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==History== |
==History== |
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[[File:Leodis-ID-2018414 176580.jpeg|left|frame|'''On the left is the Rothwell Empire Cinema.'''<br/> By kind permission of Leeds Libraries, Leodis.net.]] |
[[File:Leodis-ID-2018414 176580.jpeg|left|frame|'''On the left is the Rothwell Empire Cinema.'''<br/> By kind permission of Leeds Libraries, [https://www.leodis.net/viewimage/122720 Leodis.net].]] |
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The Rothwell Empire Cinema opened on the 8th May 1913 with a capacity of over 650. The opening was attended by local dignitaries, including councillors and clergy. The first manager was J. Maurice Woffenden.<ref>(The Bioscope, 1913)</ref> The price of a ticket in 1913 was 2d., 4d. or 6d. for adults and half price for children, expect for 2d. seats.<ref>(Skyrack Courier, 1913)</ref> In 2017, those prices would equate to approximately £0.65, £1.30 and £1.95.<ref>(Currency converter: 1270–2017, no date)</ref> |
The Rothwell Empire Cinema opened on the 8th May 1913 with a capacity of over 650. The opening was attended by local dignitaries, including councillors and clergy. The first manager was J. Maurice Woffenden.<ref>(The Bioscope, 1913)</ref> The price of a ticket in 1913 was 2d., 4d. or 6d. for adults and half price for children, expect for 2d. seats.<ref>(Skyrack Courier, 1913)</ref> In 2017, those prices would equate to approximately £0.65, £1.30 and £1.95.<ref>(Currency converter: 1270–2017, no date)</ref> |
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Revision as of 22:23, 25 May 2024
The Rothwell Empire Cinema was a cinema that opened on 8th May 1913. The cinema closed between 1933 and 1935.
By October 1935, the cinema had been converted into the Empire Ballroom and was given a new modern façade. It was replaced by Blackburn Hall in 1959, which is now a community theatre and centre with a flat floored auditorium and new stage constructed behind the former screen proscenium.
History
By kind permission of Leeds Libraries, Leodis.net.
The Rothwell Empire Cinema opened on the 8th May 1913 with a capacity of over 650. The opening was attended by local dignitaries, including councillors and clergy. The first manager was J. Maurice Woffenden.[1] The price of a ticket in 1913 was 2d., 4d. or 6d. for adults and half price for children, expect for 2d. seats.[2] In 2017, those prices would equate to approximately £0.65, £1.30 and £1.95.[3]
On the 3rd May 1932, the manager of Rothwell Empire Cinema, Frederick William Taylor, was found dead in the cinema. The cinema had temporarily closed the prior Monday and Taylor was due to meet staff members at the Empire to settle various matters, however they found the Empire locked. Taylor did not return home and the cinema operator alerted the police. The police forced their way into the Empire and found Taylor lying next to a tube with a gas tap turned on.[4] An inquest ruled his death a suicide, caused by a fit of depression. It was noted that he had been worried about the cinema being closed the prior week.[5]
The cinema was operated by the Rothwell Empire Ltd,[6] which also operated the Outwood Empire Cinema.[7] The company still operated the cinema until at least 1931[8] but by 1933 Rothwell Public Service Ltd operated the Rothwell Empire Cinema.[9]
The cinema closed sometime between 1933 and 1935 as it is listed in the Kinematograph Year Book for 1933[10] but is listed as closed in the 1935 year book.[11]
Empire Ballroom
The Rothwell Empire Cinema was known as the Empire Ballroom by 29th October 1935, when the Yorkshire Post reported that Viscount Halifax would speak at the Empire Ballroom the next evening in favour of general election candidate Gwendoline Beaumont.[12]
Blackburn Hall
See main article: Blackburn Hall
References
- ↑ (The Bioscope, 1913)
- ↑ (Skyrack Courier, 1913)
- ↑ (Currency converter: 1270–2017, no date)
- ↑ (Yorkshire Evening Post, 1932)
- ↑ (Kinematograph Weekly, 1932)
- ↑ (1920 Kinematograph Year Book and Directory, 1919, p.309)
- ↑ (Hooley, no date)
- ↑ (1931 Kinematograph Year Book, 1931, p.450)
- ↑ (1933 Kinematograph Year Book, 1933, p.495)
- ↑ (1933 Kinematograph Year Book, 1933, p.495)
- ↑ (1935 Kinematograph Year Book, 1935, p.546)
- ↑ (Yorkshire Post, 1935)
- 1920 Kinematograph Year Book and Directory (1919). London: Kinematograph Publications Ltd. Available at: http://archive.org/details/1920-kinematograph-year-book (Accessed: 25 May 2024).
- 1931 Kinematograph Year Book (1931). London: Kinematograph Publications Ltd. Available at: http://archive.org/details/kinematographyea1931kine (Accessed: 25 May 2024).
- 1933 Kinematograph Year Book (1933). London: Kinematograph Publications Ltd. Available at: http://archive.org/details/kinematographyea00kine (Accessed: 25 May 2024).
- 1935 Kinematograph Year Book (1935). London: Kinematograph Publications Ltd. Available at: http://archive.org/details/kinematographyea22unse (Accessed: 25 May 2024).
- The Bioscope (1913) ‘A Recent Rothwell Opening’, 29 May, p. 613.
- Currency converter: 1270–2017 (no date) The National Archives. Available at: https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/ (Accessed: 25 May 2024).
- Hooley, M. (no date) The Story Of Outwood Empire, Outwood Community Video. Available at: https://outwoodcommunityvideo.co.uk/the-story-of-outwood-empire-2.html (Accessed: 25 May 2024).
- Kinematograph Weekly (1932) ‘Rothwell Manager’s Suicide’, 12 May, no. 1308, vol. 183, p. 20.
- Skyrack Courier (1913) ‘The Empire, Tram Terminus, Rothwell’, 20 June, p. 4.
- Yorkshire Evening Post (1932) ‘Manager Dead in Cinema’, 3 May, p. 9.
- Yorkshire Post (1935) ‘Viscount Halifax at Rothwell’, 29 October, p. 12.