Now we all know that there is nothing sadder than a pub with no beer, but perhaps worse is the old cinema with no customers and not even a discarded bag of popcorn to show what happy times the place once offered.
This is or I should say was the Princess Cinema on King Street in Dukinfield and was a picture house I never knew.
It closed a full nine years before I came to Manchester and by the time we arrived in Ashton I guess many had even forgotten about it.
So I turned to that excellent site Cinema Treasures to learn that,
“There doesn’t seem to be much information on this cinema but I know it was built in 1913 and was a cinema till 1960.
In 1956, was the scene of a riot, during a showing of “Rock Around the Clock” when Teddy boys jived in the aisles and slashed seats.
After closure, it became a bingo hall and, more recently, a snooker hall. I have played snooker there and it seems in good condition.”*
And my old mate Andy Robertson was passing yesterday and couldn’t resist adding it to his collection of departed places.
Andy continues to do an excellent job of recording how the twin cities and the outer townships are changing.
My only fear is that one day he will take a picture of me or our house and I fear where that might lead.
Picture; Princess Cinema on King Street in Dukinfield, 2015, from the collection of Andy Robertson
*cinema treasures, http://cinematreasures.org/theaters/6751
It closed a full nine years before I came to Manchester and by the time we arrived in Ashton I guess many had even forgotten about it.
So I turned to that excellent site Cinema Treasures to learn that,
“There doesn’t seem to be much information on this cinema but I know it was built in 1913 and was a cinema till 1960.
In 1956, was the scene of a riot, during a showing of “Rock Around the Clock” when Teddy boys jived in the aisles and slashed seats.
After closure, it became a bingo hall and, more recently, a snooker hall. I have played snooker there and it seems in good condition.”*
And my old mate Andy Robertson was passing yesterday and couldn’t resist adding it to his collection of departed places.
Andy continues to do an excellent job of recording how the twin cities and the outer townships are changing.
My only fear is that one day he will take a picture of me or our house and I fear where that might lead.
Picture; Princess Cinema on King Street in Dukinfield, 2015, from the collection of Andy Robertson
*cinema treasures, http://cinematreasures.org/theaters/6751
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