President of the Preston Historical Society, David Hindle, will be conducting a ‘walk and talk’, showing where some of the popular cinemas and theatre houses were located in the various main streets around the City centre in Preston.

Theatre houses were extremely popular in the nineteenth and early part of the twentieth centuries and David will take you on a journey to the locations of those entertainment places and palaces; explaining how important they were to Prestonians in those times gone by. You will hear how hundreds of people were packed into some of the music halls, one in particular being an annex behind the George Hotel at the corner of Friargate and Market Street (formerly Back Lane) and the beginnings of the moving picture cinema and how popular they became to the townsfolk as a mainstream form of entertainment in the first half of the twentieth century.

David John Hindle, historian and renowned author of books concerning Preston’s great history

David’s fascinating and brief sojourn at each location will be of great nostalgic value to the more senior visitors and an insight to what was, to the younger ones. Thus, this couple of hours or so of a trip around the city centre will be entertaining, educational and reminiscent of a time when both theatre and cinema were king in Preston.

The free ‘walk and talk’ party will gather in front of the Preston Minster on Church Street at 7.00pm on Wednesday 29 July.

The weather forecast is dry and sunny for the evening; however, knowing how the weather in Preston goes, it might be an idea to be equipped with brolly and raincoat!

More information about the Preston Historical Society can be found on their website or their Facebook page.

Will you go along to the walk and talk of Preston’s former theatres? Let us know in the comments below.