The cinemas on Teesside ranked in size as follows:–
1) ABC (Globe) Stockton:2429 seats (the circle alone seated 1188).
2) Hippodrome Middlesbrough (a GB house):2296 seats
3) Odeon(Regal)Stockton:2082 seats
4) ABC (Elite) Middlesbrough:1843 seats
5) Odeon Middlesbrough: 1761 seats
Therefore, the Odeon Middlesbrough ranked 5th largest when using seating capacity as the yardstick as opposed to the size of the sites. The 2 ABC’s and the Hippodrome,having deep stages (with fly towers),most probably were still the 3 largest buildings by site size.
The Odeons Stockton and Middlebrough had shallow stages and no flies, although the original Odeon Stockton did ‘muscle in’ with live shows in the 1960’s along with the ABC (Globe) and the Essoldo/Hippodrome Stockton.
Strange that 3 Stockton cinemas had frequent live shows and yet the cinemas in neighbouring (and larger) Middlesbrough did not.
I used to do relief stints at the ABC prior to its conversion and it was 100% ABC design throughout with no ‘Union’ features at all. The plans had the architect’s name logged thereon:William R Glen – ABC’s ‘in house’ architect.
This was the only ABC in the North East designed by him; all other purpose builds were by Percy L Brown of Hartlepool. There were many other acquired theatres in the North East which became part of the vast Associated British Corporation.
The ‘twinning’ was carried out using most of the circle for screen 1( 550 seats with a new screen and tabs positioned forward of the ballustrade; rows A, B & C of the front circle were lost in the process). Screen 2 (212 seats)occupied the actors' left section of the rear stalls and the public house occupied the length of the stalls at actors' right.
I spent a short time as Assistant Manager here after the twinning and, in addition to the loss of the ‘big cinema’ atmosphere, the foyers also lost their style and grandeur by being boxed in and reduced vastly in size – such was ‘progress’ in the 1970’s
There was a third ‘sister’ Majestic theatre in West Hartlepool (now simply Hartlepool); the Head Office for all three (Bishop Auckland, Darlington and Hartlepool)was in High Row, Darlington.
Not all the side walls of the Theatre Royal were retained, as in order to widen the building, it was necessary to demolish the south elevation.
The circle originally seated 628 and was reduced to 590 in 1977 when the built out section from the circle (to accommodate the screen areas of the 2 minis below) encroached upon the sightlines; so the front row of the circle was removed.The 590 seats were reduced to 578 when I was manager there and some larger seats from my former theatre (Newcastle) were installed in the front circle.
This theatre was chosen as the venue for the 3D films which were all the rage in the mid 1950’s. The Kings' box office record was broken for all time with ‘The House of Wax'in 1953…….
The large neon EDEN fin sign on the front of house was very distinctive and below it was another neon sign which incorporated two arrows one pointing south (“TO THE HIPP”) the other pointing north (“TO THE KINGS). Brilliant marketing there!
It was one of the theatres commissioned by the famous entrepreneur, Signor Pepi:–
He started building a chain of theatres. After Barrow came Blackpool(acquired by ABC as the Hippodrome and rebuilt in 1963 as the ABC – ‘Europe’s most luxurious theatre’ and from where many lavish live shows were televised) and then Carlisle. Then, early in 1907, in partnership with the Birmingham theatre specialist George Ward, he began work on an “Opera House and Empire” on some recently-cleared land in Parkgate, Darlington.
Within seven months, the theatre was complete and, named the New Hippodrome and Palace Theatre of Varieties, it opened on September 2.
Even as Pepi received the opening night acclaim, building was beginning on another of his hippodromes, this one in Middlesbrough, on top of an old Quaker burial ground.
After Middlesbrough came Bishop Auckland Hippodrome in 1909 followed by Shildon in 1910.
But even as it was growing, Pepi’s empire was crumbling at its peripheries. He sold off Middlesbrough after just eight months, losing £10,000 in the process. Shildon lasted a year, its disposal coinciding with the Bishop Auckland Hippodrome being declared bankrupt in 1911.
