Harringay, Haringey - So Good they Spelt it Twice!
Finsbury Park Empire c1912
Taken from Seven Sisters Road, just north of the railway bridges looking down towards St Thoams's and Prah Roads.
The Empire was opened on 5th September 1910. It was purchased by Islington Council under a Compulsory Purchase Order on 17th July 1964, and was demolished in April 1965. A block of flats named Vaudeville Court was built on the site.
More info and photos on cinematreasures.org.
This is the same view today:
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Comment by Michele on March 28, 2018 at 15:46
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Must have been a lot of theatres in Finsbury Park, what with The Rainbow Theatre and also the theatre whose name escapes me, that is now Lidles and Rowens bowling alley (that Finsbury Park Action Group campaigned to bring back into use in the late '80's)
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Comment by Hugh on March 28, 2018 at 15:57
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Liddl was the Hippodrome then the Cinematograph and then....well it's a long story.... Rowans (which almost opened as a roller skating venue) was the Gaumont which ended up being joined together with the Seven Sisters Road venue just behind it.
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Comment by Geraldine on March 30, 2018 at 11:16
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It was our local hotspot for entertainment - everyone from Harry Secombe to Adam Faith - in the days before it all moved outside.
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Comment by Richard Woods on March 30, 2018 at 12:05
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Oh yes - and the Beatles https://www.beatlesbible.com/1963/12/24/the-beatles-christmas-show/
In fact kids played truant from school to buy tikets for this show. Come the first day and a certain young hack managed to grab George Harrison and ask him if the Beatles approved of kids playing hookey to buy tickets for their show. Pity it was George though - he was always the diplomat; "OK by me" he more or less said "But better ask mum and dad and their teachers." Damn!
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What memories. My Grandmother, Mum, Dad. my Brother and I went every week and saw turns that are now legends. Jewel and Warris, the Crazy Gang, Dorothy Squires, Petula Clark, Julie Andrews Tommy Trinder, Arthur Askey, George Formby, Sid Field, Cyril Fletcher,Jimmy James, Max Miller, Max Wall, Vera Lynnand so many more. All the big bands and I remember Henry Hall coming into the audience and asking me to come up onto the stage. I was so shy and hid under the seat so my brother went up instead. At the interval we were given lemonade or ginger beer and waited just outside the bar while the grown ups had a drink. Afterwards we went to a cafe and had a meal usually Sausage and chips but one day I asked for spaghetti. I said it wasn't proper spaghetti because it was the first time I'd had proper spaghetti. I thought it came in a tin in tomato sauce. Those were the days
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Comment by Jeremyb on April 1, 2018 at 12:55
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The Cliff Richard film "The Young Ones" has many scenes filmed inside the Empire before it was demolished- worth catching next time it's on TV! Finsbury Park is a good example of an area where theatres and cinemas were developed in places with good transport interchange opportunities.. e,g from trains and tubes to trams and buses- Hammersmith and Elephant & Castle were other examples..
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