Cinemas

A gorgeous small town cinema seating 897 in stalls and balcony, The Regal Cinema opened in 1933 to the design of a Mr Riley. Bought by Zetters Bingo in 1979, the stalls area became a bingo club, with a 226-seat cinema operating in the circle. The bingo has now gone and the stalls area is a bar, whilst the cinema has recently seen a major refurbishment under new owners and reopened in March 2013 seating about 120.

The best surviving features of the Alhambra Cinema in Middlewich, Cheshire, UK, are above the ground floor level. Below this the facade has been altered for a Chinese restaurant and the hotel which occupy the building. This cinema opened in 1920 and had 506 tip-up seats. Earlier re-uses included bingo hall and amusement arcade.

The Rex is situated in what was formerly the Oddfellows Hall.

The Theatre Royal in Hyde opened in 1902 to the design of Architects Campbell and Horsley of Manchester and the building contractors Robinson and Sons of Hyde. The cost of building was £10,000. It seated 1200. In 1914 a cinerma screen was added and live shows and cinema were both presented until the last live performance in 1974. A second screen was then built on the stage area and the two screen cinema continued to run until final closure in 1992. Today the building is a listed structure and a charity group is pressing for restoration and re-use of the building rather than demolition.

The Palace Cinema opened in 1921 and replaced the Electric Theatre on Edward Street, Stocksbridge. At some time later it was extended and a new projection room was added high up attached to the wall. The remains of the supports for the floor of this structure can be just seen at the right edge of the image. It was here that the young Reginald Dixon played piano to accompany the silent films long before he became famous for his skills on the organ.

A rare beast indeed - a long-established independent cinema and in a much older building that has been re-used as a cinema. The Regent in Marple was opened in 1932 by the Marple Cinema Company in the 1878 built Union Rooms that had been established by a local mill owner, Thomas Carver, as a coffee tavern and mission hall. The premises survived conversion to a bingo hall in 1969 after the council refused a licence, and after refurbishment at that time continues to operate with a single screen and seats for 285. Further information can be found here .

It was a pleasant surprise to find this cinema still in business in the centre of Naas as there is a five screen multiplex just out of town. Clearly past its best but some attempt has been made to provide more for customers as it now has two screens showing.

Terracotta faience on the old Picture House cinema on Oxford Street in Manchester. The lower frontage has been disfigured by conversion to a Macdonalds eatery. I have been unable to discover any of the history of this cinema.

The Grosvenor Picture Palace on the corner of Grosvenor Street and Oxford Road in Manchester sports one of my favourite cinema frontages. Designed by Percy Hathersall, it opened for business on May 15th 1915 it had become a dual cinema/bingo hall when the last films ("Passionate Demons" & "Attack of the Crab Monsters"!) were shown on May 18th 1968. The Grade II listed building is now a pub "The Footage" although much of the original interior survives.

This building was originally built as a Scottish Presbyterian Church in 1846 and then converted to a cinema in 1912 when the terracotta faience was added. In 1938 it became the Rex and continued to show films until 1958. It later operated as a bingo hall between 1967 and 1985. Today the building is back as a church for the New Harvest Christian Fellowship.

Even on a wet day the Elite Cinema building in Upper Parliament Street, Nottingham looks impressive. It was designed by the London architects Adamson & Kinns and opened in 1921. Closed as a cinema in 1977 it operated until 1990 as a bingo hall it is now a night club with office and retail uses. The building is listed Grade II*.

The St Helens Hippodrome was opened in 1902 as the Empire Palace Variety Theatre, on the site of the 1893 People’s Palace. The architect was J A Brown from St Helens, and the terracotta work is by the Bispham Hall Terracotta Company of Orrell. The bricks were supplied by the Withnell Brick Company of Chorley. Converted to a cinema in the 1930s, the building is now in use for bingo.

I am often astonished at the detail work that is placed in hardly visible places on old buildings. These two fine terracotta panels are to be found high up on the former Oxford Street Picture House in Manchester. They date from 1911.

The Bury Art Picture House is on Knowsley Street. The first theatre here was in a converted warehouse that had formerly been a Baptist chapel. This was demolished in 1922 and replaced by the present building, to the baroque design of Albert Winstanley, which was completed in 1923. It seated 1,136 divided between stalls and pit and a 12 row balcony with 2 bow fronted boxes each side. In the 1940s it was operated by the Bury Cinematograph Co., Ltd. There was an L-shaped cafe, originally known as the Oriental or Indian Lounge. The cinema closed in 1964 and it has since been used for Bingo, Pool and now as licensed premises. The white terracotta faience still looks good with the descriptive lettering. It is listed Grade II.

Another Irish cinema that has closed in the past few years is the Astor at Scariff in County Clare. Its last year of operation appears to have been 2007. It was also the venue for the Midnight Court Film Society which has had to transfer screenings to MacNamara's Bar.

The disused Central cinema on Lower Main Street, Rathkeale, Co. Limerick. It was opened in 1946 by Henry Dinnage and run by his family until closure in 1977. There is a preservation order in place on the facade of the building.

The small town of Newton Stewart in south-west Scotland boasts this fine little cinema which is run as a community, not for profit, business.

The Palace Cinema on Dingle Lane, Winsford, was originally built as the Drill Hall which was opened by Lord Dundonald of Gwrych Castle on 26th June 1901. I have been unable to find a defintive date for it being converted to a cinema, but by 1935 it was definitely open as the Palace. Films were shown until the early 1970's after which it became a bingo hall, a use which continues today.