By the outbreak of the First World War, our principal character owned just two theatres: Darlington and Barrow. To make matters worse, on December 7, 1915, his wife Mary, Countess de Rossetti, died at their modest mid-terrace home in Barrow. She was only 46.
It closed in 1961 and in 1966 the front of the premises (ie the arcade , cafe etc) was converted to a Broughs supermarket with most if not all of the auditorium behind being demolished; for years a side elevation remained with typical olde worlde cinema decor still on it.
I don’t know anything about the Kings Auction Room, but the last time I visited the town of my birth and Grammar School days (King James I School where a certain boy to become known as Stan Laurel had attended), in November 2004, the front of the Kings was still there with the original cafe windows etc (although minus the sandstone motifs at the top which were removed in 1966) and the entrance doors led to – guess what – a supermarket
It actually closed (as a cinema) in 1964 and went straight to Bingo (leased to Lucky 7 by owners ,Essoldo and not operated by them). When the Essoldo converted to bingo in 1966, this was actually run by the Essoldo company who declared that they were going to return the Eden to cinema use when the lease to Lucky 7 expired. There was a notice to this effect on the Eden front of house for years, but it was never again to show a film or present a live show.
It closed in 1969 together with the Essoldos in Crook and Spennymoor; the Manager, Mr C Watson, whom I got to know quite well in later years (he went to manage the very busy Durham Essoldo after Shildon) told me that he and the Managers of the other two doomed cinemas received telephone calls from Head Office advising that “You are closing next Saturday!”. Typical of Essoldo!
The Hippodrome had been a Blacks' theatre at one time, but for most of its life it was owned and operated by the Middlesbrough based Thompsons Enterprises (aka North of England Cinemas)and this was the Company who operated it when it closed in late Summer 1962 with the Shildon Amateur Operatic Society stage production of ‘The Desert Song’
It was a very large building (stadium plan) for the size of the town and whilst it could not be described as elaborate, it had a big cinema feel to it and the cinemascope screen was impressive. I saw ‘King of Kings’ (Jeffrey Hunter) and ‘The Young Ones’ (Cliff Richard) there, amongst others. I also remember well its fancy ‘house tabs’ which had theatrical style satin stripes at the foot of them and the projectionists had a habit of showing the BBFC Certificate (a practice frowned upon by the BBFC) onto them!
My sister’s father-in-law ( a well known citizen of the town who owned the main joinery business and was also the Master of the Town Band)lived close to the Hippodrome and he could not resist having a peek inside the building as the demolition team moved in in 1996.
Surprisingly, for its vintage it was steel framed and the demolition squad said that the building was so well constructed that it would have stood for another 100 years even in its neglected condition.
What a great pity that Shildon Council did not save the place for use as a multi purpose auditorium………they also flattened the Essoldo which was originally a Mechanics' Institute built by the Stockton and Darlington Railway, no less! What is Shildon’s pride and joy these days? Locomotion, part of The National Railway Museum. In Timothy Hackworth’s house (Hackworth was a contemporary of George Stephenson)there is a section devoted to the town’s cinemas including huge photos of the Hippodrome which was showing ‘A Kind of Loving’ at the time.
I followed Richard Roper into Huddersfield as A/M and knew a lot of the people mentioned; am still frequently in touch with John McIntosh (ABC Wigan), Frank Chambers (ABC Leeds – before Dave Riby) and, until recently, my very good friend, Brett Childes (Odeon Sunderland) who passed away on October 04.
I went on to manage ABC’s theatres in South Shields, Chester, Newcastle upon Tyne (Haymarket AND Westgate Road) and Darlington; sadly,the latter appointment was as a result of Cannon’s strategic withdrawal -true to form – from that city, when Odeon and Warner Bros were left to fight for supremacy; I am pleased to say that Odeon won when they moved to ‘The Gate'development, although that has since become the 'Empire'following the M&M’s intervention upon the Odeon/UCI and Cineworld/UGC mergers………all so complicated!
Pleased to hear that you are with Odeon, Dave Speirs.
They have to be much more professional than ABC’s earlier acquisitors,namely Cannon, could ever have hoped to be.
