Lostock Hall

For other uses, see Lostock.

Lostock Hall
File:Lostocks hall.JPG Lostock's Hall
Population	3,948
OS grid reference	SD546257
• London	188 mi (303 km) SE
District	South Ribble
Shire county	Lancashire
Region	North West
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	PRESTON
Postcode district	PR5
Dialling code	01772
Police	Lancashire
Fire	Lancashire
Ambulance	North West
UK Parliament	Ribble Valley

Lostock Hall (Template:Pron-en) is a small suburban village within the South Ribble borough of Lancashire, England. It is located on the south side of the River Ribble, 2.3 miles (3.7 km) south of Preston, 2.5 miles (4 km) north of Leyland; it is bordered on its southeastern side by the interchange for the M6, M61 and M65 motorways and forms part of the Preston Urban Area. At the time of the United Kingdom Census 2001, Lostock Hall had a population of 3,948.

Lostock Hall traces its origins to James de Lostock who in 1212 built Lostock's Hall in the then rural area of Cuerden Green in the township of Walton-le-Dale. A settlement expanded outwards from Lostock's Hall, taking its name from the Hall. The former separate community of Tardy Gate is now for all intents and purposes a part of Lostock Hall - it used to be the farming community linking one part of rural Lancashire to another.

Governance

Lostock Hall was split between two parliamentary constituencies - Preston and South Ribble. Following the latest boundary changes, the village now under an extended Ribble Valley constituency. Any main issues surrounding Lostock Hall are still governed by South Ribble district council. Following the local council elections in June 2009, South Ribble district council (which Lostock Hall is a part of) came into leadership of Councillor Mrs Margaret Smith, of the Conservative Party. However, the main South Ribble Constituency, parliament member is Mr. David Borrow MP, of the Labour Party.

2006 local election results for Ribble South Constituency
Party	Name	Votes	%
Labour Party	David Borrow	20,428	43.0
Conservative Party	Lorraine Fulbrook	18,244	38.4
Liberal Democrat	Mark Alcock	7,634	16.1
UK Independence Party	Kenneth Jones	1,205	2.5
Source: BBC Politics News - 2006 Local Elections

Majority	2,184
Turnout	63.0%

Like any other district area, South Ribble (including its ward of Lostock Hall), has a local mayor and mayoress, who is known as the first citizen of the borough and has precedence within the borough boundaries over all except Royalty and the Lord Lieutenant. The South Ribble mayor and mayoress for 2009/2010 area are Councillor Don Parkinson and his wife, Anita Parkinson who were both born in Penwortham, which is the north-western neighbouring village to Lostock Hall. Mr Parkinson started his own business in Lostock Hall until his retirement, he also represented the borough as a councillor until 1999.

Geography

53.725°N 2.688°W / 53.725; -2.688

Further information: [[:List of places in Lancashire]]

Lostock Hall's main road to the north, Leyland Road leads to the district of Penwortham in the north-west, and onto the City of Preston in the north, this boundary being on the junction between B5254 (Leyland Road) and Flag Lane. To the north-east is the residential estate of Walton Park which leads onto the rural village of Walton-le-Dale, with this boundary being the old railway bridge on Wateringpool Lane (just after the gas works). The main road to the east, Brownedge Road, links it to Bamber Bridge, the boundary between the two is the 'Old Railway Bridge' situated on the B5257 (Brownedge Lane). The roundabout junction of B5254 (Watkin Lane) and A582 (Lostock Lane - east bound), in the south-east, is the boundary which separates Lostock Hall and Cuerden.

There is small area of farmland (situated on Old School Lane) which still comes under the name of Cuerden Green, (which is the only part of Cuerden Green which didn't become Lostock Hall during the name change in 1332). To the south and south-west is the parish district of Farington, where the southern boundary line is also the roundabout junction of B5254 (Watkin Lane) and A582 (Lostock Lane), with the difference here being that it is the west-bound part of Lostock Lane; while the south-westerly boundary line is partway down Croston Road, on the opposite side of the East Lancashire Line railway bridge (near to The Anchor Inn). To the west is the rural hamlet of Whitestake, where the boundary line between Whitestake and Lostock Hall being the railway bridge on Coote Lane, which spans over the West Coast Main Line.

