People's Hall & Palace Cinema

People's Hall, Prestwich St, Denton
The cost of building the People's Hall was defrayed by the Revd Lawrence Scott, the minister at Wilton Street Unitarian Chapel. It was opened on the 17 Jul 1886 by Richard Peacock MP of Gorton Hall. Recreation facilities and lawn tennis courts were also provided on adjoining land. The architects were Messrs J W & R F Beaumont of Manchester and the contractor was Joseph Clayton of Denton.

In 1908 the hall was converted into a cinema, which was noted for the quality of its sound. The cinema closed in 1958, the last film being The Deep Six starring Alan Ladd and Dianne Foster. Because it was not purpose built as a cinema it did not have a sloping floor, so people sitting towards the back had difficulty seeing over the heads of those in front of them. Conversely, people sitting towards the front could see the screen properly but they had to look upwards at a steep angle, which caused neck ache. After closure as a cinema the building was converted into a youth club and later into a roller skating rink known as ‘Rollerena’.

Between 1978 and 1981 the M67 motorway was built alongside the hall but it survived only to succumb to demolition in 2002 in preparation for the construction of the Crown Point North Shopping Park.

Palace Cinema, Ashworth St, Denton
The Palace Cinema was situated on the west side of Ashworth St, opposite the entrance to Walker St, and it opened on the 24 Jul 1912. It was Denton's first purpose-built cinema and it had a floor sloping down towards the screen. It could accommodate nearly 900 people and ticket prices were 6d and 9d. The first programme was the short silent film, The Lesser Evil, starring Blanche Sweet and Edwin August.

In 1937 alterations and extensions were made to the cinema and the architect was Henry Elder of Salford/Manchester, who specialised in cinema design. The cinema remained open until the 29 Nov 1959, the last film being Horrors of the Black Museum starring Michael Gough, June Cunningham, Graham Curnow and Shirley Anne Field. It was not until the 1970s that the building was demolished to make way for the car park of the Co-op Shopping Giant store on Manchester Rd, now a Lidl supermarket.