Abandoned Grand Theatre Riley's Roller Derby Night Club Oldham Abandoned Places

IN THIS VIDEO I TAKE YOU ON A EXPLORE OF THE OLD ABANDONED GRAND THEATRE AND ROLLER DERBY AND NIGHT CLUB IN OLDHAM.
HISTORY
The Grand Theatre and Opera House in Oldham.
Later - The Grand Theatre / Gaumont Cinema / Astoria / Rainy City Roller Derby
The Grand Theatre in Union Street, Oldham was built facing the Starr Inn and opened a month after the Palace Theatre on Christmas Eve, the 24th of December 1908 with a production of the pantomime 'Aladdin'.
The Theatre was designed by the London architects Thomas Taylor and Ernest Simister who also designed the Chadderton Town Hall.
The exterior was of brick and terra cotta and the interior is said to have been 'elaborate' and consisted of several levels with boxes.
The stage was 45 foot wide with a proscenium opening of 32ft 6in and was equipped with an orchestra pit.
The Theatre was radically altered in 1937 by Gaumont Super Cinemas when the auditorium was gutted and transformed into a much simpler space of just Stalls and one Circle seating in total 1,842.
Only the outer walls of the building were retained. The Theatre was reopened by George Formby, a film from Gaumont British News showing the event can be seen below. Gaumont took over the building completely in 1944.
The Beatles appeared at the Theatre on several occasions when it was (briefly) trading as the Astoria Theatre, but then in 1962 it was altered for conversion into a Bowling Alley and its live theatre days were well and truly over, although it did find a use as a ballroom for a short period.
Further humiliation for this building happened in 1973 when it was again converted, this time into a Nightclub.
After the houses facing the Theatre had been removed, the area outside the Theatre was often used for sideshows, with motorbike 'Wall of Death' being a favourite.
The Grand Theatre was then left empty for a number of years until the top part of the building was converted for use by the Roller Derby team "Rainy City Roller Derby" who have turned it into a dedicated sports training and games facility.
It has a large open space, equipped with spectator bleacher seating and a plastic tile floor specifically made for skating on as well as changing rooms, toilets, and a cafe.
The Rainy City Roller Derby named the place as "The Thunderdome".
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I own all copyrights to the intro,video and music by My band Twisted Mentality
song 'LET ME BE YOUR MONSTER'
I own all lyrics as i am the Vocalist of the band and own the music to this song.
( Twisted Mentality - Let Me Be Your Monster )
• Twisted Mentality - Le...
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