Lancaster arts charity launches latest project

Mirador, the Lancaster-based arts and heritage charity launched their latest project, Jukebox: The Teenage Revolution, at Campus in the City events organised by Lancaster University whose library is a partner in the project supported with a £50,904 grant from The National Lottery Heritage Fund.

Events at More Music in Morecambe, The Storey and Lancaster Library saw visitors from an older generation enjoying music from the Fifties and Sixties while sharing their memories of the era, and young people puzzling over how a vintage record player worked.

The launch of the project, made possible by National Lottery players, was the first in a series of exciting events taking place on Lancashire’s seaside coast this year during Jukebox: The Teenage Revolution.

The next event will be Jukebox Journeys on May 21 from 4-6pm hosted by Lewis’s café in Morecambe which will include a talk by Adrian Horn, author of Juke Box Britain, a chance to hear a selection of vinyl records from the Fifties and Sixties, and an opportunity to share photos, memorabilia and stories from the decades which saw the birth of the teenager. There’s no need to book as everyone will be welcome.

Similar Jukebox Journeys events will take place in Lytham on May 15 and Blackpool on May 16.

Blackpool and Lytham St Annes were the birthplace of the distinctive British jukebox produced by the Ditchburn Equipment company.

Famous band leader and impresario, Jack Hylton, played an important role in bringing the jukebox to the UK and his archive is held at Lancaster University.

As part of the project, Lancaster University students will capture the voices, views and memories of people who lived through this key period of social change and the University Library will establish an archive to ensure the project has a lasting legacy.

If you have memories of being a teenager in the Fifties and Sixties or photographs from that era, please contact Mirador at: http://miradorarts.co.uk/get-in-touch