Former Carlton/ABC Tuebrook cinema, 1 Green Lane/West Derby Road, Tuebrook, Liverpool 13. 18 May 2016.
Plans were first prepared for a cinema on this site in February 1930. (This was the site of Tue Brook House, a Georgian mansion, not to be confused with an even older Tue Brook House which still stands nearby). The cinema was to have had 2,700 seats, which would have made it Merseyside's largest. However, the plans were withdrawn, and a revised scheme was submitted in May 1930 of a £100,000 "Kinema" for the Carlton Entertainments Ltd, by the secretary R. Duncan French of 14 North John Street. The architect was A. Ernest Shennan, also of the same address. There would be a total seating capacity of 2,284, and an organ was to be provided.
However, work wasn't started on the above scheme and fresh plans were submitted in July 1931. The cinema was built by Charles J. Doyle from 27 July 1931 and the work was officially finished on 28 May 1932. The promoters and architect were as before, but the seating capacity was now 1,988. 1,298 seats in the auditorium and 690 in the balcony. There was an organ chamber and orchestra space. A "tea room", capable of accommodating 110 was over the entrance foyer. It was one of the first of Liverpool's cinemas to have a car park.
The Carlton was opened on Saturday, 11 June 1932 by the Lord Mayor, J. C. Cross, and the invited audience that afternoon saw the film "My Wife's Family" starring Gene Gerrard. The general public were not admitted until the evening. "Over the Hill" starring Mae Marsh was the film chosen for the following week when the "Mighty Christie Organ" was played by James N Bell who "Rendered Delightful Musical Interludes". The evening prices ranged from 7d to 1/6, and matinees were only 4d, 5d & 7d.
The manager was Samuel Arthur Eaton who was to manage various Liverpool cinemas for over forty years. Before the First World War he had been at the Palladium in West Derby Road. He managed the Belmont Picture House for over ten years immediately before he went to the Carlton. He was later at the Curzon in Old Swan until the mid 1950s.
Robert Duncan French was described as the secretary. He was the secretary of William Gordon's circuit of cinemas, but it isn't clear if the Carlton was built for Mr Gordon. (At the opening ceremony it was said that the Carlton was "a non-combine, locally owned, 100% British super cinema".) Mr French was connected with other cinemas in Liverpool (and elsewhere) including the Majestic (1914); the Tunnel Road Picturedrome (1914); and the Grosvenor (1922). He was also named on plans of proposed cinemas which weren't built:- the corner of Belvidere Road and Admiral Street (1921); 1-7 Lark Lane (1922); North Hill Street (1928) and Woolton Road, near Allerton station (1938).
In 1932 an official count of the seats revealed that they were less than had been claimed. There was a total of 1,912 seats, 1,552 in the stalls and 660 in the balcony. This still made the Carlton the second largest purpose-built cinema in Liverpool at the time (after the Commodore in Bankhall with 1,966 seats). When the Paramount in the city centre opened in 1934 with 2,670 seats, the Carlton became the third largest.
The Carlton had been taken over by ABC in 1935.
The side of the cinema facing the car park was completely flat. It was almost as if an extension had been contemplated, and in 1961 an ABC Bowling Centre was built on to the cinema. The building dates were from May 1961 to February 1962 and it was officially opened on 28 January 1962.
The Carlton was then renamed the ABC Tuebrook in January 1963.
www.cinema-organs.org.uk/venues/gordon-craig-theatre/
In 1972 the cinema was modernised and the rear of the stalls was converted into the Painted Wagon pub (later the Lord Derby, then Lords. The ceiling was very low). At the same time the Bowling Alley next door was converted into the Castaways night-club (later the Coconut Grove).
The ABC closed in July 1980 and was then taken over by an independent operator (D J S Lambert) who renamed it the Carlton. It was (and still is) unusual for a major cinema circuit not to put a Restrictive Covenant on the building, preventing it from being reopened as a cinema. The seating capacity was then only 636, with just the balcony being used. The Carlton came to an abrupt end on 4 December 1982 when a sign pinned to the door said that it was "closed for alterations". The last films had been "Cat People" (X), plus "Death Valley" (X). The doors were soon boarded up and the cinema has remained closed. The pub and the night club remained open.
The night club later closed and then the pub.
Demolition has been "imminent" for donkey's years, following various fires, especially in the night club part.
Demolition finally started in May 2016 (or so we thought*).
"Housing" is planned for the site, although there are no definite details.
Will it become yet another empty site where once stood a cinema?
Like the Bedford, the Astoria and the Trocadero/Gaumont, and the Ritz in Birkenhead.
Original research by Philip G Mayer.
*Edit, December 2016.
The scaffolding has been removed, and demolition still hasn't begun.
