Darlington Hippodrome Archives Will Be Open to All

Darlington Hippodrome's fascinating 112 year history will soon be available to explore online thanks to an army of volunteers who have been working tirelessly behind the scenes for almost 2 years.

As well as historic posters, programmes, playbills, letters and postcards, many of the hundreds of items are rare and previously unseen. Most of the archives have been stored at the Crown Street Library with many other pieces being donated by the public. Each item has been painstakingly recorded, photographed, securely filed and stored electronically with an index of each item soon to be available online.

Cait Baratt, the Hippodrome's Heritage Learning and Engagement Officer said "Our team of volunteers has been working on this project for nearly two years. They have become true ambassadors for the history of the theatre and have unearthed some amazing documents."

"A small selection of the archives will be available to the general public on Thursday 6 June at the Hippodrome from 12noon for people to just drop in and experience some of the amazing historical items as well as hearing from the volunteers about their work."

The team of volunteers will be at the Hippodrome on Thursday 6 June from 11am to 3pm with many items from the archives for the public to look through. The team will also be on hand to discuss any of the items as well as accepting any further items of the theatre's history that people may have.

A database index of the archives will go live on the theatre's website on Thursday 6 June. For more information visit www.darlingtonhippodrome.co.uk