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Nostalgia: Landmark Ashton cinema reaches a 'majestic' milestone

Local authors Philip and David Williams shine the spotlight on Ashton’s first ‘super cinema’.

Seventeen years ago, the old Metro cinema in Ashton closed its doors for the last time (followed by the Amusement arcade in 2011). With all its seating, projection equipment and anything of value being sold off, the building itself was put up for sale as it still remains today. 

Over the years there has been talk of redeveloping the building into a community arts centre with performance areas, rehearsal rooms, dance studio and a café. However, this idea faded when the people behind it found a more suitable venue. So, today the building though empty and neglected still stands as stately as it did on opening 100 years ago on April 22.

It was originally built for Dukinfield man William Bowker Holt who sold it prior to its planned opening date to a fast-growing national company ‘Provincial Cinematograph Theatres Ltd’ (PCT). 

Designed by the St. Anne’s-on-Sea architect Arnold England the building was constructed by James Green Builders of Ashton.

Under the name of the ‘Majestic’ the picture house opened to the public on April 22, 1920 and was classed as the town’s first super cinema. As this was still the period of silent films most picture houses at this time employed a pianist to accompany them and also to entertain the patrons. 

However, at the Majestic things were done on a bigger scale. Its owner PCT not only engaged a musician to play the impressive pipe organ but also introduced an orchestra to cater for the varied musical tastes of their audiences. A further innovation within the Majestic was the inclusion of a separate tea room and cafe on the upper floor. Dance evenings were also introduced when a pianist would entertain the patrons prior to the orchestra completing their film accompaniment duties. These dances would end on the stroke of midnight long after the evening’s film presentation had finished. 

Over the years the cinema continued to develop and embrace new innovations – it was the first to introduce sound films to Ashton in 1929 – though it would eventually be modern technology and the influx of multiplex cinemas which were to play a major role in its subsequent demise.

As much as we all enjoy the choice of 14 screens and the slick American model offered in this digital age at the Ashton Cineworld, there are many people who will never forget when a visit to the cinema was quite a different experience to that of today. The Old Street building being steeped in so much history must still hold many memories for generations of Tameside film-goers.

Sitting recently on one of the benches opposite the still impressive looking former Metro building we reminisced of past visits. Of how we had to queue to get in with crowds sometimes stretching way down the side street.  

Then, once inside the foyer at the paybox it was time to choose where to sit, in the stalls downstairs or in the upstairs circle.

The cheapest stalls seats were at the front where you would often get a crick in the neck from looking up at the screen, while the rear stalls were the most expensive and where the back row was invariably occupied by courting couples. The upstairs circle seats cost a little more but did offer more comfort and leg room. Before heading for our seats, we would survey the choice of confectionary on offer at the kiosk. What would we choose? Perhaps a box of Payne’s Poppets, a bag of Welch’s sweets, or a bag of Butterkist - this was a time when popcorn was sold in small packets and not buckets. Of course, we would also need a drink, which meant a plastic carton of Kia-ora orange juice - the only drink you could buy at the cinema at this time. 

A doorman or attendant looking resplendent in his uniform and peaked cap was usually on hand to greet the patrons. On entering the auditorium, an usherette would tear our tickets with half being returned. The other half she speared with a long needle threading it onto a long piece of string. If the film had already started the usherette would guide you to a seat with the aid of her torch.

Although, only a single screen the cinema would show the films continuously throughout the day, so if a film was already running when you arrived you could sit through everything only leaving when the film reached the point you first entered… quite often you’d hear the phrase “this is where we came in” as people left their seats.

Once seated one could not fail to notice the splendid looking auditorium and the velvet curtains fronting the screen which would open and close at the beginning and end of every film. 

The usual programme would consist of a main feature along with a ‘B’ picture. These were typically British low-budget hour-long films often with unknown actors. Up until 1959 the Gaumont (as the Majestic had become in 1946) also included in its programme newsreels from ‘Gaumont British News’ or ‘Universal News’ however, these were superseded by ‘Look at Life’ a semi-documentary series of ten-minute featurettes. 

Another integral part of the cinematic experience were the trailers for upcoming films designed to lure us back the following week. There was also the advertising, not just for national products but also the quirky ones showcasing local businesses, like restaurants, furniture shops and taxis. 

During the intermission the ice cream sales lady would walk up and down the aisles with a selection of ices on her tray. This was also a time when smoking was still allowed in cinemas with each seat having a little metal ash tray fastened to its back. 

The air in the auditorium could be quite hazy and as the cigarette smoke hit the beam of light coming down from projector it created swirling patterns in its glow.

Our earliest recollections of entering the grandiose building came during the late 1950s when it was still known as the Gaumont.

