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This page features a history of
the cinemas in Warrington.
Reader memories can be found further down the page.
If you have any memories of working in or visiting
any of the cinemas please feel free to Email
me.
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The last time I was in a cinema believe it or not
was 37 years ago! I saw 'Jane Eyre' starring Orson Wells and Joan
Fonteyn at the Odeon (Jane Eyre being my favourite book of all time). For
some unknown reason since childhood, I always came away from the
cinema with a violent migraine ...maybe the bright flashing screen, I
don't know, anyway I was expecting my eldest child, very near my time
but couldn't resist seeing 'Jane'. Don't need to tell you I suffered
afterwards and haven't been in a cinema since. (Reader requested that
their name wasn't displayed.)
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The cinemas are listed in alphabetical order in the
table above.
If they were known by more than one name then the earliest
name is shown first. The cinemas are described in more detail
below
in the order they were opened and to the best of my
knowledge.
Some information is incomplete and I hope to fill
in the gaps
over time. If you can help, please Email
me. |
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I am extremely grateful to Ken
Roe, Volunteer Theatre Editor of http://cinematreasures.org/
for allowing me to reproduce his notes on
the mywarrington website, which are incorporated into my own research.
I have also give reference to A Warrington Chronology by David Forrest
for further information on opening and closing dates of cinemas. |
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Some of the entries have more than one date for
opening/closing/demolition, depending on the source. Therefore, mywarrington
accepts no responsibility for the accuracy of the information supplied,
which is reproduced in good faith.
Please note that I only own copyright for the photos with my name on.
It is not always possible to locate the copyright owners for other photos.
Unfortunately, some are very poor quality and I don't have better ones.
If you do,
and are willing to share them with the good folk of Warrington, then email
me.
If I have used yours and you would prefer me to remove it, then I will do so.
Or if you are happy for me to continue using them to illustrate the text
and would like a
credit,
then please email
me and I will be happy to add appropriate notes. |
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Introduction
Since the dawn of
civilisation, mankind has learned to communicate and tell a story using words,
images, sounds and gestures. The earliest such figurative paintings in
Europe date back to the Aurignacian
period, approximately 30,000 to 32,000 years ago, and are found in the Chauvet
Cave in France.
The "ancient
craft of communicating events and experiences, using words, images, sounds and
gestures" by telling a story is not only the means by which people passed on their cultural values and
traditions and history from one generation to another, it has been an important
part of most forms of entertainment ever since the earliest times. Stories are
still told in the early forms, for example, around a fire while camping, or when listening to the stories of another culture as a
tourist. The earliest storytelling sequences we possess, now of course, committed
to writing, were undoubtedly originally a speaking from mouth to ear and their
force as entertainment derived from the very same elements we today enjoy in
films and novels. Open air theatres were a popular place for entertainment in
the days of the ancient Greeks and later the Romans.
The first permanent
theatre in Warrington opened in Scotland Road on 21 December 1818. The Public
Hall opened in Rylands Street in November 1862, and Charles Dickens appeared
there in 1869. The theatre was a very popular place for entertainment.
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| Meanwhile, experiments
were being conducted to turn the art of still photography into moving pictures.
On 19 June 1873, Englishman Eadweard
Muybridge successfully photographed a horse named "Sallie Gardner"
in fast motion using a series of 24 stereoscopic cameras. The cameras were
arranged along a track parallel to the horse's, and each camera shutter was
controlled by a trip wire triggered by the horse's hooves. They were 21 inches
apart to cover the 20 feet taken by the horse stride, taking pictures at one
thousandth of a second. This experiment also proved that all four of the horse's
feet were off the ground at the same time (see images, right). |
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| Nine years later, in
1882, French scientist Étienne-Jules
Marey invented a chronophotographic gun, which was capable of taking 12
consecutive frames a second, recording all the frames of the same picture. The
second experimental film, Roundhay Garden Scene, filmed by Louis
Le Prince on 14 October 1888 in Roundhay, Leeds is the earliest surviving
motion picture.
The first though to
design a successful apparatus was W.
K. L. Dickson, working under the direction of Thomas Alva Edison, called the
Kinetograph, and patented in 1891.
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The
Horse in Motion
photo is in the Public
Domain
Eadweard
Muybridge -
Library of Congress Prints
and Photographs Division; http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/cph.3a45870
Reproduced
from Wikipedia |
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This camera took a series of instantaneous
photographs on standard Eastman Kodak photographic emulsion coated onto a
transparent celluloid strip 35mm wide. The results of this work were first shown
in public in 1893, using the viewing apparatus also designed by Dickson, and
called the Kinetoscope. Contained within a large box, only one person at a time
looking into it through a peephole could view the movie. It was not a commercial
success but in the following year, Charles
Francis Jenkins and his projector, the Phantoscope, made a successful
audience viewing while Louis
and Auguste Lumière perfected the Cinématographe, an apparatus that took,
printed, and projected film in Paris in December 1895.
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| In the infancy of motion pictures, the cinematographer was usually also the
director and the person physically handling the camera. As the art form and
technology progressed, a separation between director and camera operator
emerged. With the advent of artificial lighting and faster (more light
sensitive) film stocks, in addition to technological advancements in optics, the
technical aspects of cinematography necessitated a specialist in that area.
Cinematography was key during the silent movie era—with no sound apart from
background music and no dialogue, the films depended on lighting, acting, and
set. |
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The year 1927 was a milestone in cinematography with the release of The Jazz
Singer, the first talking picture or "talkie", starring Al Jolson.
Earlier in his career at the Winter Gardens on Broadway he would tell the
audience, "You ain't heard nothing yet" before performing additional
songs.
