Trevor and I started attending Astley Bridge Methodist Theatre Church about 30 years ago. I am afraid we are both ‘interlopers’ being brought up in Anglican churches.

Trevor attended Smithills Chapel and St. Peter’s Church and I attended St Paul’s Church Astley Bridge, where my Dad was organist for many years.

After living away from Astley Bridge for a few years after we married we moved back to live on Crompton Way. David, our eldest son, was nearly 2 years old when Robert was born and soon after that I found out about a Playgroup at Astley Bridge Methodist Church. Through attending that I became friendly with the Astleys who lived opposite us on Crompton Way and who had children of similar ages to our sons. I was then asked if I was interested in attending a Craft Group at the Church.

One thing led to another, as they say, and Trevor and I with the boys started attending the church services. We had felt something missing in our lives but were unsure which church to attend. The welcome we received as soon as we started attending church convinced us that it was the right place to be. Over the years we became more and more involved in the church. There was a thriving Sunday School and particularly as our sons became teenagers they looked forward to the group taken by Ron Haigh.

As so often happens as children become teenagers, they drift away from church as they feel that it is not relevant to them, but the discussions with Ron kept their interest. David and Anna with their two sons attend their local parish church in Salisbury and we are made to feel most welcome when we visit. Robert still remains a member of our church and visits when he is home. As can be seen from the pictures that Trevor unearthed there was a thriving drama influence at Astley Bridge.

David and Robert both acted in some of the plays and also helped with lighting and sound as they got older. Trevor was roped in to help with scenery construction with one notable foray into ‘acting’ when one production was short of men to take part in a dance routine. Trevor as some people are aware has two left feet and the sequence in the show was rather wooden to say the least! I ended up helping at various times with refreshments, stewarding and occasionally costume making. The building itself was huge and was used by outside companies for their shows. We housed students for some years in a self contained part of the building and the church was used for conferences and various events.

The church held a flower festival and craft fair and there are some pictures taken from that. As all churches do, it needed a team of hardworking people to keep the place going. On a Sunday morning the stage area needed ‘setting up’ for worship. The picture shows one such Sunday morning – it must have been Lent as the cross was being prepared. Being brought up in Astley Bridge I can remember when the building was converted to a ‘Theatre Church’ and I attended the first production there.

A painting was unearthed which depicted how the church used to look. It is strange how we ended up attending Astley Bridge as years before my mother attended the day school there and can remember most vividly the air raid shelters in the yard. I know that there are many members of the congregation at Astley Bridge who have memories going back longer than Trevor and I.

It is wonderful to have memories of how things used to be but times and circumstances change and we have now moved into our wonderful new church at ‘The Triangle’. People I know who have been in our new church, whether attending the classes, coffee lounge or services have all said how welcoming everyone has been.

The welcome that Trevor and I experienced when we first started attending Astley Bridge all those years ago has obviously transferred to ‘The Triangle’. Long may it continue. - Ann Massey