The team working on £1.5m renovations at The Exchange have released photographs of hitherto unseen areas dating back to the cinema in the 1920s.
Builders have discovered the back of the ‘cheap seats’ entrance to the cinema which has been mentioned in recollections as being a route to the first two rows, referred to in previous histories as a tunnel alongside ‘Wealls’.
Trustee, Dr Alastair Murdoch explains. ‘The original alleyway is now the Bat Cave – 5c Town Hall Street. We found pressed steel tiles on the walls and ceiling, identical to those in The Exchange. The floor slopes gently up & on the right at the end there are some steps that lead to where the ticket office was. On the left at the back of the shop there is a wall – this is the bricked-up entrance to the stalls and under the floor above (the tunnel) to the old stairs.”
Builders also discovered brightly hand-painted display screen advertising tickets in the front and back circle on what is thought to be the back of the ticket office.
Chris Walton is the co-author of The Exchange, the Foundation Years with Howard Foy. He said: “The research we have completed so far has uncovered so much forgotten history—the stories and events that help us piece together the history of the Exchange. The building work now in progress has uncovered more secrets of the building’s past, adding another piece to the puzzle. Discoveries like this are really exciting, and I can’t wait to see what else we find!”
Please email your memories to archives@exchangeblackburn.org.uk