YET another of our traditional old pubs has finally bitten the dust, a victim of changing trends in drinking patterns. The Park Hotel, facing Victoria Park in North Road, had a long history as a mild-and-bitter watering hole of the emphatically masculine kind.

But it then discovered that it could no longer cope with increasingly stiff competition from nightspots and trendy wine bars proliferating throughout the town centre. It was closed and shuttered recently, becoming a victim of mindless vandalism and repeat break-ins.

Now its day is finally done . . . the site flattened in readiness for the erection of eleven, two-bedroomed private apartments, across three storeys, with all mod cons plus useful parking facilities. Certainly, those who buy into them will enjoy a handy location with sweeping views across Victoria Park just across the road.

Ironically, the Parkview Properties UK project is being jointly headed up by a former Park Hotel customer, Barry Hyland of Hyland Estates, St Helens, who expects to see construction completed within the next 12 months.

But what tales could that old watering hole have told? It survived two world wars in serving succeeding generations of customers. No doubt it enjoyed its share of elbow-bending local characters and experienced lively taproom debates, family celebrations such as wedding and christening parties, plus major knees-ups to mark victories over Germany and Japan and the more sombre business of staging funeral receptions.

It would be interesting to hear from survivors among its former regulars. Anyone with a little tale about oddball customers or various events and happenings at the old pub could kindly drop a line to Whalley's World.

Meantime, I've heard a few moans from local folk, complaining that this demolition is yet another example of the town's 'heritage' being destroyed. But where were they all when the struggling old pub was desperate for customers?