MEMORIES 227 took a stroll down 1960s Newgate Street in Bishop Auckland, which prompted many people to get in touch regarding the town’s four cinemas: the Eden, the Hippodrome, the Kings and the Odeon. Here’s a potted history of each of them – do you have any information or memories or pictures of them?

THE EDEN

The famous theatre in Newgate Street opened in 1865, and after Stan Laurel’s father, Arthur Jefferson, couldn’t make a go of it as a music hall, it converted to a cinema in the late 1920s. After the Second World War, it became part of the Essoldo group of cinemas. It closed in 1969 and was demolished in 1973.

THE HIPPODROME

It opened as a music hall theatre in Railway Street on December 6, 1909, but not even Signor Rino Pepi – the inspiration behind Darlington’s Civic Theatre – could make a go of it, so it was sold in 1912 for £7,552 1s 5d to Picton’s Pictures to become a cinema. It became part of the Essoldo group after the war, and it closed in 1966. It is now a bingo hall.

THE KINGS

Originally, it was an assembly hall in Newgate Street which was converted into a cinema and cafe in 1902. After numerous relaunches, it, too, joined the Essoldo chain in 1947. It closed in 1960 and was converted into a supermarket.

“The street-level part has changed, but the upper storey with its distinctive windows remains,” reports Peter Daniels. “For many years, the first floor housed a remnant shop – part-rolls of material and associated items, like buttons and threads. It was the first port of call for parents whose children needed material for sewing classes at school!

“The ground floor is now a furniture store since the demise of former occupant, In-Shops.”

THE ODEON

Opened as the Majestic Cinema in Tenters Street on November 21, 1938, it was soon taken over by the Odeon group of theatres. Rank took hold of it in the early 1970s when its auditorium was split to make two screens. It closed on October 15, 1983, and was demolished in 1994 for a supermarket.

There was a fifth cinema: the Lyric, in Newgate Street. It was made of wood, opened before the First World War and had gone by the Second World War – does anyone know anything about it?

BLOB With thanks to Tom Hutchinson and John Askwith, and to everyone who has been in touch. More Bishop Auckland next week