Preston life featured in a national newspaper today. And, no, it was not a story about Preston Bus Station.

The Guardian on Saturday focused on the working of the Lancashire Register Office in Preston. In an article titled ‘Births, marriages, deaths: A day in the life of the Register Office‘ the paper took an affectionate look at the seemingly quaint notion of visiting a register office in person to record births/death/marriages (it cannot be done by phone or computer).

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In 2014, 3,600 couples will be married by the staff of Lancashire register office in venues ranging from the temporary suite at the old Victorian Park Hotel over looking Miller Park (while the Bow Lane Council complex undergoes refurbishment), to golf clubs, stately homes, hotels and even a vintage fire engine!

Ceremony organiser Karen Bellis, Steve Lloyd Head Registrar for Lancashire and Registrar Malcolm Campbell, labelled as ‘society’s witnesses to the biggest family moments in life’ recall often humorous but sometimes downright peculiar stories where something very unexpected happened.

The Guardian reporter records ‘an air of quiet efficiency at Preston register office and a sense of understated caring’ while the Registrars reflect on the gravity of every single event. It’s a job that needs doing and they do it the best way they can.

The well written and insightful article also reflects on the sadder tasks undertaken by the registrar together with the lighter side – guiding parents away from embarrassingly naming their child Thomas Ian Taylor – they might want to have another look at those initials and rethink?

Births, marriages, deaths: A day in the life of the register office was published in The Guardian, Saturday 25 January 2014