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Sunday, 15 May 2016

Crown Theatre, Eccles - May 2016

A very early start brought myself, Tbolt and the hobbit like creature know as only Zer081 out for this meet up on a rather rare and warm sunny spring morning.

Eccles, a small town which sits of the edge of the cities of Salford and Manchester and is a shadow of its former self, sadly.

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The Crown Theatre opened in 1899 as The Lyceum, a luxury venue for Shakespeare productions, converted in 1932 into a cinema and further converted in 1963 into a Bingo hall.

Since closure in the 1980s this Grade II listed building has fallen into major disrepair, partially demolished with a gaping hole in the rear of the property and little or no roof.

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This building is hanging on for dear life, with rough sleepers on the upper tiers sheltering under the remaining last parts of the roof structure.

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Sadly with the owners pushing for demolition, the future looks grim for this once grand building.

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I rather liked this place for some reason, but I'm a sucker for old cinemas and theatres and thus biased  with 5/10 - although I'm sure Tbolt and Zer081 would give it a 2/10 or possibly a 1.

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