Like many children at the time we queued outside every Saturday morning awaiting entry to the cinema’s ‘Children’s Club’. The first of these Gaumont British or GB Clubs as they were originally known had begun in Ashton in 1948. Every Saturday followed the same pattern, when what seemed like hundreds of noisy children rushed into the auditorium. The noise reached a crescendo when the manager walked onto the stage accompanied by an assistant who played the piano accordion. He would announce various birthdays and we’d all sing ‘Happy Birthday to You’. He also introduced occasional competitions and guests – a popular one being the expert who displayed his skills with a yo-yo. Then just before the pictures started came the club song… how many can still remember it we wonder.

We come along on Saturday morning,

greeting everybody with a smile

We come along on Saturday morning,

knowing it’s well worthwhile

As members of the GB club, (later becoming ‘members of the Odeon club’,)

we all intend to be

Good citizens when we grow up,

and champions of the free,

We come along on Saturday morning,

greeting everybody with a smile, smile, smile

Greeting everybody with a smile.

These children’s shows always opened with a cartoon and as soon as it hit the screen and the cheers died down, we were transported to a different world… lost in the antics of Laurel and Hardy, George Formby, Will Hay or The Little Rascals (Our Gang). There were of course the serials like ‘Flash Gordon’, ‘King of the Rocket Men’ or ‘Batman’ with their cliff-hanger endings to make sure we returned the next week. There were films featuring old cowboys like ‘Hopalong Cassidy’ and ‘Roy Rogers’ or even the exploits of ‘Zorro’. All of which had the effect of seeing children let loose at the end of the shows running down the street slapping their thighs in pretence of riding a horse and shooting imaginary guns. Occasionally, there would be a film from some old British music hall stars like Norman Evans or Frank Randle. Names that meant nothing to us at the time but little did we know then that they would become the subject of several books we were destined to write.

1960s cinema saw an upsurge in pop films aimed at a teenage audience, and we remember several being screened at the Odeon (so renamed in 1962). These included several from Elvis Presley – whose first films came in the 1950s, but those that made the biggest impact were from the Beatles. Their first appearance on the Odeon screen came with ‘A Hard Day’s Night’ in 1964 followed a year later with ‘Help’ and then ‘Yellow Submarine’ in 1968. These films showed the fab four at their best capturing the spirit of youth, 60s pop culture and Beatlemania. 

At the start of the 1960s the Odeon was one of five Ashton cinemas still operating but with fast dwindling audiences this figure was down to two by the end of the decade. The continued decline in attendances eventually brought the closure of the ABC Cinema on April 5, 1975 – 45 years ago this month. However, even without any local competition the Odeon was still finding it difficult to entice people through its doors. By the 1980s cinema business at the Odeon was in free fall and in June 1981 the owners Rank put the building up for sale.

Local businessman John Downs took over the lease in November 1981 on a five-year lease. The building under the new name of the Metro opened to the public on November 6th. By June 1985 business had improved so much that Mr Downs, with 12months of his lease still to run purchased the building outright. 

Unfortunately, although the remainder of the 1980s saw the Metro attracting good audiences this was not to continue. By the mid-1990s the cinema was facing troubled times. The dawn of the new millennium brought doubts about the cinema’s future. News of a multi-screened complex being built in Ashton eventually sealed its fate. Twelve-weeks before the opening of Cineworld the Metro closed its doors on film exhibition for the final time.

This month in its 100th year the splendid old building though deserted still stands proudly awaiting its fate.  The story of Ashton’s cinemas and cinema business is fully documented in ‘Flickering Memories: From Fleapit to Multiplex’, by Philip and David Williams. 

‘Flickering Memories’ was originally published in 1995 by Tameside Libraries at a time when the Metro Cinema on Old Street was still operating and when seasons of films were still being screened at the Tameside Hippodrome. This new revised edition, the second in the series ‘Entertaining Ashton’, continues the story of these once popular venues up to their respective closures. The book also provides additional text and extra illustrations to the original chapters. As well as telling of the arrival of the Cineworld Multiplex in 2003 and of its recent modernisation and introduction of 4DX, ‘Flickering Memories’ vividly brings to life the importance of film and cinema both in the life of the town and in the lives of its residents. The book is a source of nostalgia – names like ABC, Gaumont, Odeon, Pavilion, Queen’s, Ritz, Roxy and Star all summon up childhood memo¬ries and of years gone by.

‘Flickering Memories: From Fleapit to Multiplex’ makes a perfect gift and can be obtained for £12 from Hari - Newsagent in the Ashton Market Hall (when open in these uncertain times). You can also e-mail hoydpublishing@yhaoo.co.uk or visit the website, hoydpublishing.co.uk.

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