John Eddleston - Photographer

                                                                                                                                                             
In 1963, a young Blackburnian and keen photographer by the name of John Eddleston, had bought himself a new camera which he was going to take with him on a forthcoming trip to Europe. He decided to familiarise himself with his purchase by traipsing around the town (mainly the centre) taking shots of a Blackburn that would soon disappear in the planned, phased redevelopment. He took hundreds of photos and has left us with a very important archive of that period of Blackburn's history.

In the late 1990's, most of John's photos were published in two small books, which were sold locally and the proceeds used to buy equipment for The Stroke Rehabilitation Ward at Queens Park Hospital (Royal Blackburn as it is now). Quite a few people were instrumental in the publication of these books, Peter Street, Ray Hull, Simon Allen, the printer John Brown and no doubt others too. My personal thanks to them all.

Over the last few years, I have seen John Eddleston's photos crop up on Facebook, Flickr, Twitter, Youtube and other web-sites and rarely, if ever, is the man given a mention. Not only do they fail to mention the photographer, but often, their reproductions of his work are bad, indeed sometimes awful scans that add insult to injury (please see the example below). Here, by giving him his own category, I hope to rectify that.

Over time I will upload all of his published images. They will be in pretty random order, but I will tag them by location, so if you just want to see some photos of a particular street / road, click on the appropriate one in the 'LABELS' list.  If you would just like to view JE's photos, then click on his name in the same list.

Lark Hill and the junction of Regent St - 1963

The same image as it appeared on a Facebook group and hand on heart, I did nothing but download it from that group. As mentioned above, an insult to the photographer.

Courtesy of John Eddleston

Darwen St looking into King William St - 1963

 

Looking along Darwen St and into King William St, with the junction of Church St to the right and Higher Church St to the left. The Old Bank, pretty central in this photograph, dominates the scene and just in the centre of the crossroads, you can see the policeman in his white coat, directing the traffic.

The building on the other corner of Higher Church St was originally the Prince of Wales Hotel, but by the time this photo was taken in 1963, it had long been an outlet of Burton's (gents outfitters).

Photo courtesy of John Eddleston

Market St Lane viewed from Mincing Lane - 1963

This is Market St Lane viewed from the Mincing Lane end, where the Dun Horse pub is (it would be to the right, just out of shot) and we're looking towards Darwen St in the distance. You can see the upper two storeys of the Legs 'O' Man pub at the far end.

Towards the bottom of the street, on the left hand side, are the rounded bays of the Castle Hotel, a pub remembered by many as the Dirty Duck in the 1970's and later as Mr G's nightclub in the 80's. Both of which I visited frequently during those decades, as well as the 'Millstone' venue which was upstairs for a few years (1974 - 1976/7 approximately) and the disco they had in the cellar in the mid 70's.

Sadly this fine old hostelry, which had stood there for close on 200 years or so, was demolished a few years ago and as with other parts of the town centre, sweet Fanny Adams has been put in its place. Progress? I don't see it that way personally.

This 1963 view would have looked exactly the same to our Victorian and possibly even our Georgian ancestors and still looked more or less the same until the mid 70's when the properties on Darwen St went. But the biggest change to this scene came at the start of the current century, when a local businesswoman decided we needed town centre apartments and the stupid council agreed. A failed development that has left us with nothing more than a folly, a blot on the landscape. All parties involved should hang their heads in shame for allowing such destruction.

Photo courtesy of John Eddleston 

Darwen Street looking towards Church Street - 1963

Looking along Darwen St from the junction of Mill Lane and towards Church St in the distance. 

Dominating the right hand side of the street is the General Post Office, which is now the Postal Order pub. On the extreme right of the picture, you can see a couple of the windows on The Merchants pub, now The Last Orders.

If you look closely, way off in the distance, over the roof line of the properties on the top of Church Street, you can see the top of the market hall clock tower.

Sadly these days, the shops on both sides of the street are all fast food places, pizza bars, a chip shop, kebab houses etc. Back then (1963) there was a tobacconist, confectioner, florist, stationers, a printers and much more besides. A different world really.

What have they done to John Eddleston's Blackburn, my Blackburn ?

Photo courtesy of John Eddleston

Higher Church St viewed from Astley Gate - 1963

Higher Church St looking down towards the junctions of King William St, Church St and Darwen St.

