Preston - the quietly brilliant city that's captured the attention of award-winning travel writer
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Ben Aitken, the 39 year-old award-winning travel writer from Portsmouth isn’t overly interested in crowded tourist hotspots. When he sets off on his travels he takes an open-mind, a keen eye for hidden gems and a desire to meet interesting and real people.
His latest book, provocatively entitled Sh*tty Breaks: A Celebration of Unsung Cities, invites the curious to set aside previously held perceptions of a city break and writes with genuine heart and humour about a group of cities that really shouldn’t be overlooked. Including one of Lancashire’s most fascinating cities, Preston.
He kindly agreed to a Q&A with Marketing Lancashire, ahead of returning to Lancashire to promote his book.
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When did you start to write and who were your literary influences?
I started at four, peaked at 16, and have always been influenced by Trollope. That’s not true. I just liked the sound of the sentence, the flow of the notion, which I guess is the writer in me. The truth is I started in my late twenties, and was influenced less by things I read and more by things I heard and saw – real life, I suppose. There’s a lot of literature in real life.
What drew you particularly to travel writing and did any particular location kickstart your literary career?
Nothing drew me to travel writing. Plenty of things drew me to travel – escape, adventure, etc – and then it just felt natural to keep a diary and send postcards and emails about what I was doing, what I was seeing, who I was meeting and so on. I believe that writing about an experience makes that experience richer somehow. And I believe that writing about travel makes you a better traveller – more curious, attentive, nosey and talkative. For most of my adult life, I didn’t understand that writing about travel could be a job. I still don’t in a way. I was a carer for a guy with cerebral palsy throughout my twenties, and I worked in a fish and chip shop in Poland in my early thirties. The latter experience – peeling spuds in Poznan – was the basis of the first book I had published. So you could say that Poland was the place that got me going.
To date, which place has made the biggest impression on you and why?
It’s always the place I just got back from! Be that Burnley, Bulgaria or Belize. Any period ‘away’ – when my eyes and ears are wide open and my mind is totally tuned in – makes a big impression, and puts a spring in my step. But periods away need to be rationed, I feel, else they lose their lustre and magic. I’m glad my professional task is to write one book every year or so rather that 50-odd articles a year. If I had to do the latter, I’d almost certainly fall out of love with the simple brilliance of going somewhere else.
Why write about unsung cities and how did you choose those in your new book?
I’ve always been drawn to the ‘wrong’ direction, in part because I’m contrary, and in part because I believe that anywhere – like anyone – can be interesting and enjoyable if given half the chance. Not everything that glitters is gold and all that. My itinerary – Wrexham, Bradford, Sunderland and so on – was driven by data rather than hunch. In a burst of professionalism that was frankly out of character, I contacted some tourism boards and got hold of a league table that told me where people were willingly going for a weekend away. I turned the table on its head and proceeded from there.
What surprised/impressed you most about Preston?
The weather! I had two days of unbroken sunshine. Not bad for a city that wins medals for most cloud and drizzle and so on. I was struck by the beauty of Avenham Park, and the size of the bus station, and the quality of the lunch I had at a restaurant called Aven. I wasn’t surprised that I enjoyed myself in Preston, or that I found things of interest and note, or that I came across lots of decent, interesting people. You get such things everywhere – and I mean that in a nice way, a positive way. I was surprised I didn’t do better at the bingo. I normally do well. I’m a natural.
Have you found unsung cities have anything in common?
In a way, yes. They all have a few good pubs, some decent places to eat, an array of architecture, down-to-earth people, a fair bit of history to engage with and learn about… And a lot of them are proximate to a bigger neighbour, a Manchester or a Newcastle, who may or may not have been hogging the limelight for the last half a century.
Cities and high streets are changing rapidly – from your travels what do you think will continue to attract people to city breaks?
The basic things people want from a city break are fairly stable, I think. Speaking personally, I want history, people, culture, stories, food, engaging erections (be it a bridge or a bus station), something daft or fun or out of the ordinary (like curling), and then a few places where I can have a shandy and a natter. In Preston, I had my shandies at Plug and Taps, The Hogarth, The Conti, Lonely People and Blitz. I got a sweat on cycling around the Guild Wheel. I had my parched peas and my butter pie. And you can’t say the bus station isn’t an engaging erection. If anything, it’s too engaging!
Which place/destination is next on your ‘must visit’ list?
Chorley. No, only joking, I’m off to Leicester first weekend of June. I’ve been meaning to go for ages.
What is the worst and best thing that’s happened to you on your travels?
I almost got kicked out of the panto in Wolverhampton. That was the best thing. And the worst thing … was also in Wolves, as it happens. I went to the races one night and put a bet on an outsider called Probable. It came last. That’ll teach me to back the underdog.
Which items do you always carry when travelling? (can’t do without items)
I honestly don’t think there’s anything I couldn’t do without. Laurie Lee got from Gloucester to Madrid with only a violin and the shirt on his back… You don’t need much to enjoy travelling. Just a bit of curiosity and openness. That’ll do you. That’ll take you a long way.
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Ben Aitken is the author of Shitty Breaks: A Celebration of Unsung Cities. He will be at Waterstones Preston on May 28, Ebb and Flow in Chorley on May 29, and Waterstones Manchester Deansgate on June 2. Here’s a short video the author made about his weekend in Preston.