However, for some movie performers, the talkie signalled the end of their
careers because their voice just didn't fit the new medium. Of course, it didn't
matter in the silent era because they couldn't be heard. Therefore, on the
whole, only the most eloquent speakers would succeed.
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| And of course, everything
was in black and white in 1927. Or was it? You would think that images recorded
in colour would come after black and white. But you'd be surprised. |
| The world's first colour moving pictures dating from 1902 have been found by
the National Media Museum
in Bradford after lying forgotten in a tin for 110 years. The films were made by
Edward Raymond Turner from London, who patented his colour process on 22 March,
1899. Some of the footage features Mr Turner's children in the garden of their
home in Hounslow. You can view the footage at the BBC
website. And make sure you visit the museum in Bradford. |
| So what next in the progression of cinematography? One innovation was 3D. And
no, Sky didn't get there first. Again, it goes back to the days before the
talkies. The earliest confirmed 3D film shown to an out-of-house audience was The
Power of Love, which premiered at the Ambassador Hotel Theatre in Los
Angeles on 27 September 1922. My mum and dad remember going to watch 3-D films
at the pictures when they were kids.
So what about stereo or multi-channel sound in films? |
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In 1937, Bell
Laboratories in New York City gave a demonstration of two-channel
stereophonic motion pictures, developed by Bell Labs and Electrical Research
Products, Inc. Walt Disney also began experimenting with multi-channel sound in
the early 1930s. The first commercial motion picture to be exhibited with
stereophonic sound was Walt Disney's Fantasia, released in November 1940,
for which a specialized sound process (Fantasound)
was developed. Fantasound used a separate film containing four optical sound
tracks. Three of the tracks were used to carry left, centre and right audio,
while the fourth track carried three tones which individually controlled the
volume level of the other three.
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Nowadays everybody is familiar with Dolby Digital and DTS surround sound. In
a nutshell, instead of two channels of sound, you have six or even eight separate
speakers linked to a sound processor in the DVD or Blu-ray player and the
amplifier. The familiar 5.1 surround sound system has a left and right speaker
either side of the screen, a centre speaker close to the screen where most of
the dialogue comes from, and two speakers behind the viewer. The sixth speaker
is the subwoofer where all the low-frequency (bass) sounds come from. I am told the
human ear can only pick up low-frequency sounds from one direction, so
that's why you only need one speaker for that, and it doesn't really matter
where you position it. That is the .1 of the 5.1 set. |
| Some movies are now made
in 7.1 surround (such as Noah starring Russell Crowe). This system uses two
extra speakers, one each side of the viewer, in line with the hearing position.
And it sounds good too.
Some information from Wikipedia
So we have the
lights, the cameras and the action. Now let's put it into all together and
take a look at the cinemas that have existed in Warrington over
the years.
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Palace
Cinema (1)
15-17
Friars Gate, Warrington, WA1 2RR.
Opened
Sep 1907. Closed 1964.
Building still in use.
1 screen.
1,100 seats.
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The New Palace Theatre & Hippodrome opened on 23
September 1907, and was part of the MacNaghten Vaudeville Circuit. The opening
production featured John Tiller’s High Jinks Company. Films were shown as
part of the programme during the early years.
Designed by architect George F. Ward, there were two
balconies, a box on each side of the proscenium and Baroque style plasterwork. A proscenium, for those not in the know, is the part of a theatre stage in
front of the curtain. It was converted into the Palace Cinema in early 1931,
opening with Ben Lyon in “Hell’s Angels”. The upper balcony wasn’t
used when it was a cinema. Entrance to the small projection
room was through a door at the side
of the building. It was a long climb to the box; you got to it via the upper
balcony. A fire in 1954 damaged the circle and upper balcony
levels, but repairs were made and it reopened as the New Palace Cinema. The
author of these notes worked there as a young projectionist in 1964. The projectors were by Fedi, the sound
by RCA
and the carbon arcs were supplied by Peerless Magnarc. Chief projectionist was a Mr Joe Slevin.
Closed in 1957 when the MacNaghten Vaudeville Circuit ceased operation, it
remained closed for three years.
It was purchased by the Hutchinson circuit in 1960 and
re-opened with Shirley Jones in Rogers and Hammerstein's “Oklahoma”
on 25 March 1961. The Palace Cinema closed on 7 November 1964 with the film
“The Camp on Blood Island” starring Andre Morell.
It then became a Surewin bingo hall, operated by
Hutchinson’s.
Admission
price of three shillings included the playing of ten games with no limit to
winnings. And for only three shillings and fivepence you could enjoy a pack of 20
Park Drive cigarettes. From 1977 it was known as the Apollo Bingo and Social Club until it
closed in 1997. After a few years of lying empty, it became Brannigans nightclub, which is now Showbar.
Contributed by DAVID
A ELLIS, Ken
Roe.
Additional
information by Gordon Gandy.
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| Brannigans
30 May 2003. |
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The
Park
Picture Palace (2)
Sankey Street, Warrington, WA1 1PL.
Opened Apr 1910. Closed by 1914 and demolished in the 1970s.
1 screen. 500 seats.
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Located on Sankey Street opposite Bank Park, the
Park Picture Palace was opened in April
1910. It was closed during World War I, and never re-opened.
It became a motor cycle depot.
Demolished around the 1970’s, an office block named Hilden
House now stands on the site.
Contributed by Ken
Roe. Additional
information by Gordon Gandy.
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The cinema as
seen from the
approach road to
the Town Hall. The
cinema site was
replaced with
Hilden House. |
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Picturedrome/Cameo Cinema (3)
83
Sankey Street, Warrington, WA1 1SL.
