History of Tram Road and Lancaster Canal to be covered in guided walk next month

Join Nigel Hardacre on this Spring Guided Walk, which is about 2.5 miles, 2 hours approx. There is the old tram road route, the site of the original Preston Basin, hidden bridges and other local history from the 19th and 20th Centuries. The event is taking place on Sunday 7th April 2pm - 4.15 pm Meet in the centre of Winckley Square PR1 3JJ, Preston

While the guided walk is a flat route and easy going, good walking shoes are still recommended for any participants. There is also free on street parking in and around Winckley Square. Parking nearby Fishergate Centre car park (chargeable). 5 mins walk from Preston Railway Station, 10 Minute from the bus station.

The Old Tram Road was completed in 1802, to link the north and south ends of the Lancaster Canal across the Ribble Valley but the canal was never constructed. The wagons were pulled by horses, up to six at a time, and each wagon had a capacity of two tons. Originally there were three inclined planes where the wagons were hauled by stationary steam engines and a continuous chain.

The tramroad crossed the River Ribble on a timber trestle bridge which outlived the tramroad by nearly 100 years albeit with heavy modifications including the replacement of the wooden trestles with precast concrete ones in 1938 and the bridge deck with prestressed precast concrete in the mid-sixties. This structure is about to be demolished and replaced.