Blackburn – childhood home of the great Rob Quicke

Rob has always wanted to take me to Blackburn, where he spent the first 5 years of his life. I’ve been hearing about it for 20 years. I have to confess, I’ve never been too disappointed that we haven’t had the time to make it up north to visit. It’s always sounded to me like one of those gray industrial towns they make bleak movies about.

I’m so glad we finally made it. It’s actually quite a pretty town – even in the freezing rain – with huge and beautiful Victorian houses that make my imagination whirl. And I was surprised at how much light it shed for me about the Quicke family and Rob’s origins. To think that Rob’s parents were just 27 and fresh out of seminary when they moved up here and pastored a large church – having become first-time parents with Rob’s brother Simon just two weeks earlier, no less. It must have been quite a leap.

Here’s where it all began, the home Rob first lived in when he was born.

He only lived here for 3 years, but it’s remarkable how many memories he has of it. I’ve been hearing for years about the path he’d walk up behind this house, where he and Simon would run around and play and look over the surrounding countryside.

To think, as he was running around this hillside, I was running around my family’s farm in Kansas.

They also had an enormous park across the street from them. It must’ve been nice to have all this space to run around.

When Rob was 3, they moved the manse to this house.

And there they remained until Rob turned 5, at which point they made the move to Cambridge. And Rob lost his northern accent. ;-)

This was the Baptist church where Rob’s dad ministered for 7-8 years. The demographics in Blackburn have changed dramatically over the years, and last year, after 118 years as a Christian church, the building was sold and the remaining congregation moved to another location.