Dummy’s guide to Blackburn Bus Station
Due to work on Blackburn’s new Cathedral Quarter, we now find our bus station has been evicted from the Boulevard. It was right in front of the railway station and as good a transport interchange as you could ever find. Sadly it is no more. Fortunately our new bus station is being relocated on the old market site. So it’s only a hop, skip and jump away from where it was before.
Our temporary bus station is on Brown St, next door to where its permanent successor is being prepared. Unfortunately it is located within sight of four pubs, none of which sells beer. Both Bulls and the Fleece are boarded up, whereas Daniel’s – named after the neighbouring brewery’s founder – acts as Thwaites’ training centre. This pub used to be called the Waterloo, a fitting name for Blackburn’s town centre nightlife. That’s what you feel you’ve met when you venture there for a night out and look for places to go. Also adjacent to the brewery are two other redundant hostelries: Uncle Tom’s Cabin, also boarded up, and the Veteran – now a bookshop.
So the weary traveller, arriving by bus into Blackburn, doesn’t receive a very refreshing welcome. We must be the only town with a population of over 100,000 to have only a dozen pubs open in its town centre. It’s also very sad when Rovers are playing at home, visiting fans don’t ask directions to Ewood Park any more. They ask directions to the nearest pub instead.
Perhaps one answer could be for Thwaites to re-open either Daniel’s or the Fleece – or even better – why not both? What better way to train potential landlords, managers and bar staff than in a proper working pub? This is where Daniel’s really could kill two birds with one stone. It would continue its training purpose, but could also provide a welcome amenity for the new bus station and its dry surroundings. Get them in Danny!