Opened
Jun 1910. Closed 1956. Building still in use.
1
screen. 384 seats.
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Located
on Sankey Street at the corner of Springfield Street, the Picturedrome was opened in
June
1910 by Sir Gilbert Greenall. It had an ornate stone and terracotta front.
The
facade was re-modelled in the 1930s.
It
became a television rental shop known as Tellyhire, later Visionhire, and later
Jones & Chapman estate agent.
Today, much altered, it serves as Eden Italian restaurant and Paul Kemp
hairdressing.
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As
Tellyhire,
later Visionhire
1950s to 1980s |
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Contributed by Ken
Roe. Additional
information by Gordon Gandy. |
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The cinema As Jones
& Chapman estate agent 23 May 2003. |
As Eden Restaurant/Paul Kemp hair salon 19 Sep 2011
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Grand
Electric Theatre/Grand Cinema (4)
Wilderspool Causeway,
Warrington, WA1 6PT.
Opened 11
July 1910. Closed and demolished 1952.
1 screen.
600 seats (another source say 1,188 seats).
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The
Grand Electric Theatre was opened on 11
July 1910 (another source says 1913). It was re-named the New Grand Cinema from
13 November 1922. Taken over by the Associated British Cinemas (ABC) chain in December
1930, Western Electric sound equipment was installed and it was re-named the
New
Grand Super Cinema.
The
Grand was particularly attractive to courting couples. It had double seats,
which would allow for a kiss and a cuddle without the arm of the seat coming
between them.
ABC
sold the cinema to a group of local businessmen in 1940, and as the Grand Cinema it was closed by them in March 1952 [another source says 13 Aug 1952]
when the final film was “Fury of the Congo”.
My dad tells me the story
that every time a train went past the whole building shook.
It was demolished to widen the
road and the bridge.
Contributed by Ken
Roe.
Additional
information by Gordon Gandy.
 | My thanks to Mr Bolton for originally reminding me about The
Grand at Wilderspool Causeway. |
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Pavilion
Cinema (5)
6
Lovely Lane, Warrington, WA5 1NF.
Opened
Sep 1912. closed 1957. Building still in use.
1
screen. 600 seats.
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Located
on Lovely Lane near the corner of Green Street in Whitecross,
The Electric Pavilion was opened in early September 1912. It had a 22 feet wide
proscenium.
Last
operated by the Liverpool-based chain of W.J. Speakman, it was closed around
1957, and became a timber merchants. It
was later
turned into a motor showroom, was a Trident electrical store
and in the 1980s it served as Bike
City cycle
shop. Today
it operates as a carpet store for J.H. & E. Robinson.
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The Pavilion on Lovely Lane was known as the Flea Pit.
Does anybody know why? Here is one suggestion from Albert Hickson: it is believed that any cinema might have been called The Flea Pit
in those days. People packed in
close proximity to each other made it easy for fleas to jump from one person
to another. Some cinemas might get a
worse reputation than others. Can you add to Albert's suggestion?
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Contributed by Ken
Roe. Additional
information by Gordon Gandy, with thanks
to Graeme for supporting memories.
Images top to bottom: The Pavilion as a cycle shop (white building on the left), 10
Aug 1995.
Second view is a close-up of the cycle shop. And finally as a carpet shop on 10
Sep 2006.
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Central
Picture Palace (6)
78
Sankey Street, Warrington, WA1 1SG.
Opened
Jul 1913. Closed 1916.
1
screen. 500 seats.
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Originally
built as a hall for the Victorian Conservative Club, by July 1913 it was
operating as the Central Picture Palace. It was also used as a dance hall at one
time.
Located
above Hewitt's
furniture store opposite
Dawsons in Sankey Street,
it
opened
on Saturdays for children’s matinees. Admission was tuppence or two clean jam
jars. It was closed in the 1960s.
The
entrance to the cinema has since been Marshall's
restaurant, later Jeniric's Chinese
Restaurant, and is now occupied by Agave Rum
Bar.
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| Contributed by Ken
Roe. Additional
information by Gordon Gandy.
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Top
23 May 2003.
Bottom as Hewitt's
furniture store. |
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The
New Picture House Cinema (7)
Winmarleigh Street, Warrington, WA1
1NB.
Opened
7 Jul 1913.
No further
information is currently available. Can you help? Email
me.
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Star
Kinema (8)
76
Church Street, Warrington, WA1 2TH.
Opened
Jan 1914. Closed 1958. Demolished later after further use.
1
screen. 627 seats.
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The
Star Kinema opened in January 1914 with 650 seats. [I assume the number of seats
was reduced over time.] It was designed by Manchester
based architect G.H. Kay. Some variety shows were held on the stage which was
only 6 feet deep, and there were two dressing rooms.
The
cinema used
to interchange films between the Picturedrome in Sankey Street. When part one of
the film was over, a lad would cycle with a can
of film from one cinema to the other to exchange it, enabling the two cinemas to
show the same film on the same day.
The
Star Kinema was closed in 1958, never having been equipped to screen CinemaScope
films, and it
became
Catterall’s woodwork shop.
It
was later demolished, and Apple Court Nursing Home now stands on the site.
Contributed by Ken
Roe.
Additional information by Gordon Gandy. Many thanks to Peter Spilsbury for use
of his photo.
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Queen's
Picture House (9)
Orford Lane, Warrington, WA2
7BA.
Opened 1914. Closed
28 May 1960 and Demolished.
1
screen. 1,179 seats.
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Located
on Orford Lane near Longford Street and Rhodes Street, the Queen's Picture House
was opened around 1914. [Another source gives the date as 18 September 1916.]
