Preston Heritage Weekend – Diary Saturday 9th September 2017 PC Carpets – Art Nouveau – Everything Home

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I only had time for one more Heritage event on the Saturday of the weekend opening up of various private areas of public facilities. I chose this one as it was close to the previous one I visited, St Wilfred’s Church. It proved to be the most surreal and unlikely museum event of the weekend, in that the exhibits are in the private rooms of a still active and open household furniture and carpets shop. The Grade Two listed architectural section dates from the shops previous life as the headquarters of a Friendly Society banking group. It seemed strange to be walking among present day furniture shoppers while looking at a 19th century office, with shop staff recommending the Friendly Society owner’s private bathroom and its art nouveau tiling as the real must see. It was as if I was in two separate time streams simultaneously. The queue to get into a toilet just to see it was very odd, but the wall tiling is genuinely beautiful in there. It is lovely that the shop staff were happy to let people wander around without pressuring anyone to buy their goods. I would get three more tours on the Sunday. Arthur Chappell