Description:Commerce Street in Longton in 1962. The Empire Theatre is in the centre on the corner of Chancery Lane with, on this side, the Commerce Works of Herbert Aynsley & Co. Next door to Aynsley's is John Tam's Crown Pottery. This photograph was taken from the end of Millbank Street (previously Union Street). Saunder's furnishing store is on the corner of Millbank Street.
Longton's Empire Theatre opened as the Queen's Theatre in 1896. It remained as a theatre until when it became a cinema in 1921. Four years after the photograph it would become a bingo hall. It was demolished in 1997 following a fire in 1993. The site is a car park.
In the photograph, the two bottle ovens of the Commerce Works are behind the range on the street front. This building was restored in the 1990s and is now on the street front. It is a grade II listed building. The works started as the Cheetham Works in the 1850s and became part of Aynsley's in 1869. Next door is part of John Tams Crown Pottery, opened in 1841 (Tams from 1875), closed and partly demolished from 2006. The earthenware works produced a wide range of "tea, toilet, dinner and all kinds of measure ware".