The Ditchburn Jukebox Museum

Take a trip back in time, when jukebox music was in every coffee bar and milk bar in the UK.

Welcome to the home of the first British jukebox. The first machines were manufactured on the Fylde coast in Lancashire. Ditchburn Jukeboxes brought Rock 'n' Roll to the youth of Great Britain at a time when imports of American jukeboxes were banned. The museum features the first British jukeboxes, and the first vending machines and background music machines that were built in Lancashire, from 1947 onwards.

Music was limited for the youth of Great Britian. Back in the early 50s there was only one radio station (BBC) that played mostly classical and dance band music. Not only did Ditchburn in Lytham St Annes bring the youth of Great Britain the first British jukeboxes, but they also brought Rock 'n' Roll to the UK and imported the first Rock 'n' Roll records from America in the early 50s. Ditchburn were the only manufacturer of jukeboxes in the UK at this time and they operated over a 1,000 jukeboxes in coffee and milk bars across the whole of the UK, playing the records of Chuck Berry, Bill Hayley, Buddy Holly, and many more. It was the first time that most teenagers in the UK coffee bars had heard these amazing tunes at full volume on a Ditchburn Jukebox. It inspired and influenced many up and coming British musicians, who later formed bands like the Beatles and the Rolling Stones to play the Rock 'n' Roll sound that we know so well today.

Visit the unique history of the British jukebox and Rock 'n' Roll at The Ditchburn Jukebox Museum. Admission is free and all the jukeboxes are on free-play. In the coffee and snack bar you can select your favourite songs on the jukeboxes then relax with a cuppa and bring back the memories of your youth, whilst listening to the sounds of the 40s, 50s, 60s, 70s and 80s on these wonderful Lancashire made machines.

Please visit and support The Ditchburn Jukebox Museum to keep an important slice of Lancashire Rock 'n' Roll history alive.