Heywood & Hopwood June 2016

people at small tables whilst below there was a dance
floor (120 feet by 50 feet) of rubber-cushioned maple at
the head of which was a stage, the curved back of which
was decorated with gold leaf and edged by huge grey
curtains. On the day of the opening, these were pulled
back by uniformed page boys (white gloves and little
pill-box hats) to reveal a band playing for the first dance.
Though whist drives and private functions took place there, dancing was the main thing with bands such
as Roy Fox and Joe Loss came up from London in the mid 1940’s to appear at the Carlton’s ‘Saturday Night
at the Palais,’ appearing on-stage at 11.00pm and playing (air raids permitted) until 2.00am. Local bands
were popular too with the George Roberts Band, Bob Sharples, Geoff Love and the famous Freddie Platt
Band.
After World War II dancing fell somewhat from favour, replaced to some extent in the 1950’s by the
popularity of television although when Mecca bought the Carlton in 1956 they tried to keep the dancing
tradition going. By the 1960’s however, it had a dual use as a
dance and Bingo hall, eventually by the 1970’s only being used
for the latter. In 1989 the Carlton closed following a fire and
after some years of neglect it looked like the end. However, in
1995 there was a revival with The New Carlton Ballroom, later
the place becoming the ‘Liquid Rock’ nightclub but the place
was eventually closed following an alleged shooting incident,
a sad end to a great Rochdale institution.
In 2007 the Carlton was demolished and is now a car park.
If you have any memories of The Carlton, I’d be delighted to hear from you and add
them to a growing Rochdale archive on the subject.
Please contact Gary Heywood-Everett at garyheywoodeverett@yahoo.co.uk or leave
your memories at 0745201263.
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