Darnall Cinema

223-225 Main Road,
Darnell,
Sheffield, S9 4QB

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Darnall Cinema

The Darnall Cinema opened on 5th September 1913. It was a small 500-seater located on Catcliffe Road at the corner with Greenland Road (now Main Road) in the Darnall district. Sound was installed in February 1930. Closure came on 2nd November 1957 when the feature was James Cagney in “Mr Roberts”. From opening to closure, the cinema was owned by William C. Brindley.

The Kinematograph Year Book for 1914 does not list the cinema; though it could be the mysterious “Cinema … . Darnell (sic)”.

KYB 1928 has proprietor and manager William C. Brindley of 41 Brook Road, Meersbrook Park who booked the films at the hall. There were two shows nightly and two programmes weekly.

Brindley had moved to Glynarth, South Anston according to KYB 1931, which also listed the cinema as having ‘disc’ sound. KYB 1935 gives the capacity as 700 and the sound system as “SOF (sound on film) and disc”. This repeats in KYB 1937, except that the seating dropped to 500.

KYB 1942 repeats the information about Brindley, his address, the seating capacity, the booking, the shows etc, but there is no mention of the sound system; and KYB 1945 drops mention of the capacity. It’s the same in KYB 1947.

Information about the capacity re-appears in KYB 1950 with a very specific 483 seats; and so it is in KYB 1954 when the sound system gets mentioned; it’s by Vitavox. The Darnall Cinema was closed on 2nd November 1957 with James Cagney in “Mr Roberts”.

Contributed by H J Hill

Recent comments (view all 2 comments)

HJHill
HJHill on June 29, 2014 at 4:20 am

Use the Street View, above, to continue along Greenland Road (follow the blue car: in the 2014 version of SV) and turn to view the end wall of Aries Lighting. There’s a bricked-up exit door on your right and brick repair/infill on your left (formerly another exit?).

Look up and at the apex of the gable there’s a sign announcing “½ mile to Balfour Carpets” the other former cinema in the Darnall area of Sheffield.

BigRed1
BigRed1 on June 1, 2022 at 9:56 pm

Hi, new to this blog. HJHill I have a relative Percy Hayward who was managing a Sheffield cinema in 1939. He was living in Darnell with his wife May who was the cinema’s cashier. I am wondering if you know of him and which cinema he might have been managing. He lived on Elmham Rd in the 1930’s right through until his death in the 1970’s.

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