Climate data for Blackpool (The nearest weather station to Lostock Hall at 17 miles to the north-west.)
Month	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Year
Source:

The climate in Lostock Hall bares similarities to its northerly neighbour, the City of Preston. Both Lostock hall and Preston are situated to the west of the Pennines, which can be clearly visible on both dry, sunny days, as well as dark gloomy ones. During several periods of rainfall, Lostock Hall falls victim to many flooded areas, mainly around the junction of Emily Street and Leyland Road; Lourdes Avenue, just outside the school grounds; Croston Road (under the railway bridge situated beside The Anchor Inn), and also along parts of Coote Lane. Sandbags can be seen outside properties along Coote Lane, as precaution to sudden bursts of rainfall.

Demography

Further information: [[:Demography of Lancashire]]

According to the Office for National Statistics, at the time of the United Kingdom Census 2001, Lostock Hall had a population of 3,948, with 1,959 being males, and 1,989 being females. The 2001 population density for inhabitants per square mile (2,065 /km²) was unknown. Lostock Hall's 1,675 households owner occupied statistics, 30.57% owned the house outright, 55.4% owned their houses with a mortgage or loan, 0.9% shared ownership, 0.78% rented from council (local authority), 7.16% rented from housing associations/registered social landlords, 3.7% rented from private landlord or letting agencies, and 1.49% rented from an other source.

Of those aged 16–74, 29.28% had no academic qualifications, whereas 21.56% attained a level 1 as the highest qualification, 18.96% attained level 2, 8.26% attained level 3, 13.07% attained level 4/5, and 8.87 % attained other qualifications with an unknown level. As of the 2001 UK census, 85.25% of Lostock Hall's residents reported themselves as being Christian, 0.48& Buddhist, 0.13% Hindu, 0.0% Jewish, 0.30% Muslim, and 0.08% Sikh. The census recorded 8.26%% as having no religion, 0.18% had an alternative religion and 5.32% did not state their religion.

Population change

Population growth in Lostock Hall since 1891
Year	1891	1901	1911	1921	1931	1939	1951	1961	1971	1981	1991	2001
Population	3,772	3,827	3,859	3,874	3,877	3,877	3,896	3,903	3,928	3,936	3,935	3,948
Source: Lancashire County Council, South Ribble Records

Economy

Industrial mills

File:Thomas Moss & Sons Mills Portfolio 1920 Scanned 2007 from Original print.jpg

Thomas Moss & Sons Mills, Lostock Hall

Tardy Gate Mill on Coote Lane was built in 1908 by the Tardy Gate Manufacturing Company it was bought out and greatly expanded by Thomas Moss & Sons in 1920 and produced Calico and Linen cloths until its demise in the late 1970's. The mill also owned the local cricket pitch and sponsored the cricket team who had a great deal of local success. There was also a Ladies Hockey team for many years that was originally made up mainly of workers from the weaving sheds and offices and spent most of their seasons in the top division of the Lancs Ladies League whose pitch was to one side of the Cricket Pitch.

The mill and a moderately large railway repair depot are now largely gone, with most inhabitants commuting to work, mainly in Preston. Tardy Gate Mill, now houses a snooker hall, a printing business, and a car repair garage, and many other small businesses.

Modern day industries

Lostock Hall in the modern era is slowly developing itself, with many small businesses, shops, public houses, take-away facilities, and restaurants, providing a variety of goods, amenities, and meeting places, for the locals and travellers alike. The public houses in Lostock Hall are The Anchor Inn, The Pleasant Retreat Inn, The Railway Hotel, The Tardy Gate, and The Victoria. There are also a number of social clubs that serve alcohol: Lostock Hall Conservative Club, Our Lady & St Gerrard's Catholic Club and The Royal British Legion. The Lostock Hall Labour Club, used to operate as a social club until it was demolished to provide extra parking space for the nearby caravan business.

File:Pleasant Retreat Inn, Lostock Hall.jpg

The Pleasant Retreat Inn, Lostock Hall (photo taken in 2008)

The Pleasant Retreat Inn, a former coaching house, used to comprise of a pub and and hotel area, until World War II, when a stray Luftwaffe bomb hit the pub part. A war memorial now stands on the site of the old pub section of the Pleasant Retreat, and the business itself now operates in the section that was formerly a hotel. The Tardy Gate, was built on a plot of farm land during the early 1900's. Legends about a water well that used to be on the farm land were soon proven true when its location was searched for and found. The water well was later restored, and is to this day situated in the pub's beer garden. Allegedly there is a tunnel network that runs beneath Watkin Lane and Leyland Road, connecting both The Pleasant Retreat Inn, and The Tardy Gate. Although no official excavations have been carried out to clarify this, there are visible signs in the cellar areas of both pubs. Archway-type areas in the cellar walls have been blocked up, which provide some evidence that this tunnel network exist, with the blocked entrance at the Pleasant Retreat facing north, and the one at the Tardy Gate site facing south.

