Odeon Sale

Ian on August 31, 2011 at 1:26 am

A 1988 shuttered shot here

ODEON SALE

woody on March 23, 2009 at 3:20 am

two very different views
shortly after opening in its full glory
http://www.flickr.com/photos/woody1969/3376186179/

and in 1985/86 at its worst
http://www.flickr.com/photos/woody1969/65274530/

hugovk on September 18, 2006 at 10:54 am

[i]“… Undoubtedly the most splendid cinema in Sale was the Pyramid on Washway Road; this was designed by Drury and Gomersall in an "Egyptian” style, hence the name. The Pyramid was built 1933-4 to seat 2,000 at a cost of £70,000. The building included a first-floor cafe advertised as the “rendezvous for discerning folk” and, flanking the cinema, two rows of shops were built in a style which harmonised with the nearby Post Office.

“Once built, the Pyramid then needed a licence to open; this was refused by the magistrates after oppostion from, among others, the Palace and Savoy cinemas and the Regal, Altrincham. A protest meeting was organised by a local committee which included the vicar of St. Paul’s. The meeting was a success, as the Pyramid’s 2,000 seating capacity was filled and another 2,000 gathered outside; a petition had attracted 18,000 signatures.

“The result was that a licence was then granted and the Pyramid was opened for its first public performance on Monday, February 26, 1934 with a film and stage show. It is a cinema typical of prosperous suburbia of the 1930s and was built with a spacious car park. The Pyramid was bought by Rank in 1941 and, later, became an Odeon cinema. The Odeon showed its last film in October 1981; the cinema was sold and later re-opened as the Tatton, finally closing in 1984.”[/i]

From A History of Sale, by N.V. Swain.

Since the Tatton closed, it opened as a nightclub called JFK’s in 1990, then it closed again for a few more years before reopening as an L.A. Fitness gym, which it is now.

Here are some more photos of the Pyramid Cinema/Odeon Cinema, inside and out.

• 1934, Pyramid Theatre’s opening, “Only the best is good enough for Sale”
• 1934, interior at opening.
• 1942, Desert Victory
• 1943, Air Training Corps inspection
• c. 1943, Screening of Colonel Blimp
• Pageant of * Victory, * 1944
• Victory Day, 1945
• 1966
• 1981, the Odeon “taken on the day of its supposed closure, later re-opened.”
• And finally, 2006, LA Fitness gym.

KenRoe on September 11, 2005 at 5:37 am

Two exterior views of the Pyramid, Sale when it was the Odeon here:

1. Possibly late 1940’s/early 1950's
   View link

2. In 1971
   View link