1956-1961

Hackney Empire

The Hackney Empire in Mare Street, London E5, the elaborate music hall venue that was taken over by ITV company Associated Television (ATV) as a temporary location for television production in its early years.

Oh when, my love, my darling, you've left me here alone,
I'll walk the streets of London which once seemed all our own. ...
No more the Hackney Empire shall find us in its stalls
When on the limelit crooner the thankful curtain falls
And soft electric lamplight reveals the guilded walls.
Sir John Betjeman: 'The Cockney Amorist'

 

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1956