Seating was provided in stalls and circle levels, and the proscenium was 33 feet
wide. When it was equipped with Western Electric sound equipment in the
early-1930s, it was re-named Queen's Talkie Picture Theatre, later reverting
back to Queens Picture House.
The
Queen's was closed on Saturday 28 May 1960. It
was the 8th picture house in Warrington to close due to the impact of
television. A
projectionist for Wirral Picturedromes Ltd of Wallasey who owned the Queen’s
said attendances had been falling for three years. He also said that for some
unknown reason more cinemas in the north-west have closed than anywhere else in
Great Britain.
The Queen's was demolished and a petrol
station was built on the site, which by 2011 was a car wash.
The bus stop outside is still know as The Queens.
Whether
its official name was Queen's or Queens is up for debate as two separate photos
show it with both variants (see right).
Contributed by Ken
Roe. Additional
information by Gordon Gandy.
The two lower images gives us
the poser, was it Queen's......or Queens?
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CLICK
ON EMAIL OR FEMAIL TO CONTACT ME |
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The
Gem Picture House (10)
Sankey Street/Winmarleigh
Street, Warrington, WA1.
Opened
17 Jan 1916. Closed and Demolished 1960s.
1 screen.
40 seats.
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Gem, which only had 40 seats, became Blighty's, which was part of the
Conservative Club on the corner of Sankey Street. Hilden House now stands
on the site. |
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available. Can you help? Email
me. |
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Futurist/Regent
Cinema (11)
3
Scotland Road, Warrington, WA1 2AF.
Opened
Jan 1921. Closed 1958. Demolished 1980s.
1
screen. 543 seats.
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Located
next to the Prince of Wales hotel, the Theatre Royal was opened on 21
December 1818. It was in use as a Mechanics Institute from 1836 to 1846. It
was also known as the Regent Old Time Music Hall for a time. No dates are
available to me for when it was the music hall. It
was known to locals as The
Blood Tub, apparently because of the macabre shows that were
sometimes staged there.
In
1872 it was re-named the Price of Wales Theatre and was enlarged in 1883. Around
1900 it became the Royal Theatre of Varieties, and Charlie Chaplin appeared on
the stage. On 9 December 1907 "animated pictures" were shown when it
was still known as the Royal Theatre of Varieties. The proscenium was 18 feet
wide, and on top of it were statues of two male figures. The front of the circle
was decorated with plaster cherubs.
On
3 January 1921 it was opened as the Futurist Cinema. The projection box and
managers office were located in the adjacent Prince of Wales hotel.
In
late 1939 it was taken over by the Southan Morris chain and became part of their
S.M. Super Cinemas chain and re-named the Regent Cinema. It was closed suddenly on
28 September 1958.
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building was converted into the Tudor Bingo Club, which remained open until the
late 1980s. Later demolished, the site today is used for car parking, but a
fraction of the left hand side of the facade remains attached to the Prince of
Wales hotel.
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The scene in the top
view
looks towards Golborne
Street in the 1970s, which
no longer exists due to
the expansion of Golden
Square Shopping Centre
between 2005 and 2007. |
| Contributed by Ken
Roe. Additional
information by Gordon Gandy. Many thanks to Peter Spilsbury for
use of his photo. |
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Empire
Cinema (12)
Buttermarket
Street, Warrington, WA1 2LY.
Opened
Oct 1921. Closed 1961 and demolished.
1 screen.
Seating information not available.
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The
Empire Picture Theatre was opened on 10 October 1921 with Anna Q. Nilsson in
“Why Girls Leave Home”. There was a billiards and snooker hall in the basement.
In
1955 the Empire Cinema was the first in Warrington to be equipped with
CinemaScope. It was closed on 11 October 1961 with Pat Boone in “All Hands on
Deck”’ The building was demolished and a Halford’s store was built on the
site.
The site is currently occupied by Heron Foods supermarket and the
Salvation Army charity shop.
The
Empire was the only cinema in Warrington to have four track magnetic sound.
There was a sign at the side of the cinema stating that it was the only cinema
in Warrington with stereophonic sound.
Contributed by Ken
Roe. Additional information by Gordon Gandy, with thanks to
David A. Ellis, former Palace projectionist, for the final paragraph.
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The view of the
cinema
from Bank Street.
It was one of those
buildings that begs
the question:
WHY did they
knock it down?
Photo copyright
unknown. Contact me for a credit. |
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Premier
Cinema (13)
24
Powell Street, Latchford, Warrington, WA4 1LA.
Opened
Jan 1922. Closed 1959. Building still exists.
1
screen. 460 seats.
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Located
in Powell Street, Latchford, the Premier Cinema opened on 30 October
1922. It had an 18 feet-wide proscenium.
The
Premier Cinema was closed in September 1959. It was then used by a furniture
removals firm. The building now has a new facade and a planning application to
demolish it and replace it with houses is available to view on the Warrington
Borough Council website.
Contributed by Ken
Roe.
Additional information by Gordon Gandy. Colour photo
taken 10 Oct 2012
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Drill Hall Cinema (14)
5
Church Road, Lymm, WA13 0QG.
Opened
30 Oct 1922. Closed 30 June 1962.
1
Screen. 670 seats, later 560 seats.
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Located in the village of Lymm, the building was originally built as a drill
hall. By the 1920s it was used by travelling showmen, who exhibited films there.
By the mid-1920s, it was a full time cinema, known as the Drill Hall Cinema.
Seating was provided for 670 people. The proscenium was 22 feet wide, the stage was 20
feet deep and there were four dressing rooms.
