Community Cinema

Tonight I went to see Mandela: The Long Walk to Freedom at our local cinema, Cinemac http://www.cinemac.org.uk/. I enjoyed the film but that's another story.
The nearest multi-screen cinema to Macclesfield is nearly 10 miles away, and it's great that we have a cinema in the town, particularly on such a rainy night as this one. I tried to capture a flavour of the unusual setting in this picture that shows the rather elderly tip-up seats, the modern screen and speakers. Behind the pillar you can just see one of the lists of benefactors.
Cinemac is on the second floor of the Heritage Centre in Roe Street, Macclesfield that was preserved and renovated by a heritage trust.

You can read about the history of the 'Big Sunday School' at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Macclesfield_Sunday_School. I was very interested to discover two facts about this Sunday School:
* that it was non-denominational
* that between its opening in 1814 and the Education Reform Act in 1870, it offered education in "reading, writing and ciphering" as well as knowledge of the Bible.