14 March: Preston

In 2002, Preston in Lancashire became a city. The town was awarded city status as part of the celebrations of the 50th year of the reign of Queen Elizabeth II. It became England's 50th city.

1. The name Preston derives from the Old English for "Priest's Settlement", which probably refers to a priory set up by St Wilfrid on the Ribble river. In the Domesday Book, it is recorded as "Prestune".
2. Before it was a city, it had been a market town, having been granted a Guild Merchant charter in 1179. In 1219, it was the richest town in Lancashire.
3. Historically, the main industry in the town was textiles. In the 13th century, people produced wool in their own homes. In the 14th century, Flemish weavers settled in the area. Come the 19th century, it became a densely populated engineering centre, a boom town of the industrial revolution.
4. Sir Richard Arkwright, inventor of the spinning frame, was born in Preston. Other famous natives include cricketer Andrew Flintoff, Tim Farron, former leader of the Liberal Democrats, and Nick Park, creator of Wallace and Gromit.
5. Preston's Football team, Preston North End F.C. was founded in 1880 and was a founder member of the Football League. It started, however, as a Cricket team, which took up soccer in order to keep fit during the winter. Their ground, Deepdale, is football's oldest ground in terms of continuous use by a major league club. Another claim to fame is that they were the first team to win the League Championship in the 1888–89 season. They won the FA Cup that same year.
6. Preston was the first English town outside London to be lit by gas.
7. Charles Dickens based Coketown in his novel Hard Times on Preston. He visited the town during a cotton worker's strike in 1854, to do research for the novel.
8. Preston is home to the tallest spire in England on a church that is not a cathedral. The spire of St. Walburge's Church is 94 metres (308 ft) tall. Another interesting fact about the church is that it was designed by Joseph Hansom of Hansom Cab fame.
9. In late August or early September each year, Preston celebrates Guild Week, which begins with the annual opening of the Guild Court on the first Monday after the feast of the Beheading of St John the Baptist (29 August). Guild Week has been celebrated since the 16th century. Today, there are street parties, processions and concerts during the week.
10. Preston is twinned with Almelo in the Netherlands, Kalisz in Poland, Recklinghausen in Germany and Nîmes in France.