Verona Cinema

Thornton is a village in the Borough of Wyre, about 4 miles north of Blackpool, Lancashire and 2 miles south of Fleetwood.

In September 1929 plans were prepared by architect H. Duckworth, of Merder & Duckworth, Fleetwood, for the conversion of a billiard hall into a picture theatre to seat 400 patrons. The building was of brick, with a concrete floor. Fylde county magistrates approved the plans, subject to the provision of additional exits, a separate re-wind room and a separate exit near to the projection room.

It is not known when the picture house opened. It was not listed in the Kinematograph Year Books until 1946, when the entry simply read “Cinema”. However, the following year, the fuller entry, for the Cinema, stated that it was owned by C. Howarth, it was equipped with AWH sound, it had 337 seats and shows were once nightly.

The seating capacity had reduced to 330 by 1953, when the Cinema was renamed the Verona Cinema. By that time it was operated by Verona Cinemas Ltd, headed by Cliff Miller, of nearby Knott End-on-Sea.

By 1955 the seating capacity had reduced further, to 300, and a Walturdaw sound system had replaced the AWH system. The screen measured 12ft by 9ft, but that changed the following year, when CinemaScope was installed. The proscenium was widened, to 20ft, to accommodate a screen that was now 17ft by 8ft.

The Verona Cinema was still open in 1959, but was not listed in the 1961 Kinematograph Year Book (frustratingly, I do not have access to the 1960 edition).

The building found a new life as the Verona Hall, home to the Verona Association, a charitable group which organises social activities such as dancing, keep fit, singing, snooker, bingo and coffee mornings. But, sadly, no film shows.

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