In 1991, I was ‘tipped the wink’ by Tony Ramsden, Rank’s then Theatre Operations Manager, that they were ready to acquire and operate the ABC Darlington and his secretary said “well, when we take over you’ll be ok Terry because you’ll be on our area”.
You can imagine my disappointment when this did not, after all, come to fruition and I had to face the prospect of continuing to work for that organisation which I did (and still do) regard with the utmost disdain and contempt.
Whatever the business is like these days (the evaporation of the ‘magic’ and all), I am sure that you are with the best of a bad bunch!
Since compiling the above profile I have found copies of the opening souvenir brochures for the Haymarket both in its original form in 1933 and the super enlarged version of 1936.
The architects on both occasions were Dixon and Bell of Newcastle Upon Tyne and the opening presentation at the theatre’s re-launch on August 31st 1936 was M-G-M’s ‘A NIGHT AT THE OPERA’ starring The Marx Brothers.
There is a page near the back of the 1936 brochure with the following announcement:–
“Do you know that Associated British Cinemas broadcast a programme of latest film news every week from the following stations:–
Poste Parisiene……….Every Saturday Night at 11 p.m.
Radio Normandy………Every Monday Morning at 9.30 a.m.
This Broadcast is of particular interest to Haymarket Patrons as it gives you information about some of the films which will be coming to this theatre"
Yes, I can just imagine that most citizens of Newcastle Upon Tyne would have been avid listeners of the aforementioned FRENCH radio stations…
THE APOLLO WAS AN ABC THEATRE FROM 1943 – 1977 AND WAS FOR MANY YEARS ONE OF THE COMPANY’S MOST IMPORTANT LIVE VENUES, HAVING A VERY LARGE STAGE AND EXTENSIVE DRESSING ROOM FACILITIES. IT IS FEATURED IN MANY PATHE NEWSREELS FOR SHOWS SUCH AS THE BEATLES AND THE ROLLING STONES (PATHE NEWS BEING AN ASSOCIATED BRITISH SUBSIDIARY) AND SHOWS WERE FREQUENTLY TELEVISED THERE AS ABC TELEVISION WAS BASED IN MANCHESTER.
SORRY, BUT THE INFO ON FILE RE THE ABC EDINBURGH IS INACCURATE.
OPENED BY ASSOCIATED BRITISH CINEMAS IN 1938 WITH 2769 SEATS (1086 IN THE CIRCLE, 1683 IN THE STALLS), IT INCLUDED FULL STAGE FACILITIES WHICH WERE USED FOR NUMBER ONE PRESENTATIONS UNTIL 1969. ORIGINALLY NAMED REGAL (ONE OF ABC’S PREFERRED NAMES FOR ITS THEATRES), IT CHANGED TO SIMPLY THE ABC IN 1961. TRIPLED AT A COST OF £500 000 IN 1969 (A FORTUNE THEN), IT WAS THE FIRST SUCH CONVERSION IN EUROPE AND ITS NEW CAPACITIES WERE 870, 738 AND 318 (STILL LARGE). THE COMPLEX HAD TWO LARGE LICENSED BARS AS WELL AS 70MM FACILITIES IN THE TWO LARGEST AUDITORIA. CLOSED BY ODEON IN 2001 (THEY HAD THEIR OWN THEATRE ON CLERK STREET), A 4 SCREEN ‘MINIPLEX ’ IS HOUSED IN THE BASEMENT OF THE NEW OFFICE DEVELOPMENT NOW OCCUPYING THESITE. THIS WOULD NOT EXIST BUT FOR A COVENANT ON THE BUILDING WHICH STIPULATED THAT ANY NEW DEVELOPMENT MUST INCORPORATE A CINEMA. BUT FOR THIS, ODEON WOULD SURELY NOT HAVE BOTHERED AS EDINBURGH IS RAPIDLY BECOMING (LIKE MANY PARTS OF THE UK) VASTLY OVERSCREENED. HOPE THIS INFO IS HELPUL. TERRY CHARNOCK
The cinemas on Teesside ranked in size as follows:–
1) ABC (Globe) Stockton:2429 seats (the circle alone seated 1188).