Landmarks

Throughout the South Ribble area, there are several historical buildings and landmarks, many of which hold visitor attraction facilities. In Lostock Hall, however, these landmarks are few and far between. The war memorial which is situated outside the Pleasant Retreat Inn, on Hope Terrace, was erected following the enemy bomb attack in World War II, which struck the original drinking part of the public house, which became the site for the memorial. This memorial has seen slight positional changes along the terrace through the years, from its original site, then moved just a few yards south, before being moved back to its original position following a revamp of the main shopping precinct area in 2008. As well as the memorial, there are 5 other buildings that have been classified as "Grade II Listed". The table below provides a list of these listed buildings.

File:Todd Hall, Lostock Hall, c1937.jpg

Todd Hall, Lostock Hall, c1937

Grade	Name of building	Situation of building	Age of building
II	Lime Kiln Farmhouse	Todd Lane North, Lostock Hall	C17
II	Todd Hall	Todd Lane North, Lostock Hall	(GV)1630
II	Barn at Todd Hall	c.30 m south east of Todd Hall, Todd Lane North, Lostock Hall	(GV) C18
II	Pickerings Farmhouse	Todd Lane North, Lostock Hall	(GV) C17,extended late C18
II	Barn at Pickerings Farmhouse	5m east of Pickerings Farm, Todd Lane North, Lostock Hall	(GV) C18
Source: Summery of Listed Buildings in South Ribble

Culture and community

Lostock Hall Carnival

Lostock Hall's annual carnival is held on the first Saturday in July, and attracts many visitors both local and from afar. The carnival consists of a parade of floats and people, which travel around a designated route, collecting money for local charities. There's a fête on the main grass field area of Lostock Hall (situated at the back of the main shops on Hope Terrace). Many locals from Lostock Hall, and surrounding towns and villages, decorate floats and themselves to a theme which is selected months in advance by the Lostock Hall Carnival Committee. After the main procession, people congregate on the nearby field, where there are a wide selection of stalls, fairground rides, and an arena which shows a variety of dance exhibitions, and a ceremony for the best dressed float. The carnival Queen and Princess also sit in a special VIP area and watch the entertainment in the arena.

Education

Schools

There are 3 schools situated throughout Lostock Hall. Lostock Hall Community High School and Arts College, located on Todd Lane North, is the local secondary school.

Lostock Hall Community Primary School is divided into 2 units scattered about Lostock Hall. The first unit is situated on Avondale Drive, and covers Early Years Foundation Stage and Key Stage 1 curriculum. The second unit is situated on Linden Drive, and covers Key Stage 2 curriculum. Our Lady And St Gerard's Roman Catholic Primary School is situated on Lourdes Avenue, and covers curriculum for Early Years Foundation Stage, Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2.

File:LostockHallLibrary.jpg

Lostock Hall Library

Transport

Trains

Further information: [[:Lostock Hall railway station]]

Lostock Hall maintains a railway station. The East Lancashire Line on which the station stands is frequently used by railway companies as a bypass for the main West Coast Main Line when that is being closed for engineering works, as it links with the Settle-Carlisle Line. For this reason, excursions frequently travel through the station, attracting railway enthusiasts to the many ideal viewing places.

Lostock Hall railway station in 2009

Lostock Hall railway station usage 2004/2005 to 2007/2008
Year	Entries	Exits
2004/2005	18,729	20,003
2005/2006	15,829	17,019
2006/2007	16,028	16,527
2007/2008	14,791	15,360
Source: Lancashire County Council, South Ribble Records

Lostock Hall Motive Power Depot (1881 - 1968)

The year of 1968 proved to be a pivotal one in a period of great change and, with the march of so-called ‘progress’ that included man being a matter of months away from walking on the moon, the time had come for steam. The first week of August came to see the closure of the final three steam depots on British Railways, all within a few short miles of each other in Lancashire, effectively drawing to a conclusion the century and a half of loyal service provided by a form of transport to which the wealth of our nation owed so much.