By the 1930s a cafe had been added and it was re-named Cinema. Once
CinemaScope had been fitted, the Cinema had a seating capacity for 560 people. It was
closed in the early-1960s, and was converted into a potato factory, making
potato chips for sale in fish & chip shops.
Contributed by Ken
Roe.
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The
location of the
cinema according to
Google Street View.
If
anybody has a photo
of the cinema itself, I
would love to feature it
on mywarrington.
Get
in touch by email
if you can help. |
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Odeon,
Town Centre, Warrington (15)
41-43
Buttermarket Street, Warrington, W1A 2LY.
Opened
11 Jan 1937. Closed 27 Aug 1994 and demolished.
3
screens. 1,635 seats.
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An
original Odeon built for Oscar Deutsch’s chain, Odeon Theatres Ltd. The Odeon opened
on 11 January 1937 with George Arlis in "East Meets West". Seating
was provided for 1,059 in the stalls and 576 in the circle.
The building was
designed in the art deco style by John Gomersall.
It
was closed in early-1968 when it was damaged by a fire. Repairs were made and it
reopened in May 1968. The Odeon was tripled with 576 seats in the former circle
and 291 and 196 in the two screens formed out of the rear stalls.
It re-opened
on 14 September 1980 with "Empire Stikes Back", "Damien I &
II" and "The Final Countdown".
Closed
on 27 August 1994, the Odeon was demolished and a Yates's Wine Lodge was built
on the site.
Yates’s
Wine Lodge was refurbished in February 2010 by JD Wetherspoon and renamed The Looking Glass.
Contributed by Ken
Roe. Additional information by Gordon Gandy. Many thanks to Peter
Spilsbury for use of his photo.
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It
is commonly reported
that ODEON stood
for
Oscar Deutsch
Entertains Our Nation.
But
according
to thefreedictionary.com
an Odeon was 'a kind of
theatre
in
ancient Greece,
smaller than the dramatic
theatre
and
roofed over, in
which poets and musicians submitted their works to
the approval of the public, and contended for prizes; - hence, in modern
usage,
the name of a hall for musical or dramatic performances.'
I leave it up to you
the reader to make
your own mind up. |
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Ritz/ABC
(16)
Barbauld Street, Warrington, WA1 1HN.
Opened Aug 1937. Closed 23 October 1982. Building
destroyed by fire on 14 April 2015 and demolished..
2 screens.
1,928 seats.
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Located on Barbauld Street near Bridge Foot, the Ritz Cinema was built
by the Union
Cinemas chain and officially opened on 23 August 1937 by the mayor, John Turner
Cooper. The first films shown featured Robert Armstrong in "Without
Orders" and Chester Morris in "I Promise to Pay". Admission
prices were threepence for children and sixpence for adults. On stage was
Macari and His Dutch Accordian Serenaders. Also entertaining was Alex Taylor who
played the
Compton 3Manual/6Rank organ. This organ had a Melotone attached and its illuminated
console was on a lift. The Ritz Cinema also had a cafe for the convenience of
its patrons.
Celebrity visitors include world-famous comedy duo Laurel and
Hardy in 1952. They did not perform at the venue, but visited to promote shows
in Southport and Liverpool.
The Ritz was taken over, together with all
Union Cinemas, by Associated British Cinemas (ABC) in October 1937. It was
re-named the ABC in 1958.
The ABC was closed on 19 August 1972 for
alterations. The former stalls area
downstairs was converted into a bingo club and a 474 seat cinema was created in
the former balcony, which opened on 7 December 1972. In 1980 a second, smaller screen,
with video projection and seating for 90 patrons, was opened in the former cafe area.
The cinemas closed on 23 October 1982, followed
soon after by the bingo club closing.
The former bingo club became a nightclub named Mr Smith's.
As Mr Smith's, Pete Waterman and Michaela Strachen presented the Granada
TV music and dance show, The Hitman and Her, from there in the 1980s.
In June 2004, the local authority
requested that due to the redevelopment of the riverfront, the Ritz Cinema
should be considered for listing as an historic building. However nothing seems
to have come out of this.
In the time between Mr Smith's and the opening as Synergy in
March 2008, it was opened for one night a week, usually for school discos. It
became Halo in November 2009, but closed in 2010.
A group called Theatre 4 Warrington had been campaigning for it
to be converted into a theatre. There were further discussions in Warrington
Borough Council to create a riverside leisure area alongside the Mersey close to
the building. There was no direct connection between the two
schemes.
On 5 Jun 2011, the building was sold for £1 million to Salford Quays-based
company LPC Living Ltd. The Warrington Guardian reported that the council had put in
a bid at auction in London of £500,000, which was the ‘guide price’, in order to safeguard the
building for a proposed canal-side development – possible conversion to a theatre? It
re-opened as Mr Smith's on 1 October 2011, but closed sometime later.
In July 2014, plans were submitted to Warrington
Borough Council by owners LPC Living Ltd to
demolish the building. The
borough council says it cannot oppose demolition because the building is not
listed or protected by law. The council had until 11 August 2014 to approve
how work to knock down the building should be carried out. This was decided on
31 July 2014.
One objection to the demolition in the planning application
notes is as follows:
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| I am appalled to
hear of plans to demolish the former cinema at Bridge Foot. This is an
architectural gem which should be preserved as Stockport has done with the
Plaza. Please place a preservation order on this building. Tina Russell-Cruise.
Contributed by Ken
Roe.
Additional information by Gordon Gandy.
| See
information on the Save Mr Smith's Facebook campaign further down
the page. Or click here to read it now. |
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AMC/UCI/Odeon
Westbrook (17)
100
Westbrook Centre, Westbrook Crescent, Cromwell Avenue, Warrington, WA5 8UD.