2) Hippodrome Middlesbrough (a GB house):2296 seats
3) Odeon(Regal)Stockton:2082 seats
4) ABC (Elite) Middlesbrough:1843 seats
5) Odeon Middlesbrough: 1761 seats
Therefore, the Odeon Middlesbrough ranked 5th largest when using seating capacity as the yardstick as opposed to the size of the sites. The 2 ABC’s and the Hippodrome,having deep stages (with fly towers),most probably were still the 3 largest buildings by site size.
The Odeons Stockton and Middlebrough had shallow stages and no flies, although the original Odeon Stockton did ‘muscle in’ with live shows in the 1960’s along with the ABC (Globe) and the Essoldo/Hippodrome Stockton.
Strange that 3 Stockton cinemas had frequent live shows and yet the cinemas in neighbouring (and larger) Middlesbrough did not.
I used to do relief stints at the ABC prior to its conversion and it was 100% ABC design throughout with no ‘Union’ features at all. The plans had the architect’s name logged thereon:William R Glen – ABC’s ‘in house’ architect.
This was the only ABC in the North East designed by him; all other purpose builds were by Percy L Brown of Hartlepool. There were many other acquired theatres in the North East which became part of the vast Associated British Corporation.
The ‘twinning’ was carried out using most of the circle for screen 1( 550 seats with a new screen and tabs positioned forward of the ballustrade; rows A, B & C of the front circle were lost in the process). Screen 2 (212 seats)occupied the actors' left section of the rear stalls and the public house occupied the length of the stalls at actors' right.
I spent a short time as Assistant Manager here after the twinning and, in addition to the loss of the ‘big cinema’ atmosphere, the foyers also lost their style and grandeur by being boxed in and reduced vastly in size – such was ‘progress’ in the 1970’s
There was a third ‘sister’ Majestic theatre in West Hartlepool (now simply Hartlepool); the Head Office for all three (Bishop Auckland, Darlington and Hartlepool)was in High Row, Darlington.
Not all the side walls of the Theatre Royal were retained, as in order to widen the building, it was necessary to demolish the south elevation.
The circle originally seated 628 and was reduced to 590 in 1977 when the built out section from the circle (to accommodate the screen areas of the 2 minis below) encroached upon the sightlines; so the front row of the circle was removed.The 590 seats were reduced to 578 when I was manager there and some larger seats from my former theatre (Newcastle) were installed in the front circle.
This theatre was chosen as the venue for the 3D films which were all the rage in the mid 1950’s. The Kings' box office record was broken for all time with ‘The House of Wax'in 1953…….
The large neon EDEN fin sign on the front of house was very distinctive and below it was another neon sign which incorporated two arrows one pointing south (“TO THE HIPP”) the other pointing north (“TO THE KINGS). Brilliant marketing there!
It was one of the theatres commissioned by the famous entrepreneur, Signor Pepi:–
He started building a chain of theatres. After Barrow came Blackpool(acquired by ABC as the Hippodrome and rebuilt in 1963 as the ABC – ‘Europe’s most luxurious theatre’ and from where many lavish live shows were televised) and then Carlisle. Then, early in 1907, in partnership with the Birmingham theatre specialist George Ward, he began work on an “Opera House and Empire” on some recently-cleared land in Parkgate, Darlington.
Within seven months, the theatre was complete and, named the New Hippodrome and Palace Theatre of Varieties, it opened on September 2.
Even as Pepi received the opening night acclaim, building was beginning on another of his hippodromes, this one in Middlesbrough, on top of an old Quaker burial ground.
After Middlesbrough came Bishop Auckland Hippodrome in 1909 followed by Shildon in 1910.
But even as it was growing, Pepi’s empire was crumbling at its peripheries. He sold off Middlesbrough after just eight months, losing £10,000 in the process. Shildon lasted a year, its disposal coinciding with the Bishop Auckland Hippodrome being declared bankrupt in 1911.
By the outbreak of the First World War, our principal character owned just two theatres: Darlington and Barrow. To make matters worse, on December 7, 1915, his wife Mary, Countess de Rossetti, died at their modest mid-terrace home in Barrow. She was only 46.