During those final hectic weeks, the otherwise totally unassuming and quite ‘matter of fact’ sheds at Carnforth, Rose Grove and Lostock Hall had fame literally thrust upon them resulting in the area around soon becoming inundated with visitors of totally unprecedented proportions. The steam era ended so poignantly on 4th August 1968, a date upon which at Lostock Hall, innumerable steam railwaymen, most of whom had dedicated their entire lives to the railways, found themselves declared redundant with little in the way of further work prospects.

Lancs and Yorks railway Shed No. 27 (1881 – 1930)

Construction commenced at Lostock Hall in 1877 of a conventional L&Y-design brick-built 8-track straight single-ended building; which formally opened on 30 October 1881. From that date the other two existing L&YR depots in the Preston district were closed, with the one at Preston being demolished to provide additional carriage sidings and the one at Lostock Hall becoming the Carriage & Wagon repair depot. The structure of the new shed contained most of the range of typically standard features evidenced elsewhere on the L&Y system, these including the 'north-light' pattern roof and the shed-master's office with its prominent bay window overlooking the loco yard. The 8 pit roads inside provided facilities for maintenance, boiler-washouts, and a further 8 pits outside permitted the preparation prior to entering traffic of a further two locos per road.

There were additional roads laid in to either side of the shed building. To the north, between the offices/workshop block and the rear of the station platforms, a single-track siding was provided, essentially to facilitate the exit from the coaling-stage and ash-disposal facilities without disrupting the progress of any locomotives in a queue. Using this siding, access could also be gained to the turntable from either direction. To the south, 3 further sidings were laid in, initially to access the 3 occasionally massive coal stacks that provided additional storage at certain times of the year. Beyond these sidings, a second exit point from the depot complex that proved to be extremely useful for despatching motive power directly to Farington Jct, or to the adjacent extensive carriage sidings and carriage shed. The small signal-box adjacent to Watkin Lane over-bridge, controlling the junction, was known as "Lostock Hall Carriage Sidings". The original coaling-stage was also another standard Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway feature. A ramped-road up to the height of loco tenders provided a facility for coal to be hand-shovelled into tenders, by men employed on continuous duties. Above the coaling stage was a massive water-tank, which supplied all 7 of the water columns on the various outside shed roads. These L&Y columns, along with the elevated water-tank survived right up to the end of steam in 1968. On a separate road close by the coaling stage, a 50ft turntable was provided with the advent of larger locomotives.

London, Midland, Scottish railway Shed No. 27C (1930 - 1935)

Lostock Hall became one of thirty-two depots existing at that time on the Lancashire & Yorkshire system, providing stabling for 40 or so of the Company’s 1,650 locomotives. Its individual L&Y code being No 27, each engine’s actual allocation was to be found on a white enamel plate affixed to the rear edge of cab roofs. After the Grouping and from about December 1930, a prefix ‘C’ was added to that code and it was at around the same time that the enamel plates started to be transferred to the smokebox doors, in accordance with standard London, Midland and Scottish Railway (LMSR) practice. Incidentally, the code ‘C27’ identified a loco belonging to the newly-created LMSR Central Division. Despite the pressure on loco-servicing facilities being eased somewhat with the opening of the new shed, the single access route into Preston from the Liverpool direction was still rather circuitous and, what with the numerous additional light-engine movements, the ever-worsening situation was causing an increasing traffic bottleneck, particularly at the entry to the station. The first steps to remedy this were taken in 1891 when the L&Y opened a far more direct line into the town, with its new chord-line being constructed between Moss Lane Junction, near Midge Hall and Farington Curve Junction on the North Union main-line (about 1½ miles south of Preston).

Problems were still occurring with the far more intensive traffic off the East Lancs line, so to further alleviate congestion, in 1908 yet another curve was then put in from Lostock Hall Engine Shed Junction down a steeply-graded 1 in 75 incline to connect into the Moss Lane chord. Light engines from the depot and trains from the Liverpool and Blackburn directions all now had two options upon how they reached Preston and these additional works had now provided a much-welcomed facility that would spread the load more evenly at the station in terms of platform occupation. Those two additional connections finally completed the complex network of rails to the south of Preston that was to survive intact for 64 years. From the outset and to an ever-lessening degree even into British Rail days, Lostock Hall's allocation of motive power was almost entirely provided merely for workings over the L&Y lines in the Preston area, these including local freight and passenger turns. In addition to a miscellany of shunting duties and a few longer-distance goods journeys, the shed was also responsible for a number of passenger jobs, typically to Blackpool, Fleetwood, Liverpool, Southport and Manchester.

