South Shields Crown Bingo – Hudson Street

Parts of the building dates back to 1866, when it was opened as an Adult school. Subsequently the building was remodelled around 1911, when it re-opened as the Crown Picture Hall, a place of entertainment supplying both film and variety performances. It was a cinema for most of the mid 20th century, as the variety acts disappeared and talkies became the mainstay right up to 1959 when the building’s life as a cinema ended.

It reopened on August 14th 1961 as the Crown Bingo Club, a part of the Hearns family of bingo clubs. A fire in 2010 damaged part of an adjoining outbuilding’s roof, but not badly enough to stop it trading as a bingo hall. This old section of the building was demolished to make way for a car-park for players at the club. The club shut its doors for bingo in September 2019, as a victim of failure of its parent company Beach Bingo.

Previously we had this listed as a closed club, following the liquidation of the Beach Bingo Chain. However, it seems the club has re-opened in November 2019 and is operated by Witnall Automatics Ltd. It is currently operating following the 2020 summer lockdown.

Opening Times:

The club opening hours are as follows. Please note these were correct at the time of publication, but are liable to change so please check with the club before you leave:

• Monday: 5.30pm – 11.00pm
• Tuesday: 5.30pm – 11.00pm
• Wednesday: 5.30pm – 11.00pm
• Thursday: 5.30pm – 11.00pm
• Friday: 12.30pm – 11.00pm
• Saturday: 12.30pm – 11.00pm
• Sunday: 5.30pm – 11.00pm

Main Session Times

Listed below are the club’s main session times but are liable to change – confirm with the club first.

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Other Clubs In The Area

• South Shields Buzz Bingo (Formerly Gala Bingo) – Denmark Centre
• Newcastle Upon Tyne Hay Bingo – Heaton Road
• Newcastle Upon Tyne Ritz Bingo – Forest Hall Road

Michael Hess: Crown Bingo, South Shields

Taken as a part of the Playing Bingo commission of Michael Hess to shoot a follow-up to his book, Bingo and Social Club. Find out more about the project here.

The photographs below were taken during a quieter afternoon session on the 26th of April 2013. There’s a couple really unique shots of what must have been a made to design carpet with both the name ‘Hearns’ and a bingo card. The photos give a great impression of the multilevel hall and its members. It’s always sad to see empty tables, but always good to see the youngsters in for a game too.

Photographs copyright Michael Hess April 2013. They cannot be reproduced without the permission of PlayingBingo.co.uk.