The stage is about 30 feet deep and certainly not 48 feet.
The last film to play here in 1966 was ‘Around The World Under The Sea'starring Lloyd Bridges, Shirley Eaton and David McCallum.
It closed in 1961 and in 1966 the front of the premises (ie the arcade , cafe etc) was converted to a Broughs supermarket with most if not all of the auditorium behind being demolished; for years a side elevation remained with typical olde worlde cinema decor still on it.
I don’t know anything about the Kings Auction Room, but the last time I visited the town of my birth and Grammar School days (King James I School where a certain boy to become known as Stan Laurel had attended), in November 2004, the front of the Kings was still there with the original cafe windows etc (although minus the sandstone motifs at the top which were removed in 1966) and the entrance doors led to – guess what – a supermarket
It actually closed (as a cinema) in 1964 and went straight to Bingo (leased to Lucky 7 by owners ,Essoldo and not operated by them). When the Essoldo converted to bingo in 1966, this was actually run by the Essoldo company who declared that they were going to return the Eden to cinema use when the lease to Lucky 7 expired. There was a notice to this effect on the Eden front of house for years, but it was never again to show a film or present a live show.
It closed in 1969 together with the Essoldos in Crook and Spennymoor; the Manager, Mr C Watson, whom I got to know quite well in later years (he went to manage the very busy Durham Essoldo after Shildon) told me that he and the Managers of the other two doomed cinemas received telephone calls from Head Office advising that “You are closing next Saturday!”. Typical of Essoldo!
The Hippodrome had been a Blacks' theatre at one time, but for most of its life it was owned and operated by the Middlesbrough based Thompsons Enterprises (aka North of England Cinemas)and this was the Company who operated it when it closed in late Summer 1962 with the Shildon Amateur Operatic Society stage production of ‘The Desert Song’
It was a very large building (stadium plan) for the size of the town and whilst it could not be described as elaborate, it had a big cinema feel to it and the cinemascope screen was impressive. I saw ‘King of Kings’ (Jeffrey Hunter) and ‘The Young Ones’ (Cliff Richard) there, amongst others. I also remember well its fancy ‘house tabs’ which had theatrical style satin stripes at the foot of them and the projectionists had a habit of showing the BBFC Certificate (a practice frowned upon by the BBFC) onto them!
My sister’s father-in-law ( a well known citizen of the town who owned the main joinery business and was also the Master of the Town Band)lived close to the Hippodrome and he could not resist having a peek inside the building as the demolition team moved in in 1996.
Surprisingly, for its vintage it was steel framed and the demolition squad said that the building was so well constructed that it would have stood for another 100 years even in its neglected condition.
What a great pity that Shildon Council did not save the place for use as a multi purpose auditorium………they also flattened the Essoldo which was originally a Mechanics' Institute built by the Stockton and Darlington Railway, no less! What is Shildon’s pride and joy these days? Locomotion, part of The National Railway Museum. In Timothy Hackworth’s house (Hackworth was a contemporary of George Stephenson)there is a section devoted to the town’s cinemas including huge photos of the Hippodrome which was showing ‘A Kind of Loving’ at the time.
I followed Richard Roper into Huddersfield as A/M and knew a lot of the people mentioned; am still frequently in touch with John McIntosh (ABC Wigan), Frank Chambers (ABC Leeds – before Dave Riby) and, until recently, my very good friend, Brett Childes (Odeon Sunderland) who passed away on October 04.
I went on to manage ABC’s theatres in South Shields, Chester, Newcastle upon Tyne (Haymarket AND Westgate Road) and Darlington; sadly,the latter appointment was as a result of Cannon’s strategic withdrawal -true to form – from that city, when Odeon and Warner Bros were left to fight for supremacy; I am pleased to say that Odeon won when they moved to ‘The Gate'development, although that has since become the 'Empire'following the M&M’s intervention upon the Odeon/UCI and Cineworld/UGC mergers………all so complicated!
Pleased to hear that you are with Odeon, Dave Speirs.
They have to be much more professional than ABC’s earlier acquisitors,namely Cannon, could ever have hoped to be.
