HERITAGE OF KIRKBY & ANNESLEY GOODBYE FESTIVAL HALL

Read any of the books written by local people about their younger days and the Market Hall would come to mind.

On Hodgkinson Road, off Station Street, it was the forerunner of Community Centres. The traditional shopping on Market Stalls for the fresh food needed, a place to catch up with old friends coming into Kirkby. There may have been some of the Dunkirk soldiers placed here and in Kirkby, until transport home was arranged. Entertainment would be a regular feature, wrestling bouts, Saturday afternoons. Evening shows with musicians and national big bands, music from the 50’s and 60’s, all out to the chippy afterwards.

Mr Fred Maltby, a local photographer took pictures for local press after some daytime events when schoolboys visited an exhibition of science, they sat high up in the Hall for a cup of tea.

In the 1980’s a re-vamp and it became the Leisure Centre, Sports Halls. As the new Kirkby Centre School was nearby, it doubled its use, two bars for functions, larger one downstairs and a smaller one up, looking down on the stage. Rotary Club organized the Christmas

Events in Kirkby Town centre and this was the hub. The local Conservation Society would have a stall for those xmas gifts to be sent away to family in far flung places, photos of times past, older days in Kirkby.

Wedding receptions were popular, there was a plaque saying Acre Bar on the wall, seen during the recent demolition. A small room was to one side, we held a demonstration of Spiritual messages here, before the weights and bikes were installed.

Downstairs, a mural was painted on the wall behind the stage, sadly this was demolished with the building. The site manager did manage to photograph it before the final fall. Regular blood donor sessions were held, and more recently the indoor car boot sales on Sunday mornings.

During the build of the new Leisure Centre and the demolition of the Festival Hall, I would snap away with a camera to keep the history safe. If interested we can look at putting together a record to share.

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