Historic buildings 'at risk' warns English Heritage

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The Weavers' Triangle in Burnley has been given a new lease of life

English Heritage has released details of Lancashire sites and buildings on its at risk register.

The report says many of the county's vulnerable buildings are still in need of urgent repairs because of the impact of the recession.

But some of the county's buildings are being well looked after.

Regional Director Henry Owen-John says partnerships such as the one at the Weavers' Triangle in Burnley are vital to breathe new life into old buildings.

"If you look across the whole of England, just over 3% of our historic designated buildings are at risk. If you look in the north west, it's over 5% and the same applies to our conservation areas," he says.

"Without the partnership that Burnley Borough Council is leading, these buildings would deteriorate to the point where they'd be lost.

BUILDINGS AT RISK INCLUDE Extwistle Hall, Briercliffe Bank Hall, Bretherton The Winter Gardens, Blackpool Parker's Farmhouse, Rishton

"That partnership is ensuring that even in really difficult times they're put in a decent state of repair, so that when an economic upturn comes, they can take advantage of the investment that will be available, rather than being lost forever."

'Belching out smoke'

He also says it's important to have vision, when looking at damaged buildings: "What I see and what I also hear in my mind is the place that was at the centre of the world's weaving industry.

"If you imagine the noise and the clatter of the machinery working, of the chimneys belching out smoke.

"A hundred thousand looms here at its heyday, and you can still get that feel from the buildings that are here at the moment."

Burnley Borough Council's head of regeneration, Mike Cook says: "We've spent the last year carrying out essential works to protect the fabric of the mills.

"We've been stripping out the mills, patching the roofs, stablizing walls.

"All the work that's been needed for years that we've never been able to do, we're now doing, and we're doing that as the first phase of a programme.

"The really important part after that is getting that out to the market and getting the business sector back in Burnley."

In the last year, English Heritage awarded grants to 12 sites in the region of just over £1m.