Northgate is off to the left and the photographer would have been stood on Astley Gate outside of  The Sun and/or The Swan pubs.

Photo courtesy of John Eddleston

Church St (upper section) - 1963

The upper part of Church St, looking towards the Old Bank and the junction of Darwen St, with Higher Church St veering off towards the right of the bank. A couple of the Georgian pavilions are in view on the left, the upper one with the 'Snack Bar' sign was the Palatine Cafe. On the right hand side of the street, facing the cafe, was Thwaites Arcade.

Photo courtesy of John Eddleston

King William St / Church St - 1963

Looking towards King William St and the top part of Church St from Darwen St, with the familiar sight of the policeman on duty, directing the traffic.

If today, you stood where the photographer was standing, you would see the monstrous Debenhams store dominating the view and probably a dozen skateboarding Goths where Sagars the jewellers is. The Goths are fine, but the jury is still out with regards the Debenehams store. 

Photo courtesy of John Eddleston

Darwen St - c1904

A lovely 108 year old view of Darwen St, looking in the direction of King William St.

Those working chaps on the right hand pavement, had earlier been into the Prince of Wales pub on the corner of Higher Church St and also had a few beers in the Legs O Man and The County, which they've just left. They were heading for the Postal Order, but as you can see, taking their time, as it hadn't yet been built and wouldn't become a pub for another 3/4 of a century, so there was no push.

COURTESY OF THE CP COLLECTION

Visit of Princess Louise - 30th September 1905

This is the visit of Princess Louise, who was in Blackburn on the 30th September 1905 to unveil the statue of her late mother Queen Victoria, on the Boulevard.

This photo was taken after the unveiling, as they're just coming out of Jubilee St and turning right into Darwen Street. Just look at the crowds

That corner door to The Merchants was still being used right into the 1990's, though it's blocked up now and the pub has changed its name and is part of the Last Order's chain.

There's a couple of other photos of this visit elsewhere on the site (in fact one is on twice). Just type in Princess Louise into the search in the top left corner and they should appear. 

COURTESY OF THE CP COLLECTION

Darwen Street & The GPO

Darwen Street, the top / north end, with the old General Post Office on the right (now the Postal Order pub). Not sure of the year, but the Post Office dates to about 1907 or thereabouts, so it's got to be later than that.

COURTESY OF THE CP COLLECTION

Darwen Street from the Railway Bridge End - c1910

Lovely old picture of Darwen Street, viewed from the railway bridge.  Look at how the tram tracks in the foreground cross each other. They crossed like that at the other end of this stretch of Darwen Street too, where the road forked into Mincing Lane.

COURTESY OF THE CP COLLECTION

The Old Market Place 1820 by Chas Haworth

This is another Chas Haworth drawing from the 19th century.

Before Blackburn market moved to a purpose built area in the 1840's, it was held in the vicinity of Darwen Street (as above) and had been held there for a couple of centuries or more, according to the history books.

 In the centre of the picture, you can see the tower of the Parish Church and in front of that, the Old Bull Hotel (an earlier structure than the one elsewhere on the blog). Where the 'Printing Office' sign is on the wall on the right, is where the bank was built. On the extreme left, the man and child would be heading into what became King William Street and the street which is pretty central, is Church Street.

Below is a wall poster from 1773, announcing plans to move the main market day from Monday to Wednesday, which they did in 1774, and Blackburn has had a market on Wednesday's ever since.

(My apologies for the camera flash at the top - Please click to enlarge)

 

COURTESY OF THE CP COLLECTION

Darwen Street and the Railway Bridge

Another touched up / hand tinted postcard. Darwen Street, with a glimpse of the railway bridge to the left. The shop on the extreme right was a Pork Butcher and the shop to the left of it, sold China, Glass and Hardware, according to the boards at roof level (Neville's Fancy Goods they're listed as in the directories).  I think it was a large toy shop, when I was a child in the 1960's. 

Some of these buildings, although altered, are still there today.

COURTESY OF THE CP COLLECTION

Darwen Street looking towards King William Street (1940's)

This is a busy looking Darwen Street in the 1940's, with the General Post Office (now the Postal Order pub) on the right. The tall and fancy looking chimneys above the tram, are the chimneys of the Old Bull Hotel. In the far distance, over the rooftops of King William Street, you can see the rising ball and steeple of the Market Hall clock tower.

COURTESY OF THE CP COLLECTION