page_title: Preston Dock
section_title: Preserved features
hierarchical_section_title: Preston Dock / Landmarks / Preserved features
caption_attribution_description: English: Nelson safe water landfall buoy ("bell boat buoy"), purchased from Irish Lights Commission by Preston Corporation in 1890. At Riversway, Preston Lancs UK.
context_page_description: Preston Dock was a former maritime dock located on the northern bank of the River Ribble approximately 2.5 km west of Preston's town centre in Lancashire, England. It is the location of the Albert Edward Basin which opened in 1892 and is connected to the river by a series of locks.
  The dock is 25.6 km from the Irish Sea and provided a port for shipping until its closure in 1981. Most of the historic buildings and facilities have since been demolished and the area is now mainly commercial and residential property, along with some light industry. Following the dock's closure, a public marina was opened in 1987.
context_section_description: A number of the dock's original features have been preserved, including:
  Buoys: large mooring buoys of varying sizes are located on the northern and southern docks at the western of the basin. Original navigation buoys are still in use in the basin.
  Loading crane: often mistaken for a crane that was used to load cargo onto vessels (these, along with other assets, were sold when the dock closed), this distinctive blue and orange crane was actually installed in 1958 to lift the lock gates. Large flotation devices were fitted to each side of a gate and the gate was floated out of its fittings and brought to the crane for lifting. The crane has a 100-tonne capacity and is still used today to lift vessels from the water.
  'Nelson' bell boat buoys: at the eastern and western entrances to the Riversway, are "bell boat buoys" which bear the name 'Nelson'. The boats' locations on Port Way and Pedders Ways mark the original course of River Ribble, which was diverted for the construction of the docks. The boat buoys, or more correctly, Nelson Safe Water Mooring and Landfall Buoys, were purchased by the Preston Corporation in 1890 from Irish Lights Commissioners and moored on the Ribble estuary off Lytham (where the dock's pilots were based) to mark the position of the "Nelson safe water” at the entrance to the Penfold Channel. The boats had a large bell that rang from the rocking of the waves and had lights powered by acetylene gas. In 1931, they were fitted with compressed carbon dioxide apparatus which enabled the bells to be automatically rung every half a minute, even in calm weather.
  Along the docks and nearby banks of the Ribble can be found old mooring facilities, and remnants of the old shipyards can be found near the site of the Preston Sea Cadets.
caption: Nelson safe water landfall buoy ("bell boat buoy") on Port Way
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