Local historian MOST East Lancashire town centres look very different to how they did 50 years ago. But Darwen centre, around the Circus, hasn’t changed much. Most buildings are still there looking rather like they did back in the late 60s. The Palladium Cinema – facing the market hall and municipal buildings – had become the Plaza by then. The building is still there but it’s a pub. Just up Railway Road the Wesleyan Methodist chapel is still there, but it’s also a pub. Chemist’s on the corner? Tick. Millstone pub by the lights? Tick. Railings curling up towards the station, the Burton’s block and shops on Market Street, Holker House, the coffee bar though under a different name … all still there. So is the impressive entrance to the Market Hall topped by that wonderful clock, the Carnegie library and the imposing Holy Trinity Church although it’s now called St Peter’s.