The Hippodrome

[Wynonie Harris]

Cheers for the map, Jeff. Just looking at it, it appears you were right, Jambutty, and there was some sort of structure right in the middle of the yard.

As for the shop, we're talking at cross purposes here. The shop you mean was, indeed, a purveyor of racy mags. The shop I'm on about was right at the top of Ellison Street itself on the righthand side as you looked down.

[Tony Ireland]

Incredible but the hippodrome did fit on there.
The bottom back street or path from ellison st to the tenement had a red brick wall about 10 feet high give or take a bit, starting at the gates to the bus depot yard at the bottom of the street and running parallel with the hippodrome through to more gates that opened out onto the tenement finishing about in line to the back of the Hippodrome. So the path was about as wide as a back street(that's a bit vague but it saves any arguments) behind the first bit of the wall was the dustbin area where all the tickets and cigarette packets where dumped(I bet I had a full collection in those days) then after this area the wall became the side wall of a single storey slate roofed building that ran to the tenement end of the path, the building itself was not very wide and I think they where storerooms but not sure?.
see I told you I would bore you
thanks
Tony
ps the cars that where parked in a row on the bottom right hand of the st where in front of the yard wall.

[JEFF]

Hope these work as well
Hippodrome Cover.jpg
Hippodrome Inside.jpg

[Wynonie Harris]

Cheers, Tony, I knew there was a walled yard down there. Used to sneak in there from time to time to take a closer look in the depot itself.

Thanks for the programme pics, Jeff...fascinating stuff!

[alan7554]

trust me,the block of houses on the right hand side going down started at the top of the back that leads to the rear of the spread eagle and numbers 1---- 19 were all the way down ellison street to the back alley that ran parallell to to the red brick wall then half way along went up the rear of the houses parallell round the back of the houses and into morton street,the red brick wall enclosed ellisons tenament and is still there today accross the road halfway down were the even numbers it started halfway down as there was or is now a large car park which is behind the children nursery, also the houses on the right were not very wide,less than most terraced houses about 15--16 feet each,i have a piccy somewere of my daughter taken from the front door of no 17 looking up to blackburn road i will try ti find it,its amazing how different people have different recolections of the same thing

[alan7554]

hi jambuut,in your last piccy of ellison street the house at the end of the terrace was number 19, in later years when the hippy was pulled down the red brick wall was built,at the end of number 19 is the back entry which went round the rear of ellison street, also continued on to the next street which was albion street( i incorectly said morton st ) the hippy was next then the open yard to ellisons tenemant and the bus offices were across the road

[WillowTheWhisp]

So, we seem to have established that:

The Hippodrome was almost at the bottom of the street.
There were no houses beyond the theatre.
The theatre did fit into that small area as seen on the 1938 map.
Beyond the theatre there was a yard which had some sort of building in it.
Houses numbered 1-19 (10 in total) were all between the theatre and Blackburn Rd.

Am I right so far?

[JEFF]

Full map if it works

Hippodrome.jpg

[alan7554]

SPOT ON there willow,but its amazing how many different people have different memories,must be the old age syndrome or does alcohol dull the senses

[WillowTheWhisp]

Originally Posted by Wynonie Harris

Are you sure, Jambutty? I seem to recall that the Hippodrome was very near to the bottom of Ellison Street, with just a small yard between the theatre and the bus depot.

The map seems to agree with this.

I've just counted the houses though and there are only 8 so I was wondering which way the numbers went and if the shop on the corner at the top maybe accounted for 2 of those numbers, either 1 & 3 or 17 & 19.

Anyway I think the Hippodrome was near enough to the bus depot to be classed as being at the bottom rather than less than halfway down.

[alan7554]

also what i failed to mention was that numbers 1---3 were on the little block at the top before the back alley and then numbers 5---19 as clearly seen from 1938 ord surveyy may nice one jeff

[WillowTheWhisp]

Now that goes with what I was thinking alan. Those 8 houses look wider than the 10 on the other side. A lot of the houses in that map look to be quite narrow.

[alan7554]

they were quite small as you went in the stairs were right in front of you in the lobbyway, right was the small front room then next right rear room and kitchen to rear,top of steps bath room to rear and 1 large bed room front and very small bed room next to it(used to be just 1 bedroom but made into smaller bedroom and even smaller box room) and window added later, they just used to have 2 windows at the front

[Tony Ireland]

The toy shop at the top off Ellison st is the the shop in Jambutty's second image (the loan and mortgage shop) In my time down there Mrs Cothliff had it I think she eventually took a stall on Blackbun market (fancy goods) and up to a few years ago her son Jack had run it.
tony

[Wynonie Harris]

Well, we seem to be arriving at a fairly common consensus now, about what Ellison Street was like way back when, thanks to various reminiscences and Jeff's map (is this taken from the "Industry And Prudence - A Plan For Accrington" book, Jeff? I'm at work so I can't check out my copy).

Think when I come up for the match tomorrow, I might take a little stroll around there just for old time's sake!