The Railway & Naturalist, Prestwich

Image: © David Dixon Taken: 7 Jan 2011

The Railway and Naturalist public house on Bury New Road, Prestwich. According to one of the posters on this site: (http://www.bbc.co.uk/lancashire/content/articles/2006/02/10/lists_lancashire_pub_names_feature.shtml BBC Radio Lancashire), the pub's unusual name commemorates Alfred Wallace, a railway surveyor who pioneered a theory of evolution. He reached his startling conclusions, (which were acknowledged by Darwin) after noting the similarities and differences of species along railway routes. Note: An alternative explanation of the name has recently been sent to me. “The pub's name has no link to Arthur Wallace (who had no links with Prestwich) as suggested but is named (I'm told) after three famous botanists Richard Buxton, James Percival and John Horsefield, who used to meet there - and, who are all buried in the nearby Prestwich graveyard. This attribution would appear to make more sense. The pub was named 'The Naturalist' until 1870 when the railway arrived in Prestwich, and it acquired its present name”.

Images are licensed for reuse under creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0