Opened
Mar 1988 and still showing movies.
10 screens. 2,080 seats.
The
10-screen AMC opened on 25 March 1988. In December 1988, it was taken over by
UCI and re-branded.
In
October 2004, UCI were taken over by Terra Firma, who operated the Odeon
Theatres chain and it was re-branded as the Odeon.
Seating
capacities in the screens range from 278 down to 189, with a capacity of 2,080
seats.
Contributed by Ken
Roe.
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Save The Ritz/Mr Smith's Art
Deco Building
Soon after the Warrington Guardian reported on the
proposals for the demolition of the building, the Save
Mr Smith's group was set up on Facebook by Diane Kerfoot to negotiate with the owners on how the building could be saved
for the community. At a meeting on 31 July
2014, Diane was told that it
will not be demolished on 11 August so there is still hope. Some
have suggested The Pete Postlethwaite Theatre, in recognition of the late
international actor, who was born in Orford. Others have suggested a cinema once
again or another nightclub.
It is believed it is only one of two Art Deco buildings
still standing in the town. The other one is the Masonic Hall on Winmarleigh
street in the town centre. The Odeon cinema on Buttermarket Street was also in
the art deco style, but still demolished. Interest from the business world did not bring any
offers to buy the building to run it as a commercial venture. The feedback was
that the inside was just too large for one company. Also, the borough council
does not have money spare to purchase the building. However, I was told that the
building was offered to the council in 2004 for a very cheap price. I
don't know if that is true, but if it was they missed out on a great
opportunity to save it for the community. The Save
The Ritz/
Mr Smith's Art Deco Building group has agreed that it is not appropriate for it to become just
a theatre or just a cinema or even just another nightclub.
When I was a member of the Save
The Ritz/Mr Smith's Art Deco Building group, my suggestion at our first meeting was to secure the building as a
non-profit-making venture whereby different community groups and charities could
make use of the building. The inside could be sectioned off into entertainment
areas, workshops, offices, play areas and conference rooms, etc.
I even offer
the suggestion as a radio presenter on Radio
Warrington to move our studios into the building when the station begins
broadcasting on the AM (medium wave) band later in 2014. The site Radio
Warrington has been
offered is only temporary due to redevelopment of the town centre in the near
future. A permanent base for us in the former cinema/nightclub building would be
another good use of the building. Radio
Warrington is run by volunteers who are passionate about music and the
community. We are proud to be at the heart of your community. Listen in live now
on the internet or download the Tune In app on your mobile phone.
The former cinema/nightclub building
could also incorporate a small theatre stage and cinema area for groups like the
Warrington
Cine and Video Society to showcase their work in the town centre. They have
been making films since 1936, a year before the original Ritz cinema opened. The
venue could also be used a training ground for budding
artists/entertainers/musicians of the future to compliment the work done by the Pyramid
Parr Hall on Palmyra Square.
Of course, it would take a lot of investment to make the
dream come true, but there is the National Lottery good causes fund, which
was set up in 1994 by former prime minister John Major to raise funds for good
causes across the country. What better use of an iconic art deco building could
there be than to hand it over the community as a lasting legacy for the town?
However, having read the planning application, it seems the owners are only in
favour of a commercial venture rather than a charitable trust or similar.
The alternative is to demolish it sometime after 11 August 2014 to
replace it with - what? A car park? Offices? Houses? Is it a good cause or a
lost cause? if you support the idea of saving the 1937 building, see the Save
The Ritz/
Mr Smith's Art Deco Building Facebook page and get involved.
I congratulate Dianne Kerfoot on
her hard work so far to put pressure on the owners and the local authority to
make good use of the site. Also thanks to the Warrington Guardian, Pete Waterman
and Chris Evans for supporting the cause. If our
campaign fails, at least we can say we had a go.
Remember, if the building is
demolished it won't be coming back and the only places to see it will be in
photographs in books or on websites like mywarrington and Facebook. I wonder if I won Euromillions this week
they would accept my offer to buy the building? I wouldn't need to run as a
commercial venture. Just cover the running costs.
Meanwhile, another Facebook page, Mr
Smith's Memories, features stories and photos from its days as a nightclub
has been set up.
Contributed by Gordon Gandy.
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Click the images to go to the warringtonian.com website
(above)
and the Save The Ritz/Mr Smith's Art Deco Building Facebook page (below).
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Cinemas That Never Were
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The Wire Works - 2005
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New Time Square - 2005
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Image used with
permission
from Modus Iliad. |
|
I am grateful for
the help
and
assistance
from Big Apple Warrington
and express my
appreciation for
permission to
reproduce
their artist's
impression
and descriptions,
which have been
incorporated
into my own text. |
| In 2005 a planning application was submitted
by Modus Iliad to redevelop vacant land on Winwick Street just
north of Central Station.
The development would have been a mix of
residential
apartments, retail facilities, gym,
beauty spa, restaurants and bars
with a cinema, hotel and art gallery anchored to the project to create a
mix of uses for town centre living.
1,200 parking spaces would have been
available.
At a meeting of Warrington Borough
Council on Friday 24 February 2006, planning permission was granted,
subject to final approval by the Secretary of State.
In April 2006 the
Secretary of State decided that there should be a public inquiry into
the project.
That inquiry began on 27 February 2007.
After planning
permission had been approved, it was hoped that work could begin in late
2007, but the scheme was
later shelved.
Dallam Centre would have been the first priority
as it
was being moved to
Orford Lane, with the bill being met by the developers.
The Dallam
Centre itself was closed at the end of 2012 and demolished when the
services it offered were moved to other
parts of the town.
