Local historian and Burnley Civic Trust member Roger Frost gives us a fascinating potted history on each of the watering holes.
5. Parker's Arms
The old name for the Talbot Hotel was the Parker’s Arms, from the Parker’s of Extwistle Hall. The reason for the name change has not come down to us but it could be something to do with hunting, once a popular pass time. It is possible that the building in the image dates from 1626 but it was demolished in 1888 when the present structure, though closed, was built Photo: S
6. Old Red Lion
An image of the first Old Red Lion on its St James Street site. The building was a converted farmhouse which became an inn when Burnley town centre moved, from St Peter’s, to its new site, in the latter half of the eighteenth century. The photograph was taken before 1867 when the building was demolished and replaced by the present structure which is being restored as a coffee house Photo: S
7. Empress
This is Chancery Street with the Empress Hotel, left, and the main entrance to the Market Hall of 1870, in the centre of the picture. The Empress, a fine building was lost in the town centre redevelopment of the 1960’s and 1970’s though, briefly, it was replaced by a new building, the Empress Grill Photo: S
8. Mitre
The Mitre Hotel stood at the corner of Westgate and Trafalgar Street. The actual date of the building is unclear but mid-nineteenth century is most likely. It has not been closed all that long, 1998, but the license lapsed in 2002 Photo: S