"We never got much money go to
cinema, we didn’t go only if we could sneak in. We
used to go in back way ... and of course it was
three-storey, you know three balconies at the
Empire, and we used to get up to what we called the
gods, up top, and course there was about six flights
of steps you used to clatter down if you tried to
sneak in. We ‘ad some gay old times I tell you …
When I got a bit older I could afford tuppence, when
I’d left school, but before then we used to go to
matinees and pay ‘apenny, either ‘apenny or a penny,
if you went in plush seats you paid a penny."
Elaine Mulholland (born
Longton, 1936) remembers being a monitor in a
children’s club, at the Empire in Longton:
"I was in the ABC Minors and
I rose in the ranks and became a monitor, had a
special badge ... it used to be for youngsters,
you used to have to join, you used to have to
fill in a form. You were then called an ABC
Minor and there used to be Saturday shows for
about sixpence and people used to just flock,
and if it was someone’s birthday they would go
up on stage ... and people would sing and so on
and so forth."