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In a decision which disappointed the Time
Square retailers,
the government refused to grant planning permission for
the
scheme.
Reasons given were that it was not in a
regeneration area and
that it was currently in use.
The £75million New Time Square was to be a mixed
use
development including a 10 screen multiplex cinema, family
restaurants, retail units and residential apartments.
It would have
included underground car parking and a new bridge link to the existing
multi-storey car park on Academy Way.
The new site would complement the
existing area and encourage shoppers to stay on in the evening.
Central
to the development was a
landscaped public square where people could
meet and watch a
big screen or enjoy the experience of alfresco dining
at one of
the many restaurants.
It was designed to complement the Market Hall and the
adjoining retailers, and the developers believe it was
important for the future of Warrington's south-east quarter,
and as a
new town centre venue New Time Square would
be an asset to the whole of
Warrington and beyond.
The partnership behind the scheme was made up of
The Big Apple Warrington, Amstone, Dalgleish Retail Property Insight,
Lowry Homes, Signet Planning and Leach Rhodes Walker Architects.
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The Future
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Bridge Street Quarter
In October 2013 Warrington Borough Council announced its
proposals for a £52 million plan to revitalise the traditional retail heart of
Warrington town centre in Bridge Street.
The scheme will create a new family-friendly shopping,
restaurant and leisure experience with a contemporary market hall at its heart.
Other key components of the scheme will comprise a state-of-the-art multiplex
cinema and a new civic centre.
The new market will be built on the site of the former Boots building on
Bridge Street, thus preserving and making a street front entrance feature of the
Grade II listed brick façade.
The 3.4 hectare (8.4 acre) development site extends from
Bridge Street and across the existing Time Square development and includes the
site of the existing market.
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The project will be delivered by Warrington Borough Council
with development partner, Muse. Muse was chosen by Warrington Borough Council as
partner on the scheme because of their established track record of delivery in
mixed-use town centre regeneration projects across the UK.
The fly-through showing the proposed new market hall can be viewed
here
and here.
Information from Warrington
Borough Council.
Find out more information by downloading the Bridge
Street redevelopment public exhibition information [pdf]
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mywarrington is not responsible for third party websites or for the
accuracy of the information presented here. |
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Peter Spilsbury adds some stories about the cinemas in the town.
The Pavilion - my dad used to tell me how they used to be admitted by giving in
a jam jar.
The Regent - as a theatre it was known as the "Blood Tub" on account
of the murder plays they presented there.
The Queens - the 4d seats were wooden with no backrest.
The Cameo - same priced seats were orange boxes with a plank across (only one
row).
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| From the age of seven we used to go to the Saturday morning
matinee for 6d (2½p). Usually the Odeon. We only had a shilling (5p) pocket
money and it was 6d in each cinema, so in the summer we would often walk to town
from Penketh, see the Saturday film, walk home, have dinner, and then walk back
to either the Palace or Cameo and walk home again. We did not seem to have much
use for money during the week then. (Peter) |
Do you remember
watching these
films in the cinema?
Photo © Peter Spilsbury
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On THE PREMIER in Latchford, D. Williams writes:
My parents used to run this picture
house for as long as I can remember. My dad was the projectionist and my mum was
the cashier. I, of course, got in for free. It was a sad day when it shut down.
Regarding Lymm's DRILL HALL CINEMA, Kathy writes:
The list of cinemas reminded me of when I was first married
in 1965 and lived in Lymm for a couple of years. I got a job in the "potato
works" ...... formerly the DRILL HALL CINEMA. The job was to take out the eyes on
peeled potatoes which came along a conveyor belt with water constantly running
over them. They were then packed up and sent off to chip shops, cafes etc. It
was a horrible job which meant you were constantly standing in water, suffered
chapped hands and always felt wet and cold. Don't need to tell you that I didn't
stay there for very long. The potato works in the old Lymm cinema was
affectionately called THE EYE
HOSPITAL ..... get it?
Gordon adds: That last bit reminds me of a Pompous Speech
Contest I helped to judge in 1986 when one contender called his speech 'Life
Through The Eyes of a Potato!' He didn't win! Someone said my introduction to
the event should have won. Perhaps I'll publish the transcript one day.
Ken Lowe (Jake) writes: About 1943
we used to walk from Latchford to the STAR KINEMA, where we paid
two pence for the
front rows and three pence for the "superior" rear rows. On Saturday
morning we impatiently queued up outside the front. There was a shop attached on
the right which used to take jam jars and give you a halfpenny for each. On one
occasion boys were going further round the back and taking jam jars previously
brought in and stacked there, then going in the front and claiming their halfpennies.
In the cinema it was like a riot, and the bottles (and pee) would roll down the
steep slope to the front of the hall. A frightening figure called Billy would
parade up and down the rows, threatening the audience. He had short hair, a
uniform from which his red, bull neck burst out and his constant threats to the
unruly mob were preceded by "Be quiet you little so and so's." Later
on, as we became more "sophisticated" we went to the Grand and on
occasion laughed at the unfortunates who leaned back too far in the
"double" seats and the whole row would collapse.
On THE PAVILION on Lovely Lane, Tony Hackett writes:
I think this was a Trident electrical store at one time,
in the 1970's at least. In 1973, I bought my first hi-fi from there,
which was also my first major purchase after starting work. It was a
Wharfedale Linton turntable/receiver/speakers set. I eventually sold it
when I upgraded.
| Do you have memories you would like to share? Get in touch by
email. |
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CLICK
ON EMAIL OR FEMAIL TO CONTACT ME |
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Other Warrington
Cinema Facts
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27 June 1902 - "Animated Pictures" at Parr Hall
show Walking Day, etc (first of 12 nights).