In 1991, I was ‘tipped the wink’ by Tony Ramsden, Rank’s then Theatre Operations Manager, that they were ready to acquire and operate the ABC Darlington and his secretary said “well, when we take over you’ll be ok Terry because you’ll be on our area”.
You can imagine my disappointment when this did not, after all, come to fruition and I had to face the prospect of continuing to work for that organisation which I did (and still do) regard with the utmost disdain and contempt.
Whatever the business is like these days (the evaporation of the ‘magic’ and all), I am sure that you are with the best of a bad bunch!
TERRY CHARNOCK
Since compiling the above profile I have found copies of the opening souvenir brochures for the Haymarket both in its original form in 1933 and the super enlarged version of 1936.
The architects on both occasions were Dixon and Bell of Newcastle Upon Tyne and the opening presentation at the theatre’s re-launch on August 31st 1936 was M-G-M’s ‘A NIGHT AT THE OPERA’ starring The Marx Brothers.
There is a page near the back of the 1936 brochure with the following announcement:–
“Do you know that Associated British Cinemas broadcast a programme of latest film news every week from the following stations:–
Poste Parisiene……….Every Saturday Night at 11 p.m.
Radio Normandy………Every Monday Morning at 9.30 a.m.
This Broadcast is of particular interest to Haymarket Patrons as it gives you information about some of the films which will be coming to this theatre"
Yes, I can just imagine that most citizens of Newcastle Upon Tyne would have been avid listeners of the aforementioned FRENCH radio stations…
THE APOLLO WAS AN ABC THEATRE FROM 1943 – 1977 AND WAS FOR MANY YEARS ONE OF THE COMPANY’S MOST IMPORTANT LIVE VENUES, HAVING A VERY LARGE STAGE AND EXTENSIVE DRESSING ROOM FACILITIES. IT IS FEATURED IN MANY PATHE NEWSREELS FOR SHOWS SUCH AS THE BEATLES AND THE ROLLING STONES (PATHE NEWS BEING AN ASSOCIATED BRITISH SUBSIDIARY) AND SHOWS WERE FREQUENTLY TELEVISED THERE AS ABC TELEVISION WAS BASED IN MANCHESTER.
TERRY CHARNOCK
SORRY, BUT THE INFO ON FILE RE THE ABC EDINBURGH IS INACCURATE.
OPENED BY ASSOCIATED BRITISH CINEMAS IN 1938 WITH 2769 SEATS (1086 IN THE CIRCLE, 1683 IN THE STALLS), IT INCLUDED FULL STAGE FACILITIES WHICH WERE USED FOR NUMBER ONE PRESENTATIONS UNTIL 1969. ORIGINALLY NAMED REGAL (ONE OF ABC’S PREFERRED NAMES FOR ITS THEATRES), IT CHANGED TO SIMPLY THE ABC IN 1961. TRIPLED AT A COST OF £500 000 IN 1969 (A FORTUNE THEN), IT WAS THE FIRST SUCH CONVERSION IN EUROPE AND ITS NEW CAPACITIES WERE 870, 738 AND 318 (STILL LARGE). THE COMPLEX HAD TWO LARGE LICENSED BARS AS WELL AS 70MM FACILITIES IN THE TWO LARGEST AUDITORIA. CLOSED BY ODEON IN 2001 (THEY HAD THEIR OWN THEATRE ON CLERK STREET), A 4 SCREEN ‘MINIPLEX ’ IS HOUSED IN THE BASEMENT OF THE NEW OFFICE DEVELOPMENT NOW OCCUPYING THESITE. THIS WOULD NOT EXIST BUT FOR A COVENANT ON THE BUILDING WHICH STIPULATED THAT ANY NEW DEVELOPMENT MUST INCORPORATE A CINEMA. BUT FOR THIS, ODEON WOULD SURELY NOT HAVE BOTHERED AS EDINBURGH IS RAPIDLY BECOMING (LIKE MANY PARTS OF THE UK) VASTLY OVERSCREENED. HOPE THIS INFO IS HELPUL. TERRY CHARNOCK