By Paul Cusimano, Joseph Clothing, Lancaster
Nestled between Lancaster Castle and the Ashton Memorial, is our beautiful Georgian City centre. Approaching the City from Kellet Lane is my favoured route. It always offers an amazing vista, whatever the weather, whatever the time of day It will be fifteen years since we went to Tuscany for a week. We visited Forte dei Marmi, Pisa, Lucca and Florence. The view of Lancaster from the crest of Kellet Lane, for some inexplicable reason, takes me back to Tuscany, in particular, Florence.
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erhaps it’s the tiered amphitheatre effect created by the rows of Victorian terrace properties that fall from the Ashton Memorial down to the City centre, a view that reminds me of the amphitheatre at the Palazzo Medici Of course, we don’t have the Ponte Vecchio, or a replica of Michelangelo’s ‘David’ stood in our Squares, but we do have absolute gems tucked away. The Music Room in Sun Street Square dates back to the seventeen thirty two whilst Lancaster’s Grand Theatre, the third oldest provincial theatre in Britain, dates back to seventeen eighty two. Prior to this theatre being built,
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Little Would You Know What Awaits Inside
theatrical performances were carried out in barns and suitably sized inns. “The Theatre, Lancaster” as it was originally called, opened in June of seventeen eighty two and its first two plays, William Shakespeare’s “Hamlet” and Hannah Crawley’s
LANCASHIRE & NORTH WEST MAGAZINE
“The Belle’s Strategem” received great reviews. In seventeen ninety five, Welsh actress Sarah Siddons played Lady Macbeth in William Shakespeare’s “Macbeth“. Italian violinist Niccolo Paganini graced the theatre in eighteen thirty three. www.lancmag.com
