The building on the left has survived, but 'The Palace' has gone. I will not comment on the relative merits of its current replacement.
For more old pictures you might care to try Sepia Saturday. Click the postcard to enlarge.
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Friday 9 December 2011
Cleveleys, Lancashire, The Palace, Victoria Road, c1910
Cleveleys, Lancashire, The Palace, Victoria Road, circa 1910. Cleveleys is a pleasant seaside town just north of Blackpool. It is not entirely clear what 'The Palace' actually was. On first inspection it appears to be an early cinema. However, any self-respecting cinema would have posters prominently displayed advertising the latest films and film stars. This one does not. I suspect that it was a very low-budget concern, showing a limited amount of novelty films over and over again to attract the day-trippers. They would have depended on rainy days to keep their business alive. The frontage shows that they have tickets at 3d, 6d and 9d, so perhaps I'm wrong and they were a real cinema? It would appear from the shop windows that they may have also been a retail premises too, probably selling the usual seaside goodies, sticks of rock, silly hats, postcards etc. In the main entrance there is a sign saying 'Palace Theatre' - perhaps they had live acts too? A charming mystery, I'm sure Cleveleys experts will know the full story.
The building on the left has survived, but 'The Palace' has gone. I will not comment on the relative merits of its current replacement.
For more old pictures you might care to try Sepia Saturday. Click the postcard to enlarge.
View Larger Map
The building on the left has survived, but 'The Palace' has gone. I will not comment on the relative merits of its current replacement.
For more old pictures you might care to try Sepia Saturday. Click the postcard to enlarge.
View Larger Map
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Then and now--they both look like fun tourist traps. I am wondering what the Victoria Market's "cameo cards" are.
ReplyDeleteI did some research on a photo studio a while back and found it was located in a theater lobby. As it turns out, that was fairly common. At the time, theaters were more like casinos, in that they were gathering places. They wanted people to come, stay, spend money, and talk about the good time they had. It is quite possible Cleveleys was a theater with many small shops in the lobby.
ReplyDeleteOh my what have they done with the place!
ReplyDeleteThis is very interesting, thanks for telling us about the cinema and little seaside town.
ReplyDeleteHappy Sepia Saturday!
Kathy M.
Having grown up in a seaside resort town with similar boardwalk shops, I know that these buildings are as ephemeral as the tourist junk they sell. It's amazing that this one survives at least in basic form. "Remuddled" is a word used over here for this kind horrid remodeled architecture.
ReplyDeleteAlways find it fascinating when films were called photo plays. I remember always smiling when a friend said she went to the cinema.
ReplyDeletethe market has now shut down and is going to be demolished :CC
ReplyDeletethank you for your interesting infomation. situs palace casino
ReplyDelete