The archive is extensive and we aim to make many of these images available online.
*FEBRUARY 2025 UPDATE*
There are now more than 16,100 images on the website and our Other Collections section is growing, with several new collections just published including the CHAPEL AT HAGGATE and ELEANOR AND LEN'S GRAND TOURS - a fascinating look at package holiday tours in the 1950's. We have also inherited many images from the late Brian Hall's estate and we are working hard scanning these with the aim of adding many of them to the existing Brian Hall collection.
Did you know that you can also View our Articles to read longer articles written by our volunteers on a range of historical subjects.
We are now operating without the benefit of Heritage Lottery Funding and welcome donations to enable us to continue scanning negatives and making them available on the website. Donations can be made directly to us or via JUSTGIVING
Or scan our Just Giving account QR Code
We WELCOME NEW VOLUNTEERS and have vacancies on our Wednesday and Thursday afternoon sessions. If you can spare a couple of hours why not contact us and arrange a visit to the archive. All that is needed are some basic computer skills and an interest in local history. PENDLE AND WEST CRAVEN images can be found in the Surrounding Districts pages and we would welcome volunteers from the Pendle area to digitise images and stories about this area as we have no volunteers working on this area at the moment.
We have produced a short history about the project which you can download.
50 years Ago
The once-famous ballroom on the top floor now strewn with debris and damaged by the effect of a small fire.
From an article by Colin Lewis:
Any action to save Burnley Weavers' Institute in Charlotte Street from total ruin will have to be taken swiftly - very swiftly. This was the unavoidable conclusion I reached, after taking a look inside the 76-year-old building, which has stood empty for more than two years. Along with a delegation from the working party who are setting up the new Burnley District Arts Council, I picked my way through the rubble and assorted debris, which now litters every floor of the once-proud old building. The basic structure of the building seems sound, and the dimensions of the old ballroom on the top floor would be ideal for a theatre or concert room in an arts centre. But the building is deteriorating rapidly. If nothing is done soon, it may not even be worth saving.
After the visit the chairman of the working party, Miss Doris Chew, commented: "Although in its present state it is rather depressing, the building has great possibilities. If anything is to be done, it will have to be done quickly, but we would need a professional opinion to know just how much it would cost to renovate."