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9 Dec 1907 - "Animated Pictures" shown at Royal
Theatre of Varieties, Scotland Road. Later the Futurist cinema and then the Regent cinema.
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5 October 1908 "Living Pictures" were shown at
the Parr Hall once a fortnight.
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| 8 November 1938 - Birth of actor and film director
Richard Curtis (Four Weddings and a Funeral, Bridget
Jones's Diary, Notting Hill, and Love Actually). He
lived in Appleton, Warrington in the 1970s.
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10 March 1961 - Funeral of entertainer and film star George Formby
Jnr. He is buried in Warrington cemetery.
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Summer of 1990 - The only person watching Back to
the Future at the Odeon on Buttermarket Street was me!
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2 January 2011 - Death of Warrington-born film star Pete
Postlethwaite.
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| ORDER |
CINEMA |
LOCATION |
DATE
OPENED |
SCREENS |
SEATS |
DATE
CLOSED |
YEAR DEMOLISHED |
| 1 |
PALACE CINEMA |
15-17 FRIARS GATE |
30 SEP 1907 |
1 |
1,100 |
1964 |
STILL IN
USE |
| 2 |
PARK PICTURE PALACE |
SANKEY STRET |
APR 1910 |
1 |
500 |
c1914 |
1970s |
| 3 |
PICTUREDROME/CAMEO |
83 SANKEY STREET |
JUN 1910 |
1 |
384 |
1956 |
STILL IN
USE |
| 4 |
GRAND CINEMA |
WILDERSPOOL CAUSEWAY |
11 JUL 1910 |
1 |
600 |
1952 |
1952 |
| 5 |
PAVILION |
6 LOVELY LANE |
SEP 1912 |
1 |
600 |
1957 |
STILL IN
USE |
| 6 |
CENTRAL |
78 SANKEY STREET |
JUL 1913 |
1 |
500 |
1916 |
STILL IN
USE |
| 7 |
NEW PICTURE HOUSE |
WINMARLEIGH STREET |
7 JUL 1913 |
? |
? |
? |
? |
| 8 |
STAR KINEMA |
76 CHURCH STREET |
19 JAN 1914 |
1 |
627 |
1958 |
? |
| 9 |
QUEENS |
ORFORD LANE |
1914 |
1 |
1,179 |
28 MAY 1960 |
1960 |
| 10 |
GEM PICTURE
HOUSE |
WINMARLEIGH STREET |
17 JAN 1916 |
1 |
40 |
1960s |
1960s |
| 11 |
FUTURIST/REGENT |
3 SCOTLAND ROAD |
JAN 1921 |
1 |
543 |
1958 |
1980s |
| 12 |
EMPIRE |
BUTTERMARKET STREET |
OCT 1921 |
1 |
? |
1961 |
1961 |
| 13 |
PREMIER |
24 POWELL ST, LATCHFORD |
JAN 1922 |
1 |
460 |
1959 |
STILL
EXISTS |
| 14 |
DRILL HALL
CINEMA |
5 CHURCH ROAD, LYMM |
30 OCT 1922 |
1 |
670 |
30 JUN 1962 |
STILL IN
USE |
| 15 |
ODEON
WARRINGTON |
41-43 BUTTERMARKET STREET |
11 JAN 1937 |
3 |
1,635 |
27 AUG 1994 |
1994 |
| 16 |
RITZ/ABC |
BRIDGE FOOT |
23 AUG 1937 |
2 |
1,928 |
23 OCT 1982 |
STILL
EXISTS |
| 17 |
AMC/UCI/ODEON
WESTBROOK |
WESTBROOK |
MAR 1988 |
10 |
2,080 |
STILL OPEN |
STILL IN
USE |
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My Favourite Camera Rigs
To finish, I thought I would tell
you about some of my favourite film camera rigs.
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| The first
is the crane, which is often used to see over a crowd of people. The
major supplier of cranes in Hollywood throughout the 1940s, 1950s and
1960s was the Chapman Company (later Chapman-Leonard of North
Hollywood), supplanted by dozens of similar manufacturers around the
world. |
The Steadicam
is a camera stabilizer mount that mechanically isolates it
from the operator's movement. allowing for a smooth shot, even when moving
quickly over an uneven surface. It was invented by cameraman Garrett
Brown in 1975. |
Skycam,
a computer-controlled, stabilized, cable-suspended camera system. The
system is manoeuvred through three dimensions in the open space over a
playing area of a stadium or arena by a computer-controlled cable-drive
system camera rig. I first saw this system
being used in narrow streets in a European country where it would have been
difficult for vehicles to move. It also means you can follow a long sequence in
one shot without cutting to other angles. Useful for car chase scenes. |
The
later version of the Skycam rig was the Spidercam, which
operates with four motorized winches positioned at each corner at the
base of the covered area, each of which controls a Kevlar
cable connected to a gyro-stabilized
camera-carrier, or dolly. |
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Crane shot on
Toppers in
Concert 2008.
Ken123
- Own work.
CC
BY SA 3.0
Wikipedia
Wikipedia
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Steadicam Operator
John Fry with Master
Steadicam & Arri
Alexa
camera.
CC BY SA
3.0
Wikipedia
Wikipedia.
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Skycam
Husky Stadium.
Despeaux
- Own work.
CC
BY-SA 3.0 Wikipedia
Wikipedia
Image of
a Skycam at work during
a Washington Huskies football game
at Husky Stadium in Seattle, Wash. |
Spidercam
soccer.
da_belkin
(Aleksandr Osipov) -
Flickr.com
CC
BY-SA 2.0
Wikipedia
Wikipedia |
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