Eden Theatre
Newgate Street,
Bishop Auckland,
DL14
Newgate Street,
Bishop Auckland,
DL14
2 people
favorited this theater
Showing 19 comments
Image added to photos section.
Photo uploaded.
The Eden closed on 08 July 1961 but reopened on 14 January 1962, the day after the Kings closed, until final closure on 31 August 1963 in favour of Bingo.
As the film ‘Stan and Ollie’ is on general release, The Northern Echo has published the following interesting article (with a photo gallery) about Stan Laurel and his Bishop Auckland ties.
Yours truly attended his school, King James I and I well remember the nearby Eden Theatre which had been managed (twice) by Stan’s father:–
https://www.thenorthernecho.co.uk/history/17365016.on-the-trail-of-the-youngsome-stan/
A photo of the forlorn looking building prior to demolition in 1974 has been added to the relevant section.
1955 newspaper advert uploaded to photos section.
Posters of the two films showing at the time of the profile photo uploaded to the relevant section.
The Eden Theatre profile photo appeared in an article about Bishop Auckland in the ‘Northern Echo’ many years ago which placed great emphasis on its “big city feel” on market days namely Thursday and Saturday. The cutting was given to me by my dear deceased friend, Brett Childes, a Rank Manager who, following a period as House Manager at the mighty Odeon Newcastle, became Manager of the Odeons Hartlepool and Sunderland respectively. Following the closure of the latter he became Theatre Manager at the Sunderland Empire.
Re the “big city feel” quoted in the article, this was no exaggeration as thousands of shoppers converged upon the town from all the surrounding small towns and villages. Even when cinema audiences were declining and the town’s cinemas had been relegated to ‘evenings only’ venues they still operated on a ‘continuous from 1 pm’ basis on market days (and school holidays).
Sadly, the town has lost that “feel” now and this is not helped by the opening of an ‘out of town’ development at nearby St Helens Auckland which, as a young boy, I remember for its landmark mammoth gasometers and very little else. It is soon to be enhanced by a multiplex cinema, I believe……
Re the photo, I remarked to Brett about the fact that the Eden was showing films at the time which would place it in the very early 1960’s as ‘The Moonraker’ (George Baker, Sylvia Syms) was originally released in 1958 and ‘Tommy The Toreador’(Tommy Steele, Janet Munro) was the ABC Christmas attraction in 1959.
Brett’s dry response was that “Solly Scheckman must have rung Warner-Pathe and asked them what they had for a ‘fiver’ that week!”
Solly Scheckman was the founder of Essoldo Cinemas and Warner Pathe was the film distribution arm of Associated British Picture Corporation (ABPC) who also operated the Associated British Cinemas chain (ABC) and ABC Television (‘The Avengers’, ‘Redcap’, ‘Mystery and Imagination’ etc). The TV Company merged with Rediffusion to become Thames TV with ABC having a controlling interest.
3 photos relating to the theatre site uploaded to the relevant section.
Video footage of Stan Laurel’s niece unveiling a statue of the great man at the site of the Eden Theatre:–
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WcPOGVPdAbM
Slideshow devoted to the Eden Theatre from ‘The History of Bishop Auckland’ website (adjust to full screen) :–
https://www.facebook.com/1688970957995928/videos/1735732943319729/
Auditorium photo uploaded to the relevant section.
Another photo of the historic theatre uploaded to the photos section…..
I have uploaded a 1950 Pantomime Box Office Card to the photos section.
I have uploaded a photo of the side elevation which was not seen from Newgate Street; note the large dressing room block. The building was derelict and ready for demolition when this photo was taken.
Photo of Newgate Street uploaded. If magnified Stan Laurel’s father’s theatre, the Eden can be seen on the left and the Kings almost directly opposite on the right. Note the length of both buildings, in particular the Kings……
The name Eden Theatre is preserved in the Town Hall, where the Theatre/Cinema is called the Eden in memory of the earlier theatre.
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 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.
A photograph of the plaque, commemorating the Eden Theatre:
http://flickr.com/photos/bishopfm/2810545349/