Local Life - St Helens - January 2020

10
Threads of History
Billinge-born visual artist
Stephanie Fry is investigating
the better-kept secrets of the
village in her latest community
art project.
Though Stephanie moved to
Caernarfon in North Wales in
her childhood, Billinge remained
close to her heart; this was where
she spent the holidays with her
grandfather, reminiscing about
days gone by. It was perhaps
one of these conversations that
inspired Stephanie’s latest venture: specifically, a
passing mention of the old cinema on Main Street.
Affectionately referred to by locals as the ‘Tin Can’,
the cinema was a touchstone of the community
between the 1920s and 1960s, and was located
where Billinge Library stands today. When a cricket
AtoB Taxis
The company that cares
TAXI!
DOWNLOAD OUR TAXI APP
search 451 TAXI
New easy app for your mobile
BOOK YOUR TAXI - TRACK YOUR TAXI - GET YOUR TAXI
Local airports & long distance - 4, 6, 8 vehicles
Priority bookings - Text booking service
24 hour call/text back service
01744 600 600
01744 634 634
www.atobdelta.co.uk
34 Baldwin Street, WA10 2RL New Cross Street, WA10 1QN
match was played next door, the sound of the ball
bouncing onto the corrugated iron walls of the
cinema building could be heard over whatever film
was playing!
Delving into these secrets inspired Stephanie to
search for more around the village – and it didn’t
disappoint. Atop Billinge Hill lies an abandoned
underground bunker harking back to the Cold War.
Constructed in the 1960s, the bunker is 9-feet deep
and was in continuous use for seven years, when
the threat of a nuclear war loomed. A network of
1563 similar sites existed across the UK, operated by
the Royal Observer Corps, and would have aimed to
warn the UK military and civilian authorities of an
impending attack. The Billinge site closed in 1968,
but parts of the surface structure can still be seen
today.
Now Stephanie is looking for any more information
and anecdotes about either of the two sites to
assist in her project. If you have direct experience
of working for the ROC, or if you visited Billinge
Cinema in its heyday, she wants to hear from you!
She can be contacted at s.a.fry@hotmail.co.uk
An exhibition of ‘Billinge: Threads of History’ will
take place at Billinge Library from March 12th for
two weeks, comprised of a reconstructed bunker
room, paintings, collages, photographs and an
audio-visual look at the landscape of Billinge Hill
and its Cold War heritage.
photo: Gary Rodgers on Geograph