Lockdown has forced us all to spend more time locally and when we interviewed people from Preston many told us about why they loved Preston or how they had found a new love of Preston through lockdown.

Chris talked about his complicated relationship with Preston and what ties him to the city, “there’s something I just don’t know what it is that’s kept me here…it’s like a deep unrequited love is this city to me, it’s given me everything in terms of the things that i know, the experiences I’ve had. I genuinely wouldn’t change that. I will love Preston until it’s my time to go and beyond. “. He also spoke about the need to elevate Preston’s profile and advocate for the city.

Helen shared Chris’s inability to never leave this city and spoke about why she could never leave Preston and how great a place it is to live, “it’s fantastic and we can say that after 25 years of being here…whenever we get itchy feet and think about living in the country or somewhere else we think ‘well is it as good as here’ and we always come back to ‘well no’.”

Kay talked about her new found love of Preston and Darwen, ” I’ve rediscovered my hometown and I’m really grateful there are so many great places I can get out and walk to and enjoy with my dogs and my sister. And there’s places I’ve never been to before”. For many of us lockdown actually meant we went out into our local green spaces more despite only having an hour a day to do so.

Christine shared Kay’s love of Preston’s green space but also spoke of the Harris and events in the city, “we’ve got the parks especially in the town centre…we’ve got the Harris library and museum and things going on sometimes on the flag market…and just generally most people are friendly and it’s a reasonably safe place to live”.

Christine also talked nostalgically about how Preston city centre had changed over the years, “the big changes for me is how Fishergate has changed from how I remember when I first came back to Preston… St George’s didn’t even have a roof on when I was first here”.

Preston also has a vibrant arts scene, something Helen in particular talked about appreciating, “the plays we’ve seen there [the continental] have generally been excellent”.

For others the best thing about Preston is simple and for Chintan “The best thing about Preston is the Pub”.

The interviews we conducted during lockdown revealed that there is a lot to love about our city from it’s green space to it’s art scene. Being in lockdown has helped us reconnect with our green space as it became one of thee few freedoms we could appreciate. It has also made us realise what we had and have lost and therefore what we should appreciate when lockdown is over.

The Living City project is produced by They Eat Culture, & supported by the Community Lottery Fund & Arts Council England.