WITH the news that Accrington Arndale Centre may be redeveloped we decided it was a good time to look at when the shopping complex first appeared.
Always a moot point among traders and shoppers alike, the construction of the centre began in 1986 and saw the free Broadway car park disappear.
A new multi-storey was part of the development along with glass roofed walkways lined with shops meeting at a central atrium complete with the famous clock. On the hour Father Time would rise out of a globe on his bicycle.
READ: Accrington Arndale: Plan to transform shopping space into housing
Comedian Ken Dodd was the VIP asked to open the centre on October 30, 1987, but the crowds were so large - estimated at several thousand - that he was unable to get to the clock in time and up popped Father Time without him.
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