The Alhambra: Middlewich's cinema with many reincarnations

The building is dated 1889 but initially was used as a dwelling house. In 1901, Joseph Noden, a salt boiler, was living there with his family.

In the latter 1910s, it was used to show silent films when they were first introduced. The picture house was very basic, with a projector running on a raised platform in the same room and just wooden benches for the audience to sit on.

The main cinema in Middlewich was called the Alhambra and opened in 1920, effectively taking over the patrons from the Star.

However, they may have run together for a short period as they were both managed by Clement Whitehead, as well as the Palace in Sandbach.

The Star was referred to as The Old Star Cinema Hall in the 1930s, with regular auctions taking place to sell furniture, carpets, and other household goods.

It eventually became other commercial premises including a garage and is still used today as Triffic Togs, a hardware and store and ironmongers (with thanks for the old photograph of the Star in the 1940s when it a garage, supplied by the Triffic Togs shop).

The original Star Cinema as a garage in the 1940s (Image: Rose Hurley/Triffic Togs)

The Alhambra was purpose-built and was in a prominent position at 33 Wheelock Street in the town.

It had a highly decorative front elevation in the Art Deco style of the period, as can be seen in the photograph, which it still retains today.

In a news article in September 1920, it is stated that the Alhambra Pictures management should be congratulated on keeping up with a high standard of entertainment, with Charlie Chaplin starring in 'The Immigrant' as just one of several films being shown that week, also including Fish Breeding, a natural history film.

In 1930, the Kinematograph Weekly reported that the Alhambra had been fitted with a Western Electric sound system, bringing the number of 'Talkies' in the country to over a thousand.

The Alhambra as a Chinese restaurant in 2005 (Image: Rose Hurley)

Clement Whitehead managed the Alhambra for a considerable time; in the 1939 census however, he was shown as a cinema manager (retired) living at 38 Wheelock Street, just across from the cinema.

He died just two years later. The Alhambra was taken over by the Miles Jervis group in 1960; in the intervening years, perhaps it was run by the same management as the Winsford Magnet, as many of the advertisements in the 1950s named the films being shown at the Magnet with a footnote saying that the film would then be shown at the Alhambra Middlewich for the following three days.

In August 1961, the film showing at the Alhambra was Pollyanna, starring child actor Hayley Mills, Jane Wyman, and Richard Egan.

The Disney film was the story of a cheerful orphan changing the outlook of a small town based on a 1913 novel by Eleanor H Porter.

The Triffic Togs shop currently at 73 Wheelock Street (Image: Rose Hurley)

In the late 1960s, the Alhambra became a bingo hall and was very popular, with coaches coming from as far away as Stoke-on-Trent for a night out.

It was successful in obtaining an alcohol license in 1972, which also increased its footfall. In 1979, there was a report of people being taken to Leighton Hospital due to carbon monoxide fumes, and 200 people were evacuated from the hall.

Fortunately no one was seriously ill as a result.

The Alhambra had many reincarnations over time, such as an amusement arcade, which the locals did not approve of, and a snooker hall.

It was also used as a Chinese restaurant for 20 years (1998-2018), was then closed for a while, and eventually re-opened in 2018 as a very successful Italian restaurant called the Il Padrino (translated as The Godfather).