ROLLER SKATING
Posted: 18 Jan 2019, 06:58
ROLLER SKATING
When you're researching local history it's relatively easy to get facts about things like buildings or people but social conditions and lifestyles can be a bit more difficult. The trick is to find something that gives a clear indication of incomes and leisure and today it's roller skating.
In 'A Way of Life Gone by' edited and compiled by Dorothy Carthy and Margaret Lancaster the Alhambra is mentioned as one of two theatres in the town and I think initially it was a cinema as well. (The other was the Palace Theatre in St James' Square which survived until the 1950s when it was converted to our first 'supermarket, Barmy Mick's) The Alhambra is described as an unimpressive building but with a good foyer and tip up seats. I'm not sure when it was built but it was a roller skating rink by 1915 and was very popular. It was burned down in a fire in April 1926. In his memoir 'This is my Life' by Jack Griffin he talks about the Alhambra in Butts being a roller skating rink in 1915 which is where I got that date.
This is a good clue for us as not only does it show that people had enough leisure time and income to afford the entrance fee but at least some of them would have their own skates as well. In addition, evidence that the town could support theatres points to there being musical societies and amateur dramatics because I know that not all performances were by professionals. There were at least three amateur orchestras in the town plus the brass band and instruments were an expensive item.
The 1926 fire that destroyed the Alhambra wasn't the end of roller skating in the town. In 2004 Walt Fisher told me that the space under the Majestic cinema that for many years was an indoor market and a ballroom was a roller skating rink at one time. He said that the passage behind the stage was always called Mug's Alley because learner skaters used it getting support from the walls. I don't know when it ceased to be used for this but suspect it might have been when WW2 broke out in 1939. Walt also told me that when the Majestic first opened it had a small gas engine in Ellis Street that powered one arc light for the projectors, it was on a trolley and could be moved between the two projectors. Later they installed a bigger engine and dynamo so that they could power lighting throughout the building.
I have one story and unfortunately can't remember the source. At one time there was a noted roller skater in Barlick who took part in skating marathons at the Queen's Hall , the Cooperative hall in Cooperative street, so the ballroom there must have been used as a rink as well. His fiancée moved to Luton and said she'd marry him if he roller skated down there. He did so and married her!
How viable would a roller skating rink be today?
The Alhambra after the fire in 1926.
When you're researching local history it's relatively easy to get facts about things like buildings or people but social conditions and lifestyles can be a bit more difficult. The trick is to find something that gives a clear indication of incomes and leisure and today it's roller skating.
In 'A Way of Life Gone by' edited and compiled by Dorothy Carthy and Margaret Lancaster the Alhambra is mentioned as one of two theatres in the town and I think initially it was a cinema as well. (The other was the Palace Theatre in St James' Square which survived until the 1950s when it was converted to our first 'supermarket, Barmy Mick's) The Alhambra is described as an unimpressive building but with a good foyer and tip up seats. I'm not sure when it was built but it was a roller skating rink by 1915 and was very popular. It was burned down in a fire in April 1926. In his memoir 'This is my Life' by Jack Griffin he talks about the Alhambra in Butts being a roller skating rink in 1915 which is where I got that date.
This is a good clue for us as not only does it show that people had enough leisure time and income to afford the entrance fee but at least some of them would have their own skates as well. In addition, evidence that the town could support theatres points to there being musical societies and amateur dramatics because I know that not all performances were by professionals. There were at least three amateur orchestras in the town plus the brass band and instruments were an expensive item.
The 1926 fire that destroyed the Alhambra wasn't the end of roller skating in the town. In 2004 Walt Fisher told me that the space under the Majestic cinema that for many years was an indoor market and a ballroom was a roller skating rink at one time. He said that the passage behind the stage was always called Mug's Alley because learner skaters used it getting support from the walls. I don't know when it ceased to be used for this but suspect it might have been when WW2 broke out in 1939. Walt also told me that when the Majestic first opened it had a small gas engine in Ellis Street that powered one arc light for the projectors, it was on a trolley and could be moved between the two projectors. Later they installed a bigger engine and dynamo so that they could power lighting throughout the building.
I have one story and unfortunately can't remember the source. At one time there was a noted roller skater in Barlick who took part in skating marathons at the Queen's Hall , the Cooperative hall in Cooperative street, so the ballroom there must have been used as a rink as well. His fiancée moved to Luton and said she'd marry him if he roller skated down there. He did so and married her!
How viable would a roller skating rink be today?
The Alhambra after the fire in 1926.
