HAVING just read four accounts of the English Civil War, I was both suprised and fascinated by the accounts of the Battle of Preston which I confess to knowing virtually nothing about before.

Preston was much smaller than it is now with a population of 2,000, and it's estimated that on August 17, 1648, 20,000 men were fighting in an area from the Walton-le-Dale bridge up to Moor park, then just Moor. The Battle of Preston, which ended with the defeat of the Royalists and Scots alliance, was the most important battle of the second English Civil War, and yet its significance is hardly known.

I keep hearing of blue plaques in your town put up recalling a number of events in Preston's historical past.

Should there not be one commemorating this battle? If there is then I plead ignorance as I am not a local.

Perhaps the present bridge, which replaced the old one which was so pivotal in the battle, would be an ideal spot.

And while we are on the subject of plaques, what about the 1943 Mutiny at Bamber Bridge?

Russell Brown, Glen Eldon Road, St Annes.