The Bull and Royal Hotel is well known as being the place where Charles Dickens stayed while visiting Preston in 1854. It was from this hotel that Dickens observed the Lock-out, which he reported on in Household Words. The magazine featured his most famous piece on the dispute, ‘On Strike’ published in the February 11^th issue, shortly after he started work on Hard Times. He then published chapters of the novel from April to August 1854, to encourage people to buy the magazine.

[credit to @elliott_dslrphotograpghy on Instagram for photo]