Westgate

Burnley was a garrison town and these are some of the barracks on Clifton Street, off Westgate, before demolition.

A view overlooking Burnley Barracks railway station, with the Westgate road bridge over the Leeds-Liverpool Canal readily visible and still with us.  Virtually all the buildings to the left of the bridge have been demolished, as have the modern Trafalgar flats which are visible on the skyline on the extreme right.  The mill and square tower, however, will be familiar to present-day users of Trafalgar Street.

The partly-demolished property stood at the corner of Westgate and Ashfield Road, with the chimney of Massey’s Brewery prominent.

Now we see Massey’s Brewery building, since demolished, from the junction of Sandygate and Westgate.

Slightly further down Westgate, at its junction with Calder Vale Road and St. James Street, stood this row of shops.  Whilst we suspect that few people will recall three of the businesses, Rona’s jewellers is still fondly remembered by older shoppers.  This site is now occupied by the Westgate/Active Way roundabout.

Rona’s and the adjacent shops occupied the grassed-over area.  John Watts clock tower was demolished following a fire.  The cobbled street in the foreground is now part of the busy and tarmacadamed Active Way.

John Watt’s mill on Sandygate was one of Burnley’s most prominent buildings and was much photographed, but we could not resist including two images. The second of these shows the mill when it was partly demolished following a fire.

This is Coal Clough Lane at its junction with what was then Sandygate, now Burnham Gate.  The mushroom-shaped building and chimney belonged to Ducketts, manufacturers of earthen sanitary ware, still to be found in at least one Burnley pub.

Following demolition of the buildings, this rather artistic display of their products remained on site.  Turner prize?  On the left, in the background, is part of the Trafalgar flats complex.