#burnley

The Brutalist Soul of Burnley Central

In the heart of Lancashire, Burnley Central stands as a stark reminder of the 1960s "Beeching era" transformation. Described by some architectural historians as "bleak," there is an undeniable atmosphere here—the sharp lines of the flat roof, the utilitarian blue brick, and the single track that now leads toward Colne.

It’s a station that feels suspended in time, caught between its busy industrial past and its quiet, modern-day role on a "dead-end" branch line. For those who love the "Steel, Stone, and Steam" of Northern infrastructure, it’s a masterclass in atmospheric minimalism.

If a dishevelled Ronald McDonald lifts the shutters just a tad and ushers you inside, do NOT accept.

The Wild Wood is covered in bluebells right now.

I live in the North of England where Spring can be a little later than in the South. I live in the high South Pennines, in a town made famous by Dave Fishwick of Bank of Dave fame. It is a small university town with a 'can do' spirit way beyond it's very modest size. This is a town built early on cotton spinning and weaving. On the edge of the South Pennines National Park, in Lancashire, we are surrounded by peaks and fells, Dave's 'Big Hills (the 'h' is silent)).

The late 18th Century was Burnley's industrial heyday, built around a canal which meanders lazily and crazily north through the Pennines, taking a very far from straight line between the cities of Leeds and Liverpool. It heads north east and gets lost in the quiet Craven countryside just a few miles north of here; tiny farm swing bridges cross it and gentle cows wade it's edges to drink the water. Beautiful woodland and forest adorn the lower slopes of the hills. This is a beautiful and quiet place.

Indeed our little Lancashire town lies just a few miles south of Skipton in Yorkshire and a similar distance from the King's Duchy of Lancaster country estate at the heart of tranquil Bowland. It is a place so quiet, tranquil and beautiful that our late Queen Elizabeth expressed a wish she could retire there!

Beautiful Gisburn Forest, Lancashire which lies in Bowland close to the Duchy of Lancaster's royal estate.

Burnley's prosperity didn't last long. The hub of this industry passed far southwards, favouring the likes of Bolton, Rochdale and Manchester who had better communications. We are truly fortunate. Everyone confuses us with the sprawling Greater Manchester mill towns farther south like Bury and Bolton. Our erstwhile Prime Minister Rishi Sunak famously got it wrong when he referred to the World Famous Burnley Market! We do have a quiet little market but we so aren't Bury! People conveniently pass us by and we smile to ourselves. Set in the midst of beautiful tranquil countryside, we enjoy some of the cheapest house prices in the UK.

St Peter's health centre pictured here is about the only tall building in a distinctly low rise little town. The shot was taken from 'The Straight Mile', an 18th Century engineering marvel which carries the canal elegantly some sixty feet above the town and has multiple aqueducts across the Rivers Brun, Calder and Yorkshire Street. The canal embankment dominates the town and separates Burnley Wood from Burnley itself. There is only one crossing point beneath the canal; an elegant art deco aqueduct known strangely as 'the culvert'.

The town itself is largely quiet. It's main thoroughfare is St James's Street which runs from the Bank of Dave all the way down toward our little university, housed beautifully in restored Newton Mill.

Here, 18th and 19th century architecture stands alongside art deco outside the Charter Walk. Being lost in the middle of hills, we have a thriving shopping centre with miniature versions of Primark, Marks and Spencer's and many others. Burnley serves a largely rural area of small hill farms and quiet villages. These are the only decent shops for miles; you are in Kendal and the South Lakes (35 miles away) before you get much else!

The Charter Walk currently has this beautiful art installation for The Big Circle Project, focussing on autism and neuro-divergence.

The tags on each suspended umbrella carry a message or word provided by a family.

This is the glory of black and white photography, which I love. The varied colours of the umbrellas are red, yellow and blue. These images were shot with an orange filter which differentiates the colours beautifully. Here is another shot in a (rare for me) colour image!

I'm a tradfem wife, a traditionalist housewife and I reuse and recycle things. Ever a Recessionista, these images were shot on old cast off camera equipment proving you don't need a fortune to take photos. The camera is a 'scrap' Canon EOS 350D digital camera from the noughties. It was part of a job lot of 5 'spares and repairs' cameras off eBay for £20. My professional photographer husband gifted this one to to me for Chanukah and Christmas. It works just fine. His intention was to help me learn a little about photography under his tuition. I hope that I have done credit to his excellent teaching.

The lens used was a 'scrap' 'spares and repairs' Canon EF 10-18mm f4.5-5.6 IS STM lens (£44 from MPB). Everything was edited using Canon's Digital Photo Professional software - DPP 4 (free if you input your camera serial number) and Canon's Zoom Browser EX (also free)

Let me know if you like my post and my shots. You can ask me about photography if you want but I probably won't be able to answer your technical questions (ask my husband instead @mwphotoimages).

Lots of love,

Relegated Burnley visit Arsenal on Monday night.

If Arsenal win they will be PL Champions for the first time in 20+ years.

They couldn’t, could they?