Popular Darwen comedian moves . . . to Darwin! (From This Is Lancashire)

Popular Darwen comedian moves . . . to Darwin!

5:00pm Thursday 7th March 2013 in News By Dan Clough, Reporter

A POPULAR comedian is leaving Darwen after 67 years – for Darwin!

Library Theatre stalwart Don Banks and his wife Marion have sold their house and will move to Australia in three months.

Mr Banks, 67, who was born in Victoria Street and has lived in the town all his life, is moving to be closer to his two sons.

It comes after Mr Banks revived a popular music hall event at the Knott Street venue.

Mr Banks said: “We have two lads over there and one of them had an accident and hurt his back so he struggles a bit.

“We decided we had to do it now or not at all. We put the house up for sale and thought it would take a bit of time but it sold in three weeks. I think someone’s trying to tell me something.”

Mr Banks said he had often joked about his sons moving to Darwin.

He said: “I usually joke saying I packed the kids off to a school trip and put ‘Darwin’ on their luggage by accident and never got them back!”

Mr Banks, who worked at Crown Wallcoverings at Belgrave for 17 years before doing a variety of jobs, including being caretaker at St Peter’s Primary School, Ashleigh Primary School and St Joseph’s RC Primary School, said he would miss his home town: “The music hall is doing really well now. It is sold out regularly. I will miss the theatre and all the people in Darwen. I have a lot of friends here. It will be a big wrench, “But I certainly won’t miss Blackburn Rovers at the moment!”

Mr Banks said he had enlisted the help of Darrener Glenn South to carry on the successful mon-thly afternoon music hall events.

He said: “I am training Glenn up at the moment so there will be someone to carry it on. I don’t want what happened last time I packed up when it nearly died.”