Walk to the light-controlled pedestrian crossing just west of Prince Alfred Road. The setting-back of the flats at this point marks the City Engineer's 'improvement line' which was defined - long before Conservation Areas were first thought of - on the assumption that virtually all of the High Street's old buildings would eventually disappear.

The building on the far side of the crossing - now a bar called 'Cuffs' - is still recognisably a police station, though it has not been used for that purpose since 1967. If you look upwards, to the left, you will see the Lancashire County coat of arms carved in sandstone, and the intertwined date '1879' nearby. Gargoyles project from the eaves.