Leyland Historical Society

The first meeting on the 1st September featured Roy Smith, the historian of the Leyland Morris Dancers telling the story of Leyland’s May Festival and the part played by the Leyland Morris Dancers from its early days in the 1880's. The Society were taken through each years events with the various breaks.

The story was told up to the great divide in 1930 when Rev. Ensor decided that he could not condone the Festival's evil ways and set up his own festival on more moral grounds, allegedly.  

Part Two this September will feature the continuation of the story of the Festival and its Morris Dancers. 

On 2nd March we welcomed our member Sir Thomas Woodcock to talk on his research into Richard Kuerden’s work as a Deputy Herald at the 1664 Heralds’ Visitation of Lancashire.

This was a very historical event as it was the first visitation after the Restoration of the Monarchy in 1660 and therefore the Heralds visit was important as the King and Parliament sought to discover the state of the landed gentry and their estates after the Civil War and the Commonwealth periods.

The knowledge that Sir Thomas has is one which can be tapped into, you just have to ask the right questions, which your chairman did during the interval and which then enriched the second half.

Also back by popular demand on 30th March saw the return of Bruce Keith who this time will talk about Scotland beneath the surface, so it’ was all things underground, from mines, hydro power and Edinburgh streets to name just a few examples.

On 4th May there was the 19th Annual Historical Society Trip which this season went to West Yorkshire. We took the coach over to Skipton to take a boat trip up the Leeds and Liverpool Canal with a commentary by Dave Spikey.

We then headed over to Keighley by coach and was dropped off at the Old Parcel Office where a previously ordered meal was eaten. We then headed down to the platform to catch the train up the Keighley & Worth Valley Railway all the way to Oxenhope.

​We then retraced our steps by coach to spend the rest of the afternoon in and around Haworth, the former home of the Brontes, where food was obtained from the various pubs and cafes. After an early evening meal we headed home via Skipton and the A59.   

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As a late replacement for the speaker on the 1st June, Karen Clayton in the first half talked about her new book about the Nelson family of Leyland, the book having been produced by the Society.

​The second half was a brief history of how the writing of the History of the Leyland & Birmingham Rubber Company came to be through the Oral History Project. 

On 6th October Mikron invited you to enter a world of secrets, songs and cyphers as we got to know the heroes of Hut 3.

In a non-descript mansion house, in a non-descript town, a group of extra-ordinary men and women worked to provide intelligence that would help to win the war. But shhhhhh, you’d better keep it under your hat, because as far as the rest of the world is concerned, Bletchley Park doesn’t exist

Peggy Valentine arrives at Bletchley in 1940, 18 years old, headstrong and gifted. Finding herself in a world of boffins, soldiers and debutantes, Peggy has to shoulder the burden of high-pressure war work whilst navigating a new world of feuds, friendships and growing up in a frame of absolute secrecy.  

But what of the world beyond Bletchley? As the war rages on in Europe, the stakes are raised for Peggy and her friends as they work to protect their loved ones fighting abroad.

This was one of Mikron's strongest plays with all four of the cast giving great performances. With the return of James, Robert and Georgina, the cast were wonderful. The good news is that the full cast are returning this October for Wensleydale Whey, The history of Cheese.  

The last talk of the year on 1st December was given by the Chairman on a road trip from Bamber Bridge to Ross on Wye along the A49, a 151-mile trunk road across England.

Whilst the road starts at the Hob Inn in Bamber Bridge where a roundabout off the A6 had the road heading south through Leyland, Exton, Coppull, Standish arriving in the centre of Wigan. Though now bypassed  the original route can still be followed on Google street view through closed roads  as we would discover in many towns on the way. 

Continuing south, through Makerfield (famous now) we reached Warrington and the county of Cheshire where the rural scene made the road less built up with the majority of towns along its route being bypassed. 

So we passed through Whitchurch, Shrewsbury and stayed overnight in Ludlow at the Feathers Hotel, before the following morning reaching Ross on Wye after circumnavigating Hereford.

For our first talk of 2025 on Monday 5th January we saw the return of Sid Calderbank who this year talked about his time being involved with and the caller for the Old Peculiar Band. From its small start in the Thorntrees Restaurant on Wigan Road, the group ended up with a residence in the main barn at Rivington.  
 
The 2nd February meeting saw the return of Chris Wild giving us the yearly update of all things that have happened in the world of archaeology in the past year

An additional talk on Monday 8th December was the first of hopefully a series of talks given on Zoom by speakers who can't make it to Leyland.

This first one was a talk by Joe Brown on his life working on the railways and London Underground from his beginnings having being born in Preston. He related how his interest in railway maps and their history led him to produce a detailed book of the railways of London, now in its 6th edition. He then went on to produce books on the railways of Birmingham, the latest volume on Liverpool & Manchester, which includes his hometown of Preston.

He recently took over the production of the National Railway Map known as the "Baker" , producing their 16th edition. 

He will be giving another lecture on Zoom in December when he will be talking about the railway history in our area.

Following the chat i had with Quinn Hough about the Historical Society, and he informed me that he could give the members a talk about his grandfather’s life during World War One.

When he told me his grandfather was one of the men responsible for the mining under the German lines during the war I was hooked the members were when he talked to them on Monday 3rd November.​

58th Season


To start the new season on Monday 7th July the Society members with friends took at walk around the Leyland Cross Conservation Area. Meet up outside the Cross Chippy at 7.00 pm.

We then walked around the Cross before heading down Fox Lane past the Weavers Cottages, the old Church School, Fox Lane Sports & Social Club with a mention of the Paraplegic Games held at the club in the early 1970s. 

Passing the three sets of Alms Houses, Ryley, Osbaldeston and ffarington together with the ffarington cottages between the later two. 

Returning up Fox Lane we surveyed the state of Occleshaw House with the lack of covering on the room. We then proceeded down Worden Lane, Whittaker Lane, New Road, Towngate, it has had so many names over the years.

We then reached the Park Gates before retreating to Chestnut Court and the Laurels and entering the Parish Church graveyard where after a tour around it the walk ended. We had a record 40 persons and a few dogs with owners attending, the following year will feature a microphone and speaker for ease of the chairman's throat.

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