Today, however, I want to share with you one of the problems which constantly exercise my mind – what to write about areas of the town long since gone.

The photo before you is a case in point. No one is alive today who could remember the buildings we depict today as they were demolished in the 1890s, possibly in 1890 itself. When they were standing, and located where they were, the buildings were among Burnley's best-known shops though they were originally built as houses.

We are in Church Street, at its junction with Yorkshire Street, as it was more than 100 years ago. Of course, though both Church Street and Yorkshire Street survive, they do not follow their original routes. Church Street, until the creation of Keirby Walk in the 1960s, ran from the top of Hall Street (or Hall Rake, as it was sometimes known) towards the parish church. The Yorkshire Street junction was within the first few yards and the buildings in today's photo were directly opposite.

When describing these buildings James Grant, in a lecture to the Burnley Literary and Scientific Society in 1887, said: "The White House at the foot of Yorkshire Street was at one time the curate's residence, and from there for a considerable distance a low wall skirted the river. The sight of the sweet smiling river was pleasant to the eyes of the two who were accustomed to see their river in Manchester of quite another hue. Trees grew at the sides of the Brun, and fish could be caught in it."

The reference to "the two" (John Stansfield and his grandson, Oliver) is to the device James Grant used to guide his listeners around the Burnley of the immediate post-war years, i.e. the years after the defeat of Napoleon at Waterloo. The White House was one of the cottages you can see in today's picture. It was built very close to what became the Hall Inn and, on some early maps, the low wall is marked. It surrounded a considerable and attractive garden on the banks of the Brun.

Of course, the scene described by Grant did not last long. It was developed very quickly in the 19th Century and its beauty was lost, replaced by houses, shops and workshops and, latterly, the yard of a well known builders.

We know something about the occupants of the buildings in the picture, though I cannot be sure of the date of the photo. The poster above the second door from the left announced the business of Harry Gibson, auctioneer, at the White House sale room and, as you may be able to see, the premises were once known as the Good Templar's Hall. On the right there are the dining rooms of Mr S. G. Nothard but I am afraid I cannot make out the details on the noticeboard above the large shop window on the extreme left.

In 1883 I think the businesses which used the premises depicted here were those of John Higgin, saddler and harness-maker, and Robert Moorby who ran an eating house. The reference to Higgin is interesting in that James Grant makes reference to the Higgin family in his historical guide. Grant mentions the "houses which jutted out into the road".

There were on Blucher Street, only a few yards from where we are today. He observes that Mrs Higgin, saddler, was the occupant of the end one. Surely, John Higgin was a relative?

The buildings themselves look to be quite old. Consider the upstairs windows on the premises occupied by Mr Nothard. They could date from the 17th Century though the other upstairs windows, to the left of these, may be from a later period. Notice also, Mr Nothard's shop sign. Unfortunately, I can make no more information than the name of the owner but the sign is quite ornate.

A word or two about Church Street. It was part of Burnley's oldest highway, the road which linked the Top o' th Town (at St Peter's) with the Bottom o' th' Town, near the Cross Keys. At the western end traffic came, via Sandygate, from Padiham and Blackburn and at the western end traffic from the Marsden and Colne direction could get to Burnley.

In early times there were a few farm houses and cottages along this ancient route but the location of the present town centre was not finally determined until the later part of the 18th Century. It is the period after this that James Grant referred to in his talk but enough of 18th Century Burnley survives in the descriptions he gives to make the read worth your while. A booklet, which gives the full text of this and another walk, can be found in "Burnley as it was 160 years ago" which is in Burnley Library.