Wigan on Film Screening

THE North West Film Archive at Manchester Metropolitan University is pleased to announce Wigan on Film, a part of its programme to make this fascinating collection available to the public of the North West region. Supported by Northwest Vision and Media and in collaboration with Empire Cinemas, the NWFA will present a public screening of films from its collection at the Empire Cinema at Robin Park Wigan.

The screening will take place on Tuesday 20th November 2007 at 7.30pm.

The films to be shown will feature life in and around the Wigan area over the past 100 years. In this wonderful series of films you can relive the heydays of the towns industries and look at how the area celebrated through the years. Join the miners and ‘pit brow lassies’ of the Alexandra colliery in 1910 as they toil for the local black gold, and follow the carnival floats through the town in July 1929. Remember all those long gone local shops and services in a number of wartime cinema adverts and celebrate the Borough jubilee in Leigh in 1949. You can discover just how they turned out those big diesel locos at the Vulcan Foundry and see how English Tools in Wigan made the miners shovels. Lastly in Ancient and Loyal you’ll discover where your rates from 1972 were spent, in this look at the services provided for the citizens by the council.

The Archive’s Service Manager Marion Hewitt said “This is a great opportunity for the people of the area to enjoy an evening with a difference, and take a look back at life in their town in the past century”.

Northwest Vision and Media’s Alice Morrison said "The North West Film Archive is one of our region's real gems and Northwest Vision and Media are proud to support Wigan on Film, enabling local people to access a piece of their region's past".

The evening’s show will be presented by the Archive’s Collections Assistant Geoff Senior, who can be contacted on 0161 247 3097 for further information, interview, and footage.

Tickets are £3.00 and can be obtained in advance from the box office or by calling 08714 714714. The venue seats 160. Book early to avoid disappointment!