How much do you know about Blackburn? As a bit of fun during the lockdown, we’re inviting you to take part in our Blackburn quiz.
Over the next few days and weeks we will be sharing questions that wlll flex your grey matter about the town. The questions have been compiled by The Mall Blackburn and Blakey Moor Townscape Heritage Project, and pulled together by the Blackburn BID team.
So, share the questions with your friends and see who can get the most right.
We’ll be sharing a new question each day, starting from Monday 18 May, and revealing the answers here on this web page the following day.
Good luck!
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Q1:
In what year was the Daniel Thwaites & Co brewery established?
ANSWER: 1807
Q2:
Where in Blackburn would you find this painting by famous street artists, Dale Grimshaw?
ANSWER: Rear of Lord Street West or Prism Gallery
Q3:
Before it was Blackburn Cathedral, what was it previously?
ANSWER: St Mary’s Parish Church
Q4:
When was the last time her Majesty the Queen visited Blackburn?
ANSWER: 17th April 2014
Q5:
The statue of William E Gladstone now stands at the junction of Northgate and Blakey Moor, but where was he originally positioned?
ANSWER: Boulevard
Q6:
In what month and year was The Ewood Park ground officially opened?
ANSWER: April 1882
Q7:
In what decade did The Mall Blackburn open?
ANSWER: 1960’s
Q8:
Blackburn’s statue of Queen Victoria is located next to the Cathedral grounds, what was the date it was unveiled?
ANSWER: 30th September 1905
Q9:
What year did David Bowie play King George’s Hall?
ANSWER: 1973
Q10:
The Mall Blackburn has a fury pink mascot. What is his name?
ANSWER: The Mall Monster
Q11:
The British film Love and Hate, directed by Dominic Savage was shot in Blackburn and released in what year?
ANSWER: 2005
Q12:
In which famous Beatles song was Blackburn mentioned on?
ANSWER: A day in the life
Q13:
Work started on building King George’s Hall just before WW1 in 1913, but who laid the foundation stone?
ANSWER: King George V – hence the name
Q14:
Barbara Castle was a British Labour Party politician who was an MP for Blackburn between which dates?
ANSWER: 1945-1979
Q15
Primark opened its doors for the first time in The Mall in what month and year?
ANSWER: July 2010
Q16:
The Mall Blackburn was transformed with a £66 million development scheme in 2011. How many square feet is the Mall?
ANSWER: 600,000 sq ft
Q17:
Which Blackburn street was once known as ‘Thunder Alley’
ANSWER: Town Hall Street
Q18:
The TV show Hetty Wainthropp Investigates included many scenes shot in Blackburn. When was it screened on BBC one?
ANSWER: 1996 to 1998)
Q19:
The Mall shopping centre was built in three phases. What year was the final phase opened?
ANSWER: 1979
Q20:
In 1994 the TV film ‘Pat and Margaret’ was partly filmed in Blackburn, but who did it star?
ANSWER: Victoria Wood and Julie Walters
Q21:
Which famous fell walker and author attended Blakey Moor school?
ANSWER: Alfred Wainwright
Q22:
In what month and year did Ainsworth Street bus station open?
ANSWER: May 2016
Q23:
Which former X Factor star, born in Blackburn, switched on the Christmas lights on Saturday 20th November 2010?
ANSWER: Diana Vicker
Q24:
How many stores in The Mall begin with the letter ‘C’?
ANSWER: 8
Q25:
The lost films of Edwardians Mitchell and Kenyon were discovered in the basement of their old Blackburn shop in 1994, but in which street?
ANSWER: Northgate
Q26:
Debenhams’s Blackburn celebrated a milestone birthday last year. How old are they?
ANSWER: 40
Q27:
The Wainwright Bridge was opened in June 2008, but how much did it cost?
ANSWER: £12million
Q28:
What is the name of the large sculpture on the side of Blackburn Cathedral?
ANSWER: Healing Of The Nations
Q29:
Blackburn’s Panopticon is a dramatic transformation of the former cannon batter in Blackburn’s Corporation Park, but by what name is it known by?
ANSWER: Colourfields
Q30:
Which business operates from Blackburn’s original main Post Office?
ANSWER: Wetherspoons – The Postal Order
Q31:
What is the name of this sculpture on Church Street that was commissioned for the Millennium?
ANSWER: The Woven Globe
Q32:
A blue plaque marks the site of the Paganini Inn on Northgate, but what instrument did person it was named after play?
ANSWER: A violin
Q33:
Blackburn was the scene of cotton riots in which year?
ANSWER: 1878
Q34:
Until the early 1970s Blackburn Library was the Co-operative Society department store. What original feature does the library still have?
ANSWER: Cage lifts
Q35:
What is the name of this sculpture by Simon Watkinson, installed at Sudell Cross in 2007?
ANSWER: The Braid
Q36
What is the route between the three elaborate cast iron gates of the Cathedral Gateway called?
ANSWER: Ancient Carriage Drive
Q37:
Which street is the oldest place of settlement in Blackburn town centre and includes the course of a Roman Road which ran between Manchester and Ribchester?
ANSWER: Darwen Street
Q38:
On which town centre building is this street art, completed in 2019?
ANSWER: Fielden St Multi Storey Car Park
Q39:
What is the child reaching for in the ‘Grandmother & Child Statue’ in Cathedral Quarter?
ANSWER: A teddy bear
Q40:
Which street in Blackburn town centre does this painting from Paint the Town 2019 depict?
ANSWER: Church Street
Thank you to everyone who took part in our lockdown quiz. We hope you enjoyed it.