise.
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The pub seen at far right is The Greyhound (Boddingtons)
Read a short history of The Greyhound P.H. Here
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From Peeps at old Preston by George C. Miller 1957
The pub took its name from the large number of blacksmiths clustered around the Tithebarn area. The name stayed with the premises for over 200 years before being changed to The Tithebarn in the 1990's. An old town custom called 'Boundary Riding' took place here whereupon the Mayor and members of the Corporation would set off on horseback to view the boundaries of the borough. As part of this ceremony, two of the towns bailiffs were whipped round the nearby pump. Things got out of hand, as these events are wont to do, when the blacksmiths joined in the fray and began to beat the poor bailiff's with iron bars and other iron implements. After this the old custom was discontinued.
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The pub took its name from the large number of blacksmiths clustered around the Tithebarn area. The name stayed with the premises for over 200 years before being changed to The Tithebarn. An old town custom called 'Boundary Riding' took place here whereupon the Mayor and members of the Corporation would set off on horseback to view the boundaries of the borough. As part of this ceremony, two of the towns bailiffs were whipped round the nearby pump. Things got out of hand, as these events are wont to do, when the blacksmiths joined in the fray and began to beat the poor bailiff's with iron bars and other iron implements. After this the old custom was discontinued.
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In August 1881 these premises served as the location of one of the town's most infamous murders, that of 15 year old Annie Ratcliffe. Annie came to Preston with her parents from Darwen. She became pregnant at age 15 by her lover, a 21 year old Preston Clerk, John Aspinall Simpson. On the morning of August 3rd Annie set out to marry John and left the Blue Bell Inn which was kept by her parents. On the way to St. Paul's Church Annie met John and they both went into the Sir Walter Scott Arms. An altercation then took place wherupon Aspinall cut Annie's throat with a razor he had bought that morning. After doing the deed, Aspinall nonchalantly sat by and waited for the police to arrive. The subsequent trial found him guilty and he was hanged by William Marwood at Strangeways prison in Manchester on November 23rd 1881. A number of poems and songs were penned about the incident:
She met her sweetheart, and quite free from alarms,
With him she went in The Sir Walter Scott Arms.
And in a short time, as the facts do appear,
The girl's throat he severed from ear to ear.
The song is reporduced in full in Bob Dobson's excellent book A Preston Mixture
The pub was demolished 1959-60 in preparation for the new bus station. Note the delivery van for the Kardomah Tea and Coffee store.
Copyright Lancashire County Library and Information Service. www.lantern.lancashire.gov.uk/
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