THE original Albert Hall served as the heart of the Town’s cultural life for over 100 years, hosting hundreds of concerts, shows, bazaars, exhibitions, and other events, playing host to figures as diverse as Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and the Lancashire contralto, Kathleen Ferrier.

After being fitted with a removable floor in the 1930s renovations, the hall was also used as a dance venue.

On November 14 1981 a devastating fire took hold of the Albert Hall. The fire service fought a long battle to contain the blaze, saving the rest of the Town Hall from total disaster. The walls of the Albert Hall retained their structural integrity but the roof collapsed and almost all of the plasterwork and fittings, including the Grand Organ, were completely destroyed.

Albert Halls stages it first in-house production: The Last Five Years

Traumatic though it was, the damage to the building could have been a great deal worse and in some ways proved to be a blessing in disguise. Given the shortcomings of the old hall it was decided not to restore it to its earlier state, but to create two new, complementary venues in the old space — the smaller, intimate Festival Hall on the lower level and a new, more adaptable and acoustically pleasing Albert Hall above.

On January 26 2017 the Grade II renovation specialists handed over the restored Bolton Albert Hall with improved bar, conference and wedding facilities.

The multi million pounds Albert Halls renovations became the first recipients of the Living Heritage award from Welsh Slate, this recognises projects using Welsh Slate on buildings that are important architecturally, historically or locally to a community.