Originally Posted by
Dave H
Thanks Brian - too kind. The duck story is true and just seemed to add to the unreality.
When the riots happened, the Rialto was just a shell of its former self. It had spent time as a bingo hall then closed. It was gutted by Swainbanks and was being used as a warehouse for second-hand furniture.
I was never dancing there. I know that they had Twist competitions as well as ballroom dancing. As a child, I was a member of the famous Saturday Club and went to matinees. They used to send cards for your birthdays. In contrast to some other cinemas (Granby for example was a flea-pit) the Rialto was always smart and gleaming and the manager would dress up to greet the clientele (us scruffs) in the foyer. It seemed like a palace and was well respected locally.
Swainbanks were in the cinema part.
The furniture on the stage was for export (the best pieces) to the USA.
The stepped seating area was still there and that was full of furniture that we residents could buy.
It was so surreal.
A wooden audience watching a wooden cast!
If only I'd taken a photo!
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It's interesting that you call the Granby by that name.
Officially it had been the Prince's since 1932, but it had been the Granby before that, and the Granby Hall before it was converted into a cinema in 1912.
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