Hippodrome
- Thread starter Atarah
- Start date
Hi, yes the Hippodrome was indeed down Ellison Street (which is still there) - the Accrington Corporation bus depot was at the bottom of the street. If you look down the street now, on the right hand side, you will see a small area of grass. Its hard to believe that this is where this amazing building was.
Wish I had been able to go in it, it must have been some place to visit!
Atarah
Wish I had been able to go in it, it must have been some place to visit!
Atarah
Remember going to meet my dad from work at the old bus depot on Ellison St, when I was a kid. Was fascinated by the hugh pits in the floor of the garage. They used to park the buses over them, so that the mechanics could work on the underneath of the buses by standing down the pit. 
jeeze just seen this, fabulous inside picture, used to play in the hippodrome as kids but was very dark inside, never realised how fabulous it was,there was trapdoors in the stage which we used to have great fun with,played there for months until one night there was a terrible tragedy.brings back happy/sad memories of childhood.Here is an inside view (hey, I am pleased to see that piccy's can be shown again! Thanks Roy, wherever you are)
Isn't it from the Greek words hippos (horse) and dromos (place), and was an arena for horse racing?
I don't think it was ever used for that in Accy though.
We had a Theatre in Accy?
Life as a kid must have been good back then.
Accys going nowhere but downhill now.
(poundshops/charity shops)
Life as a kid must have been good back then.
Accys going nowhere but downhill now.
(poundshops/charity shops)
Love the photos. Thanks Atarah. I used to visit my uncles mum when I was a kd, she lived just opposte the Hippodrome. I too used to play there, like Cashy, until that awful tragedy.
In fact we had more than one theatre .I'm stuck for time to give details - but the Prince's, and maybe the Empire cinemas started as theatres.
The Princess in Edgar St started its life as a theatre, I have a group photo of the actors who put on the plays there, they were known as the Accrington Stock Company, one of them joined the Pals.
He is also on a group photo of the Sergeants taken at caernarvon Castle.
I was on duty the night it burnt down, I took some photos of the interior next morning, I think I gave them to Accy Library.
What was the poster on the wall advertising the next film
I worked on Accy buses in'68. Down in the depths of the depot was a snooker table, we used to play on when we had split shifts. Looking at the Hippodrome can't help thinking such an imposing building was lost tucked away among the terraced houses of Ellison st.Doe's anybody know when it was built and when it was demolished.Also, the back of my mind I remember a fair or circus on waste ground to the back of the building.....would that be right.
If you type in to Google Accrington Hippodrome,and then go down to New Hippodrome there is a lot of information. That it was built a wooden building 1903 and burnt down 1908, when a new building was then put up in brick and timber.
There a quite a lot of threads relating to the Hippodrome from 2003 including 2005 ,2007,2010,jan 2012 and the present one took me about an hour to read them but all very intresting,a little repetition which can't be avoided.