Gem Electric Theatre

In Middleton, a town that is now in the Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale, in Greater Manchester, it is thought that the Gem Electric Theatre opened around 1912-1913. It was certainly open by March 1914, when Eric Williams visited with his “speaking pictures”, that he had been touring around the Manchester area. (Though the Gem Electric Theatre is not listed in the 1914 Kinematograph Year Book.)

The Gem Electric Theatre was listed in Kelly’s Directory for 1918, and mentioned in the trade papers in 1921, but that is the last known mention of it. So it is assumed it closed around that time. (An unsubstantiated claim is that it was damaged by fire.)

It is not known what happened to the building in the interim but, in October 1934, the impressive Central Gardens was declared open, on the site, by the Mayor and Mayoress, Councillor and Mrs J. Cockshott.

Sadly, Central Gardens disappeared under brick and concrete in the late-1970’s.

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