Parbold
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Parbold is a small village in the county of Lancashire. It is at the bottom of Parbold Hill, in the valley of the River Douglas. Parbold is about three miles west of junction 27 of the M6 motorway, on the A5209; the Leeds-Liverpool Canal passes very close to the village centre. The village can also be reached by rail on the line from Manchester to Southport.
The village contains a windmill, built in 1794 but which has not actually milled since about 1850 (it is now a fabric shop). Parbold has a canal with pleasant country walks, and the Railway, Stocks, and Windmill pubs.
It is dominated by Parbold Hill, on which lies the Famous Parbold Bottle, now restored. This is a stone monument about 2 meters high, so called because it vaguely resembles a giant bottle. Built in 1832 to commemorate the Reform Act, the Bottle is visible from the canal.
The earliest known reference to Parbold is in the late 12th Century, where grants of land were made to nearby Burscough Priory (pronounced Bursk-owe). After the Norman Conquest, Parbold was part of the Barony of Manchester. Little development occurred from this time to the mid 18th century.
In the 18th and 19th centuries, a number of coal mines worked nearby, rather meagre, seams; hard sandstone was also quarried. Both coal and sandstone could be exported over the waterways; boat-building was a minor economic activity in Parbold around this time.
Parbold railway station, built in the mid 19th century by the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway, radically altered the village; it allowed middle class workers to live in Parbold and commute to nearby towns such as Wigan, Ormskirk, and Preston. The rail station also provided a natural centre for the village which it still is today. The railway station was originally named Newburgh after the nearest large village but this became Newburgh for Parbold and then Parbold for Newburgh. At this point Dalton wanted to also to be mentioned in the official name so the railway company decided to just call the station Parbold (this happened before 1910 as the station was called Parbold in the Bradshaw of that date). In 2005 the railway station underwent a £250,000 restoration project which saw the ticket office restored to its former glory and new fences and CCTV installed. Parbold thus possessing an identity of sorts, it became a civil parish in 1894.
Parbold's war memorial is in the Church of England Church, Christchurch which is near the top of Parbold Hill.
Parbold has a number of shops including two "McColls" newsagents and 2 hairdressers, There are 4 pubs along the main road through the centre of the village - The Railway, The Windmill, The Stocks Tavern, and the cream of the crop, The Wayfarer.
Parbold is also home to Sunday football side FC Parma.