Lancashire is a county in North West of England with borders on Yorkshire and Merseyside and a population of just under 1.5 million people. Lancashire was one of the protagonists in the ‘War of The Roses’ in the 15th century which plunged England into civil war, Lancashire being associated with a red rose and York being associated with a white rose. The House of York won the day gaining the throne of England back. Towns in the region are: Preston, Chorley, Accrington, Burnley and Lancaster.
Preston is the largest town in Lancashire with 132,000 inhabitants and is a hub of aerospace and hi-tech manufacturing with ABE Systems, Westinghouse and Alstom plus headquarters for the following companies, The Carphone Warehouse, SPAR, TalkTalk and Opal Telecom. The town dates back to Roman times however the population only came to present levels during the Industrial Revolution and is associated both with the Temperance Movement and heavy industry.
Chorley is a market town with over 33,000 inhabitants, the name coming from the nearby River Chor and the Anglo-Saxon from ‘the pheasant clearing’. Chorley is a busy shopping area and a further £20 million will be invested into the area, the town has many employers such as BAE, Fed-Ex, Telent PLC and Pontins.
Traditional industries in Lancashire include mining, cotton production and fishing however in recent times these have been replaced by aerospace, manufacturing and technology. Companies with factories in the area include: 4 separate BAE Systems factories, Heinz, Marconi, TVR cars and Leyland trucks. |
