Retro picture gallery: a look back at Burnley's historic Yorkshire Street and Gunsmith Lane
Historian Roger Frost has delved into Burnley Civic Trust archives to present these wonderful old images of the area.
Roger said: “This part of town has been recently been in the news about work, under a Levelling Up scheme, which it is intended to improve the area.
"The scheme has received almost universal support from the council and local organisations, but the way it is to be funded is not sustainable. Buildings will be renovated, the Culvert restored and some traffic improvements undertaken.
“I have my reservations. These schemes, though in a sense welcome, should not be necessary. The money is coming from the Government but the work may not employ local people and there will be no funding to sustain the area once the work is completed.
“In addition, I am not in favour of removing the roundabout which now stands on the site of the old Yorkshire Hotel. The key is, how long will such improvements last? Levelling Up is merely another ill thought out policy, doomed to failure. What areas like Burnley need are sustainable private sectors and properly financed hospitals and schools.”
"The scheme has received almost universal support from the council and local organisations, but the way it is to be funded is not sustainable. Buildings will be renovated, the Culvert restored and some traffic improvements undertaken.
5. Odeon
The Odeon was Burnley’s biggest cinema, at the time showing Kirk Douglas in “The Big Trees”. The Culvert Garage can be seen on the far right. Photo: S
6. Late 1950s
This is Gunsmith Lane as it was in the later 1950’s. On the left is the Odeon with the film “Admirable Crichton” playing and another called “The Phantom Stagecoach” The Culvert is just to the right and the huge Yorkshire Hotel, on the far right Photo: S
7. Keirby and Odeon
Though this card informs us that we are on Yorkshire Street, much of the image relates to Gunsmith Lane. The Keirby Hotel, of 1958, is on the left, and the splendid Odeon Cinema, 1937, is on the right Photo: S
8. Hotel
This street is now Kierby Walk but, for hundreds of years, it was Church Street. The hotel, once one of the best in the north of England, was built by Massey’s Burnley Brewery, in 1958. Many of the buildings on the right of the Walk have survived. Photo: S