London, Midland, Scottish railway Shed No. 23E (1935 - 1946)

In January 1935, the depot code changed from C27 to 23E, but now under the control of the parent depot of 23A Bank Hall in Liverpool. During 1937 facilities at the shed were modernised, when a new 90ft concrete coaling plant was erected. Being provided with 2 hoppers, one for low-grade and the other for high-grade coal freight duties. The coal supply came directly from fully-laden 16-tonne wagons that were each individually raised to the top of the plant to then be rotated to disgorge their contents into the hoppers below. At the same time, an extra loco-finishing pit and a steel-construction ash-disposal plant were constructed, into which ash from the pits was manually shovelled. The plant straddled an adjacent dead-end road with narrow-gauge tracks along both sides from which the tubs were raised in order to decant the contents directly into 16-tonne mineral trucks waiting underneath.

The following year, with much larger engines now requiring servicing at the depot, a modern vacuum-operated 70ft turntable was also installed. During the Second World War, with much military traffic passing through Lancashire, demands upon motive power over the ex-L&Y routes were particularly high and it is of some significance that virtually none of the surviving, but by now out-dated, Victorian-era engines still around came to be withdrawn until the end of the War.

File:Lostock Hall 10D MPD 27-07-68.jpg

Lostock Hall MPD Shed 10D - 27 June 1968

Shed No. 24C Losotock Hall MPD (1946 to 1963)

In May 1946, following the post-World War II reorganisations, Lostock Hall Motive Power Depot (MPD) shed had now become a sub-depot to 24A Accrington Depot and, accordingly, received the new code of 24C. As a consequence of the disastrous effects of the hostilities, Britain’s railways had, in any case, already effectively become bankrupt and the Transport Act 1947 was passed to nationalise nearly all forms of mass transport in Great Britain, taking effect from 1 January 1948. The title ‘British Railways’ came into existence as the business name of the Railway Executive of the British Transport Commission on the same date.

Initially, there was little real change and the newly-formed London Midland Region inherited, in the main, ex-LMS types of steam locomotive already at depots in its domain. For a few months in early 1948, an ‘M’ prefix was added to existing LMS loco numbers, but from mid-1948, 40,000 was added, allocating numbers of the ex-LMS types into the 4xxxx and 5xxxx series. In respect of London Midland depot codes, throughout Lancashire there was also little change at first, with Lostock Hall retaining its ‘24C’ until 1963, when changes to local administrative areas finally did dictate a revision.

Buses

Several bus services operate through Lostock Hall, providing good services for commuters travelling to near-by towns and villages, as well as to the City of Preston.

No.	From	To	Via	Bus Operator	Bus Timetable Link
109	Preston	Chorley	Walton Park, Lostock Hall, Leyland, Buckshaw Village	Stagecoach; John Fishwick & Sons
110	Preston	Leyland	Lower Penwortham, Lostock Hall, Farington	Blue Bus Lancashire
111	Preston	Leyland Seven Stars	Lower Penwortham, Lostock Hall (Monday-Saturday's only)	Blue Bus Lancashire
111	Preston	Leyland Fishwick's Garage	Lower Penwortham, Lostock Hall, Leyland, Moss Side	John Fishwick & Sons
113	Preston	Wigan	Bamber Bridge, Lostock Hall, Leyland, Eccleston, Wrightington Bar, Shevington Moor (Monday-Saturday's only)	Stagecoach
114	Preston	Chorley	Walton-le-Dale, Lostock Hall, Sainsbury's Bamber Bridge, Bamber Bridge, Clayton Green Asda, Whittle-le-Woods	Stagecoach
116	Leyland	Preston	Moss Side, Farington Moss, Lostock Hall	John Fishwick & Sons
117	Preston	Leyland Fishwick's Garage	Lostock Hall, Bamber Bridge, Clayton Brook, Clayton Green, Leyland, Moss Side	John Fishwick & Sons

References

This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain: Farrerr, William; Brownbill, J., eds. (1911). "Townships: Walton-le-Dale". A History of the County of Lancaster. Vol. 6. {{cite book}}: Text "pp. 289-300" ignored (help)

External links

• Lostock Hall Memorial Brass Band
• St Catherine's Hospice
• Lostock Hall Community High School & Arts College
• Lostock Hall Community Primary School
• Our Lady of Lourdes and Saint Gerard Majella
• Visit South Ribble
• South Ribble Borough Council