On the corner of Friargate and the Ring Road, opposite the Wetherspoons is the Olde Black Bull. It is not to be confused with other hostelries named Black Bull in Preston, ones at Fulwood, Longton and Penwortham spring to mind.
Back in the glory days of Boddingtons beer it was one of their archetypal spit and sawdust Bodds brewery houses, many such as the Theatre, Selbourne and the Greyhound have now bitten the dust. I have spent many nights in there, quite often for a last drink before the last bus. Stan ran the pub for years and they extended the pub into the unit next door at some point in the 90’s.
It was a good pub to watch football and a couple of matches that stand out was a 9-man North End beating Birmingham 2-1 to deny them promotion on that day in 2009. The other watching and thoroughly enjoying Croatia batter Germany 3-0 in the 1998 World Cup quarter final.
They had regular bands in the corner of the pub. My first gig there was an old school blues band Wayne Carrick band on 16/02/13. On 01/07/17 I saw local duo Tom Biddle band and my final gig there was Barbarazella later in 2017.
About 5 doorways down Friargate lies the Dog and Partridge, next to the Zagros takeaway.The pub has a long history going back to the 1700’s. Back in the 1980’s when drink driving was more prevalent the hostelry was a magnet for bikers with a swathe of Harleys and Suzuki’s parked up outside.
With that ‘Easy Rider’ affiliation the music slant is somewhat understandingly in the rock/punk rock genre. The music stage has had a couple of spots but always in the right-hand room adjacent to the bar.
I first saw a band there on 24/07/11 who in my annals are listed somewhat mysteriously as Sheffield Steam Punk. The following year I saw a punk rock band from Lancaster called Mitford Rebel.
On the 05/05/13 I caught a noisy set from Preston’s finest evergreen punks Pike. A year later another punk band the Pink Tornados were in residence. The following year I saw Marauders, a blues covers band and Havoc 51, a rock band from Warrington.
My final three attendances were to see Vented Fury, Molly Chambers (from Blackpool) and a band called Gin Pit who did thunderously loud shambolic cover versions.
On the other side of the roundabout near the University building you will find the Ship (latterly the Ship and Giggles). Due to their location it has always first and foremost a student establishment. They had a brief moment of fame recently by offering substantial meals for a £0.01 to ensure they could stay open during Tier 3, but no doubt conceivably at a loss due to those margins.
I have witnessed five gigs there. At the back end of 2009 I saw a mate’s goth band Heavy Fluid Addicts. The following year I saw a Wirral based covers band called Insanity Beach.
I have also seen an energetic ska punk band from Derby called Addictive Philosophy. The remaining two gigs were a band called Mad Dog and a singer songwriter called Kim Waller.