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Casino (Bolton)

bolton casino

The Casino Club was at 417 Crompton Way, Bolton, Lancashire and was opened as The Crompton Cinema on Thursday, December 6, 1934 with Alan Dinehart in 'Dance Girl Dance' and Marian Marsh in 'A Man Of Sentiment.'

The Crompton Cinema was in Crompton Way, close to the junction with Tonge Moor Road. It was operated by Arthur Hall of The Palladium Theatre, Waterloo Road, South Shore, Blackpool, with 1,200 seats and had a 46 feet wide proscenium, and had a cafe attached.

The Crompton Cinema closed in 1959 and was converted into a bingo club. This use continued and then it became The Casino Club in June 1961.

The Warriors played regularly at the Casino Club and The Four Pennies also played here.

The Casino Club later changed its name to Jacks just before a change of ownership and became Copperfields in March 1972. In January 1976 Copperfields closed and it became a disco-diner The Bees Knees that lasted until 1997. 

John H. Warburg. 24 May 2022

Bolton Casino was built in 1934, as a cinema. Throughout the sixties it was known as ‘Bolton Casino’. It was actually a club and you had to be a member to play the gaming tables. Entertainment was the big thing though and many great acts appeared, including Junior Walker and The All Stars, Jimmy Ruffin, The Drifters, Johnny Johnson and the Bandwagon, Love Affair, The Fortunes, and many more.

I saw The Who, at the casino, in 1969 prior to their US tour. They played the full rock opera ‘Tommy’ live for the first time before descending into chaos and obligingly smashing their instruments.

Bolton Casino became ‘Copperfields’ in the 70’s, and then the ‘Bees Knees’ for a short time before finally closing as an entertainment venue. It is now a supermarket.

Bolton Casino always seemed to attract sizeable audiences even without the big star acts, local semi pro bands appeared regularly.

Unlike the ‘Palais’, ‘Beachcomber’ etc it suffered to some extent from its position out of town, situated on the A58 ring road (Crompton Way). It was a great venue to play - good stage area and dance floor, decent dressing rooms (no getting changed, and tuning up, in the Van) as well as the gaming rooms.

I played twice at the casino with ‘Cleveland Fox’ in 1968/69. The second time was a bit of a disaster, - we were ‘in between’ Bass players, and we had temporary, or dep player for the night. Prior to us going on he proceeded to remove all his equipment from the stage after a fall out with the band (probably about money). We did the show without Bass which, to say the least, was a bit strange.

Good times.

Maurice Newton