Accrington Hippodrome:

The original Hippodrome Theatre on Ellison Street was a wooden building which opened in 1903, and burnt down in June 1908. It was quickly rebuilt and opened in December 1908 as the New Hippodrome Theatre. Built in brick and stone, to the plans of noted theatre architect Bertie Crewe. It was operated by the Weisker Brothers of Liverpool as a music hall, with Bioscope shows as part of the variety performances. The New Hippodrome Theatre had a 28 feet wide proscenium, a stage 24 feet deep, and 6 dressing rooms. A new company was formed to operate the theatre in July 1910, retaining the mix of variety & films. In 1912, it became a live theatre, as other cinemas began to open in the town. However, it reverted back to screening films only from April 1913. On 29th August 1929, it became the first cinema in Accrington to screen a sound film “The Donovan Affair”. It continued as a cinema until at least 1940. Reverting back to live entertainment, it continued to present revues, variety and in later years nude revues until it was closed in 1955. The building stood unused until the late-1960’s, when it was demolished. Today the site is a yard for Jewson’s Builders Merchants.

Accrington Pals

The Accrington Pals, officially the 11th (Service) Battalion (Accrington), East Lancashire Regiment, was a pals battalion of Kitchener's Army raised in and around the town of Accrington during the First World War.[ Recruiting was initiated by the mayor of Accrington following Lord Kitchener's call for volunteers, and it took only ten days to raise a complete battalion. The battalion's nickname is somewhat misleading since of the four 250-strong companies that made up the original battalion, only one was actually composed of men from Accrington. The rest volunteered from other nearby East Lancashire towns such as Burnley, Blackburn, and Chorley. The men from Chorley, who formed Y Company, were known as the Chorley Pals.[2][3][4] [5] The men from Burnley, who formed Z Company, were known as the Burnley Pals. The Accrington Pals joined the 94th Brigade of the 31st Division, a "pals" division containing many North Country pals battalions. With the 31st Division. The division was initially deployed to Egypt in early 1916 to defend the Suez Canal from the threat of the Ottoman Empire[3][4][6][7] The troopship carrying the Accrington Pals was narrowly missed by a torpedo, a fortunate miss because the ship also carried sixty tons of lyddite explosive. The Accrington Pals next moved to France, where they first saw action in the Battle of the Somme. On the first day on the Somme, on 1 July 1916, the 31st Division was to attack the village of Serre-lès-Puisieux and form a defensive flank for the rest of the British advance.[3][4][6][7] The 31st Division's attack on Serre was a complete failure although some of the Accrington Pals made it as far as the village where they were killed or captured. One of the battalion's signallers, observing from the rear, reported: "We were able to see our comrades move forward in an attempt to cross No Man's Land, only to be mown down like meadow grass. I felt sick at the sight of the carnage and remember weeping." Approximately 700 men from the Accrington Pals went into action on 1 July; 585 men became casualties, 235 killed and 350 wounded in about half an hour. The battalion's commander, Lieutenant-Colonel A. W. Rickman, was among the wounded. A rumour spread around Accrington that only seven men had survived from the battalion, and an angry crowd surrounded the mayor's house and demanded information. The Accrington Pals were effectively wiped out in a matter of minutes on the first day on the Somme. The battalion was brought back up to strength and served for the remainder of the war, moving to the 92nd Brigade of the 31st Division in February 1918.[3][4][6][7]

First World War, Battle of the Somme, memories, Will Marshall, Accrington Pal