Drill Hall

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At first glance this may seem a fairly uninteresting photo. It shows the floor of the drill hall inside the Armoury in Ashton. To appreciate this photo more, you need to view it in conjunction with last week's photo of the magnificent roof space above that suspended ceiling. Click here to see that photo, or scroll down a couple of posts!

Those are not fluorescent lights that are illuminating the floor, but translucent panels in the suspended ceiling that allow daylight to pour down from the windows high in the roof.

Today's photo gives a small hint at what is hidden above when you see the iron roof supports disappearing through the ceiling to the left. The hall was a vast space. Areas have been partitioned off around the sides to form additional smaller rooms, still leaving enough space for the Territorial Army training and other activities that take place.

The Armoury, on Old Street, was built in 1887 as a training base for volunteer soldiers, replacing an earlier building near Charlestown Station. The Volunteers' Regiment later became The Territorial Army and the building is still used for Territorial Army training.

In future posts I will show further photos from inside this building and a photo of its exterior.

See Birds Eye View of this location, which shows the roof of the drill hall behind the brick frontage of the building.