Complex Numbers

Paramount Purpose

I'll admit it. The only reason I'm sharing this Atlas Obscura article is that I'm actually 12 years old.

    Penistone Paramount Cinema  
Penistone, England
This century-old, single-screen cinema still puts a 1937 Compton organ to good use.

Always good to read about an organ being put to good use.

Along Shrewsbury Road in Penistone, England, an unassuming single-screen theater keeps cinematic nostalgia alive.

There's something to be said about having a single screen rather than dividing your attentions between a dozen.

Inside, the star of the show is the Compton organ. The instrument was originally built by the John Compton Organ Co. in 1937. It was first installed in Birmingham’s Paramount Theatre, where it entertained audiences for over 30 years. In 1988, it was bought by a private cinema owner and installed in the Regal Cinema at Oswestry in Shropshire.

I suppose I'm disappointed that it didn't come from Scunthorpe.

After four years at Oswestry, it was brought to the Penistone Paramount Cinema by organist Kevin Grunill. The instrument was restored in 2000 and again in 2013.

Only 13 years between restorations, for such an old organ?

Yeah, that's all I have today. I'm spent.