Category Archives: #History

Born in Preston to Design the World, the History of BDP

The Building Design Partnership, known simply as BDP, is one of Britain’s most significant design practices, and its long history is closely interwoven with that of my family’s.

Today it operates as an international firm of architects, engineers, urban designers, landscape architects, interior designers and related specialists, with its headquarters in Manchester and studios across Britain and overseas.

The Vikings still Speak

In Lancashire’s west where the salt winds roar,
the Vikings left names on the sand and the shore.
Formby the farmland that Forni did claim,
Ainsdale the valley that carries Einulf’s name.

The Black Seam: Mine Machines

(Excerpt) Lancashire’s coalfield was one of Britain’s most productive and innovative, its deep, gassy and heavily faulted seams drove continuous advances in mining technology from the medieval period through to the late twentieth century.

A Condensed History of Clitheroe Castle

(Excerpt) Clitheroe Castle served as the caput (administrative centre) of the Honour of Clitheroe, a large estate stretching along the western side of the Pennines. The de Lacy family, whose principal seat was at Pontefract, used it as a base for local governance and it functioned as a court, small prison, and centre for the administration of the surrounding forests and manors. A small garrison was maintained through the 13th century.

Ring O’ Clogs

What ses Lancasheer to thee,

is it Blackpoo’ by the sea?

Is it wet ond muggy days,

ships on t’Mersey through the aze,

blackpuddings on a plate in’t shops,

is it shawls or whippet dogs,

or is it just the ring o’ clogs.

Small-leaved Lime, Relict of the Ancient Wildwood

(Excerpt) The northern limit of native T. cordata in Britain lies in the English Lake District at approximately 54°30′N, with the majority of sites within about 25km of the Morecambe Bay coast. Populations are concentrated on the wooded hills from Warton to Ulverston and extend inland up the valleys of the Lune, Kent, and Duddon, with the most northerly localities in Borrowdale and beside Ullswater.

The Runaway Turntable

(Excerpt) It was a wild afternoon high on the Settle-Carlisle line, the wind came howling down from Wild Boar Fell and across the exposed plateau at Garsdale (still known to older hands as Hawes Junction). It was the sort of day when the moors seemed determined to remind every living thing there who really owned the place.