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Rare film footage of two favourite former Preston buildings made publicly available

Posted on - 19th September, 2015 - 8:00am | Author - | Posted in - History, Nostalgia, Preston City Centre, Videos
Public Hall, Lune Street, Preston c.1910 Pic: Preston Digital Archive

Public Hall, Lune Street, Preston c.1910 Pic: Preston Digital Archive

It is always wonderful to discover old film footage of your hometown or city. When the Preston Historical Society were given the opportunity to be able to remaster film footage of two buildings that were swept away many years ago, they were absolutely delighted. The end product is a digitally enhanced and expanded version of the original and has proved to be extremely popular with the public viewing it on the Preston Historical Society Facebook Page.

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A building originally constructed in c.1823, known as the Corn Exchange was remodeled as the Public Hall in c.1882 and demolished c.1990 (please note that there is an unfortunate error at the beginning of the video of the demolition year being 1999).
From Dickens to the Hallé Orchestra and The Beatles to Led Zeppelin, the Public Hall had seen it all. It was a building of great pride to Prestonians and many people recall attending there for all kinds of events; the occasional ball dance, school reunions and even Ideal Home Exhibitions. The interior was a place of great Victorian splendour, even if the exterior was somewhat a little plain.

Saul Street Baths, Ringway, Preston 1987 Pic: Preston Historical Society

Saul Street Baths, Ringway, Preston 1987 Pic: Preston Historical Society

The old baths in Saul Street were erected in 1851, closed in 1936 and subsequently demolished. Further along the street towards North Road, the new Saul Street Swimming Baths were constructed in 1935 and became the building many Prestonians will probably recall today. These swimming baths were known as the large and small plunges or pools. At certain times the large plunge could be drained and a temporary removable dance floor was installed for various occasions and this was then known as The Queens Hall. The whole facility was closed in 1991 and subsequently demolished to make way for the current Preston Crown Court.

The following 20 minute video features the former Public Hall and Saul Street Swimming Baths in Preston. Both scenes were recorded in VHS format by former filmmaker Mr. Brian Bell, member of the Preston Past and Present Facebook group, who captured them in the respective years prior to the demolition of the two buildings.

Pre demolition of former Preston Public Hall & Saul Street Swi…Here is a video featuring the former Public Hall and Saul Street Swimming Baths.Both scenes were recorded in VHS format by Brian Bell in the respective years prior to the demolition of the buildings.The Preston Historical Society were delighted to be given the opportunity to remaster and make this video available to the public, with Brian’s kind permission.Brian Bell’s Facebook Timeline www.facebook.com/brian.bell.9216

Posted by Preston Historical Society on Wednesday, 16 September 2015

 

Do you remember either of these two buildings? What do you recall in particular? Let us know in the comments below.

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