A Focal Point for Penistone
Penistone Town Hall/Cinema and library was built by public subscription in 1915 and so, logically, it is the property of the population of Penistone. It is adjacent to the council offices and the masonic hall and it is maintained by our local council, after spending some bleak years under Barnsley Council. It was 'Penistone Town Hall Cinema' until local government reorganisation of the 1970s put Penistone under the control of Barnsley Metropolitan Borough Council, when it was renamed 'The Metro'.
The mighty Paramount Compton Theatre Organ was installed in 1999 and the Town Hall acquired the name of 'Penistone Paramount'. Since then, the building appears to be in use every day and night. It is still called the Town Hall in official documents. It is a theatre and traditional cinema and it has shown films and other entertainments right from the earliest days, often on the national release date. Indeed in 2003, Penistone Paramount showed the premiere of 'Heartlands'.
These pictures are from before and after the facelift of 2001. The stage is often used for amateur productions and pantomines from our two thespian societies. Live shows are on the agenda from time to time and often these are tribute acts. There is also a popular licensed bar, open during the film interval, which can help the audience in its quest for the suspension of disbelief. There are also facilities for video conferencing.
Seating is now fixed but used to be removed for dances until the nineteen-seventies. The town hall has the sprung floor designed to be ideal for dancing - but it might also have been good for the traditional foot-stamping if a film went wrong. Spring mechanisms under the floor sit on rows of pillars but they are now chocked up. It used to be very smokey in the old days and the projection beam would light up a shaft of smoke on its way to the screen. Not any more, as all UK public buildings are now no smoking areas.
These pictures are mostly from an open day in 2005. The discs on the right are a film-winding machine, or is that re-winding. Former manager Steve Tales showed me the Compton organ console and its secrets.
Facilities are very good for a small independent cinema, with a Dolby surround sound system, video projector, DVD player and satellite tv reception. Penistone people can be proud of their cinema and it is our most successful venture. Our thanks go to those far-sighted people who raised money to build it early in the last century.
Compton Paramount Theatre Organ
Paramount Organ performances in Penistone are very popular on Market Day afternoons (Thursdays) when grey-haired music lovers pack coaches from far and wide. Organ concerts are now also held at St. Andrews church. The brilliant white organ console gives no real impression of how elaborate are the marvelous workings beneath the stage. The whole under-stage area is filled with row upon row of pipes and other instruments to give the organ its wonderful wide range of voices. In its original setting at the Birmingham Odeon, the solenoid-operated console might also have controlled the theatre lights.
I was very privileged to see the secrets of the pipe room and can share them with you in a special Organ section. These pics were taken when Steve Tales was the very enthusiastic and knowledgeable manager.