Former Carlton/ABC Tuebrook cinema, 1 Green Lane/West Derby Road, Tuebrook, Liverpool 13. 18 May 2016.
Plans were first prepared for a cinema on this site in February 1930. (This was the site of Tue Brook House, a Georgian mansion, not to be confused with an even older Tue Brook House which still stands nearby). The cinema was to have had 2,700 seats, which would have made it Merseyside's largest. However, the plans were withdrawn, and a revised scheme was submitted in May 1930 of a £100,000 "Kinema" for the Carlton Entertainments Ltd, by the secretary R. Duncan French of 14 North John Street. The architect was A. Ernest Shennan, also of the same address. There would be a total seating capacity of 2,284, and an organ was to be provided.
However, work wasn't started on the above scheme and fresh plans were submitted in July 1931. The cinema was built by Charles J. Doyle from 27 July 1931 and the work was officially finished on 28 May 1932. The promoters and architect were as before, but the seating capacity was now 1,988. 1,298 seats in the auditorium and 690 in the balcony. There was an organ chamber and orchestra space. A "tea room", capable of accommodating 110 was over the entrance foyer. It was one of the first of Liverpool's cinemas to have a car park.
The Carlton was opened on Saturday, 11 June 1932 by the Lord Mayor, J. C. Cross, and the invited audience that afternoon saw the film "My Wife's Family" starring Gene Gerrard. The general public were not admitted until the evening. "Over the Hill" starring Mae Marsh was the film chosen for the following week when the "Mighty Christie Organ" was played by James N Bell who "Rendered Delightful Musical Interludes". The evening prices ranged from 7d to 1/6, and matinees were only 4d, 5d & 7d.
The manager was Samuel Arthur Eaton who was to manage various Liverpool cinemas for over forty years. Before the First World War he had been at the Palladium in West Derby Road. He managed the Belmont Picture House for over ten years immediately before he went to the Carlton. He was later at the Curzon in Old Swan until the mid 1950s.
Robert Duncan French was described as the secretary. He was the secretary of William Gordon's circuit of cinemas, but it isn't clear if the Carlton was built for Mr Gordon. (At the opening ceremony it was said that the Carlton was "a non-combine, locally owned, 100% British super cinema".) Mr French was connected with other cinemas in Liverpool (and elsewhere) including the Majestic (1914); the Tunnel Road Picturedrome (1914); and the Grosvenor (1922). He was also named on plans of proposed cinemas which weren't built:- the corner of Belvidere Road and Admiral Street (1921); 1-7 Lark Lane (1922); North Hill Street (1928) and Woolton Road, near Allerton station (1938).
In 1932 an official count of the seats revealed that they were less than had been claimed. There was a total of 1,912 seats, 1,552 in the stalls and 660 in the balcony. This still made the Carlton the second largest purpose-built cinema in Liverpool at the time (after the Commodore in Bankhall with 1,966 seats). When the Paramount in the city centre opened in 1934 with 2,670 seats, the Carlton became the third largest.
The Carlton had been taken over by ABC in 1935.
The side of the cinema facing the car park was completely flat. It was almost as if an extension had been contemplated, and in 1961 an ABC Bowling Centre was built on to the cinema. The building dates were from May 1961 to February 1962 and it was officially opened on 28 January 1962.
The Carlton was then renamed the ABC Tuebrook in January 1963.
www.cinema-organs.org.uk/venues/gordon-craig-theatre/
In 1972 the cinema was modernised and the rear of the stalls was converted into the Painted Wagon pub (later the Lord Derby, then Lords. The ceiling was very low). At the same time the Bowling Alley next door was converted into the Castaways night-club (later the Coconut Grove).
The ABC closed in July 1980 and was then taken over by an independent operator (D J S Lambert) who renamed it the Carlton. It was (and still is) unusual for a major cinema circuit not to put a Restrictive Covenant on the building, preventing it from being reopened as a cinema. The seating capacity was then only 636, with just the balcony being used. The Carlton came to an abrupt end on 4 December 1982 when a sign pinned to the door said that it was "closed for alterations". The last films had been "Cat People" (X), plus "Death Valley" (X). The doors were soon boarded up and the cinema has remained closed. The pub and the night club remained open.
The night club later closed and then the pub.
Demolition has been "imminent" for donkey's years, following various fires, especially in the night club part.
Demolition finally started in May 2016 (or so we thought*).
"Housing" is planned for the site, although there are no definite details.
Will it become yet another empty site where once stood a cinema?
Like the Bedford, the Astoria and the Trocadero/Gaumont, and the Ritz in Birkenhead.
Original research by Philip G Mayer.
*Edit, December 2016.
The scaffolding has been removed, and demolition still hasn't begun.