SHEFFIELD | Three SECRET HIDDEN places in Sheffield City Centre

[Sheffield History]

 

 

 

SHEFFIELD | Three SECRET HIDDEN places in Sheffield City Centre

Another fantastic Sheffield Video!

Watch video here 👉  SHEFFIELD | Three SECRET HIDDEN places in Sheffield City Centre

[fentonvillain]

Any B Division bobbies of old would tell you stories about these three "hidden places" which had to be visited at least once in every night shift. Every door handle had to be tried to see if it was insecure. Including the rear door of what used to be The News Theatre in Fitzalan Square, which was the emergency exit of the cinema and also opened at the end of each continuous performance to allow the audience to leave without interfering with the incomers.   There are many more such not-so-secret places in the so-far-undeveloped areas of the city centre. But to a few homeless guys in the early 60s they would provide somewhere to shelter and dine on the left overs from nearby restaurants. I recall one such fellow, "Hoppy" to all because of his gammy leg, in an alley off Eyre St, feasting on a huge package of duck legs and carcases he'd been given by the kitchen staff at the Zing Vaa restaurant on The Moor. Hadn't the heart to move him on or make him go to the Old 600 hostel in West Bar. 

[MartinR]

For theatres there is a clause in the licence that members of the public are free to leave by any exit at the end of the performance.  This is to ensure that emergency exits are not blocked (or worse, locked or chained).  I'm not sure if the same rules applied to cinemas, but it might explain why the management opened a back door.