At Astley Hall
there was an extremely interesting and entertaining Magic
Lantern show by Andrew Gill. He was using an 1880s projector
which was almost the same as when made in Southport over 130
years ago. Originally it would have used limelight as a light
source but has now been converted to electric light. The glass
plate lantern slides were of extremely high quality giving very
sharp images on the screen. Some dated back to the 1860s. The
entertainment was pure Victorian which still works today. |