The Heanor Empire

Heanor is a town in the Amber Valley of Derbyshire in the English East Midlands. The Heanor Empire used to be an important centre of entertainment in the town. The cinema was built in the early twentieth century, and was popular from day one, showing silent movies like the Charlie Chaplin series at first. These would have no sound track, and an organist would often play during the movie to accompany the movie.

Cinema organs became quite amazing things during the early twentieth century, and some would rise from under the stage while being played. In addition to playing music, many cinema organs had sound effects levers which could be operated during the movie to add sounds to the action on screen. The organist would be able to add effects like car horns, quacks and comical boinks, twangs and whistles.

Audiences at the Heanor Empire were delighted when movies with sound arrived. These were produced by innovative movie studios which wanted to progress the state of the art. Amazingly, many people in the movie industry said that ‘Talkies’ were just a passing phase and would not last. This is probably because these were people connected with the studios that did not want to invest in sound equipment. Such dinosaurs went out of business, or had to change their minds in order to survive.

Saturday afternoon matinees were very popular and during the 1930s and 1940s children could get in to the Heanor Empire for a penny. Lyons Maid brand ice creams would be available in the interval. Bill Haley’s Rock Around The Clock was shown at the Heanor Empire in the year 1956 which was during the Teddy Boy era, and the Teddy Boys got very over excited. It could have turned into trouble, but Dolly the usherette managed to calm them down and stopped them doing too much damage. The Ten Commandments was also shown at the Heanor Empire in the year 1956 and was very popular. Movies that gave the viewer a three dimensional visual experience were also shown at the Heanor Empire, and the audience would all wear 3D glasses.

Running a cinema was a labour intensive business, and the Heanor Empire had around 12 staff and a manager. One of the managers around the year 1960 was a gentleman called Mr Smithurst, who made sure that the Heanor Empire ran efficiently. He also organized fun competitions. In the year 1960 there was a Milky Bar Kid competition at the Heanor Empire, and young boys were swarming around with toy guns, cowboy hats and cowboy shirts. At Christmas the usherettes would dress up as Santa Claus.

These days the town has changed and modernized and sadly the Heanor Empire is no longer there. In common with the rest of the United Kingdom, most small town cinemas have been redeveloped into bars, night clubs or other premises, and people go to see movies in large multiplex cinemas which show numerous movies simultaneously in different theatres within the same building.

About the Author

As the UK's largest estate agency, Countrywide is accessible to all UK home movers, with approximately 1,300 estate agency or lettings offices operating under 46 local high street brands.

If you would like to Buy a House Heanor then please visit Countrywide Estate Agents