Strategically placed on the banks of the River Ribble, PRESTON was already an important market town in Anglo-Saxon times and received its royal charter in 1179 - origin of the famous Preston Guild celebrations, which since 1542 have taken place every twenty years (the next in 2012). The town was attacked by Robert the Bruce, changed hands in the Civil War and saw action during the Jacobite rebellions, while Charles Dickens gathered material here for Hard Times ... [More]