IT is 50 years since Bolton's famous Grand Theatre celebrated its diamond jubilee.

The Bolton Evening News for August 27, 1954 was full of warm nostalgia for the Churchgate institution which began life in 1894 as The Grand Cirque (the Great Circus).

One writer waxed lyrical about this "permanent feature in our social life".

He said Mr John F. Elliston - a "beloved yet austere figure" - gave the populace what it wanted at a price it could afford.

And he continued: "I remember vividly the hilarious Monday matinee performances which died in the 1920s.

"The lads of the village (mostly coal miners) packed the house and prided themselves on their noisy outspoken criticism.

"I am not sure the artists, and particularly the stars, relished the job of running this gauntlet and the thick clouds of tobacco smoke which wafted over the footlights (miners were addicted to odoriferous twist and foreshortened clay pipes in those days).

"But they all felt that if their acts went well on Monday afternoons their reputations were enhanced for the whole week.

"Through clouds and sunshine of public approval the Grand captured Bolton's heart in those pre-radio and pre-cinema days."

Later in the piece he talks about the way the Grand built "a notable reputation in the country as one of the leading variety houses among the dense masses of Lancashire industrialism."

But society changed and the "permanent feature" became history when the theatre was demolished 41 years ago.

Pictures

left - End of the road: This picture of the Grand was taken in 1963 shortly before demolition. The theatre captured the town's heart in pre-radio and cinema days.

right - That's entertainment: A Bolton Evening News advertisement, August, 1954.

bottom - Circus relic: When the stage was built its footlights followed the circular line of the old ring. In 1936, when the house was re-seated and the stage rebuilt, the latter was straightened out and excavations revealed the curve of the old circus ring.