TODAY we take a stroll back in time along one of Blackburn’s busiest and best-known streets.

The photo, from the Lancashire Telegraph’s archives, shows Church Street, looking towards Salford just prior to the First World War.

In the background is the Bay Horse Hotel, one of the town’s oldest coaching inns and figuring in its affairs in the 1790s as the starting point for journeys to Manchester.

The building seen here was associated with the 1882 improvements of the Salford area which created the large open space where once stood the humped bridge over the now-underground River Blakewater.

This hump bridge over the torrents of the river was culverted for the first time during the industrial revolution that led to Blackburn’s rise as a major cotton town and again in the sixties, when it was modified during the remodelling of the town centre.

Both the former Bay Horse and the nearby Lord Nelson were demolished, set back some 50ft from their original sites and rebuilt.

The last Bay Horse was demolished in 1963.

Perhaps you have a tale to tell about Church Street or a fond memory from back in the day. If so we’d love to hear from you.

Share your memories with ben.butler@nqnw.co.uk.