Club Cinema
32 Spencer Street,
Eldon Lane,
DL14 8TL
32 Spencer Street,
Eldon Lane,
DL14 8TL
1 person
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Located in the village of Eldon Lane, three miles southeast of Bishop Auckland, County Durham. The Eldon Lane Working Mens Club was built in 1909 and the top floor began use as a cinema in 1927. Around 1930 it was equipped with an AWH sound system, later replaced by a Western Electric(WE) sound system. The proscenium was 21ft wide.
In 1956 it was equipped with CinemaScope and the proscenium was widened to 37ft. It closed as a cinema in 1962 and it became a ballroom, which closed in the early-1990’s. The building continues in 2021 as the Eldon Lane District Working Mens Club & Institute, but the former cinema/ballroom on the top floor is unused.
Contributed by
Ken Roe
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Recent comments (view all 1 comments)
The Club Cinema, which occupied the top floor of the building, ceased showing films in 1962 (at around the same time as neighbouring Shildon Hippodrome) and became a ballroom operated by the Club.
I understand that during this period the auditorium retained its cinematic appearance with the stage and proscenium, replete with house tabs, intact.
I believe that the ballroom ceased functioning sometime in the 1990’s and that this area remains disused to this very day.