Memories of the theatres

A visit to one of Bolton’s many theatres would be a welcome break from the daily grind of working in the mills and a chance to meet up with friends and socialise. Bolton really was a theatre town — it is almost impossible to imagine now, but there was a theatre on virtually every corner of the town centre and beyond, and some next door to each other.

This week marks the 85th anniversary of the re-opening of The Theatre Royal — which used to be situated not far from our old offices in Churchgate.

The Theatre Royal was next door to the Grand Theatre.

Bolton has had at least three Theatre Royals, more or less on the same site in Churchgate.

In 1873 there is reference to one of them capable of seating 2,500 people. Fire destroyed it as it did its successor. The last Theatre Royal was opened in 1928 at a cost of what today would seem a fairly modest sum of £35,000.

The town’s theatrical history — of which there are official records — dates back to the early 19th century.

A performance of “Margaret’s Ghost” was held at Parish’s Theatre adjoining the New Market Place ,now Victoria Square, on Wednesday, February 10, 1836.

This theatre was portable and was put up on a site that was afterwards occupied by the California Market adjoining the Grapes Hotel. There was another theatre in Mawdsley Street and private theatres in the premises of the Dog and Partridge Inn which was in Moor Lane and the Duke of York in Spring Gardens.

In 1837, there was a French Pavilion in the New Market Place, and on Boxing Day, 1838 Thorne’s Immense Establishment, Pot Market, Bolton, opened for the season with “Eugene Aram”.

This was the first time gas had been used to illuminate a place of entertainment — 500 gas burners were used and fires were kept for the comfort of the patrons.

Around the 1850s and 60s, the amusement centre of Bolton gravitated to Churchgate with the Theatre Royal, The Museum and the Star Inn.

The Theatre Royal was under the management of Mr James Pitney Weston, and The Museum and Star Inn were owned by Mr Sharples.

In 1877, Mr JP Weston transformed a cotton spinning mill in Dawes Street into a theatre which was opened in October that year as The Colossal Temple Opera House.

This theatre burned down on April 16, 1882, and was, at that time, under the management of Mr Charles Majilton.

Mr Charles Duval was lessee of the Theatre Royal in the late 19th century and on his retirement Mr JF Elliston took over the reins.

The old Theatre Royal burned down on January 4, 1888.

At the time when it was re-built the Theatre Royal was Bolton’s only theatre.

Bolton’s theatrical history has long fascinated Looking Back reader Frank Unsworth who feels an affection for the town’s entertainment of yesteryear.

One of Frank’s most treasured possessions is a commemorative magazine celebrating the grand re-opening of the Theatre Royal on November 5, in 1928.

Frank was lucky enough to find a souvenir booklet when the firm he was working for was at a former printer’s in Bolton.

Frank, aged 79 said: “The brochure was on one of the benches and obviously just thrown out with all the rubbish. Although I am not particularly a theatre buff, I felt it was something I wanted to keep, as I used to love going to the theatre and to the cinema.”

This booklet is a fascinating insight into the theatre and also life in Bolton in the roaring twenties.

There are full page advertisements featuring local firms involved in the rebuilding of the theatre including Stanley Porter joiner and builder of Crofters’ Saw Mills in Bolton, which apparently did all the woodwork in the theatre, and John Booth and Sons of Hulton Steelworks in Bolton.

The pelmets and curtains in the foyer were made by Horrocks’s of Ridgway Gates in Bolton, and G and J Seddon Limited carried out the demolition of the old building, and the excavating draining, reinforced concreting and brickwork for the reconstruction of the theatre.

Whitakers Outfitting Service “for particular men”, based in Oxford Street, boasted that customers could abandon their baggy knickerbocker-style trousers for something more luxurious with a visit to the store where they could “slip into the shop wearing Plus Fours and come out in evening dress.

The foreward in the brochure talks about how Bolton’s theatrical history would be further enhanced by the new building: “With the growth of Bolton and the general improvement in the town’s principal buildings, it became imperative for the management of the Bolton Theatre Royal and Entertainments Co Ltd to consider the better housing of the town’s only theatre.

“It was with the object of providing the necessary accommodation as well as a theatre worthy of Bolton as Lancashire’s most important town that the present structure was erected. The management will do all in its power to bring to Bolton the best dramatic and musical plays and solicit the support of the public of Bolton in order that the best stage and theatrical traditions shall be maintained.”

Although the theatre was a popular haunt for the next 34 years, in 1962, it closed its doors for the last time. Entertainment in Bolton would be set to change, dramatically, over the next decade.

For Frank, his memories of theatres and cinemas in Bolton are fond ones and he believes the history of the town’s theatres should never be forgotten.