Osborne Cinema

In Cheadle, Staffordshire, the Town Hall was formally declared open on 5th November 1894 by Lady Manningham Buller of Dilhorne Hall. The ceremony was followed by a luncheon for 150 members of the Town Hall Committee and their friends. Some days later, a Pigeon Show was held in the main Hall, providing the general public with their first viewing.

Although it is assumed film shows were presented fairly early on, in association with, for example, variety shows, the first positive mention of them was in November 1908, when Stewart’s Royal Troubadours included coloured films illustrating the birth of Christ and other biblical scenes in their Sunday concerts.

A year later, in November 1909, Professor Wood’s Musical and Pictorial Entertainments brought “The World’s Best and Latest Animated Pictures shown by Powerful Electric Light” to the hall.

Finally, in March 1914, the Kinema opened in the Town Hall, presented by Cheadle Entertainment Company. Interestingly, until a permanent arrangement was in place, electricity was generated by a “Coronation Cinema Car”, which, on arrival, had toured the district to advertise the shows.

In April 1914 the Kinema closed briefly for the installation of electric lighting and tip-up seats in the balcony. When it re-opened, it was under the name Empire Cinema, but this was also fairly brief, as it became the Osborne Cinema in March 1915, after being acquired by the Osborne Theatre Company.

By 1923 Boyce Wood had acquired the Osborne Cinema. There was one show nightly, with a matinee on Saturday and two changes of programme each week. When the ‘talkies’ arrived, a British Thomson Houston(BTH) sound system was installed.

In the 1962 to 1964 Kinematograph Year Books only Boyce Wood’s name is provided, in very abbreviated entries. So it is likely the Osborne Cinema closed around this time - but then, from the 1966 edition (at least; I do not have access to the 1965 edition) there are fuller entries, showing Supreme Entertainments Ltd. have taken over and CinemaScope has been installed, using a 27ft by 15ft screen.

Those entries continued until 1971, the final year of publication of the Kinematograph Year Books, but it is thought that the Osborne Cinema closed down around that time.

After closure, the front section of the building was converted into a pub/disco called Ossies. That closed, only to be re-opened as Whispers, but that too closed, in 1987.

In February 1990 a planning application was submitted to demolish the building and redevelop the site into residential and retail use. While that was being discussed, in late-March 1990 an arson attack, by five youths, led to a great deal of damage.

The planning application was eventually refused, but then granted on appeal. However, the work never started and, in August 1991, it was suggested that a Heritage Centre could be created in the building. Unfortunately, the council felt unable to support this, despite the building’s owner, local businessman Keith Dawson, being prepared to reduce the £200,000 asking price to £190,000.

In March 1992 an attempt to get the building listed was turned down by the Department of the Environment.

In April 1992 Keith Dawson reduced the price to just £100,000. He said he hoped the building could be saved, and acquired for the people of Cheadle, but he needed this to happen quite quickly.

A public meeting was held in the Methodist Church Rooms on 28th May 1992, and people were asked to pledge money towards the purchase.

Sadly, that campaign was unsuccessful. However, in 1995, there was to be some sort of a positive outcome as, when the building was subsequently converted into residential use (18 flats) and the auditorium was demolished, the Victorian façade was preserved.

Appropriately, the development is called Osborne House. (It is situated where High Street meets Leek Road.)

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