This cinema had been a bugbear of mine ever since I failed it a couple of years back, I'd wanted to give it another shot but never been in the right place at the right time. With the news that the annoying car wash people who occupied the old car park had vacated their plot for good though I thought it was high time I swung by again. So heading home me and my mate made a very worthwhile detour.

I had heard it was sealed again not long after someone else had been recently so really I wasn't holding out much hope but it turned out to be way easier than I expected - although depending how often the building is checked I don't expect it to stay that way for long!

The cinema was built for a local independent company and opened in 1930 showing "The Love Parade". In 1935 it was taken over by one of the large national chains and was closed in 1963 with the last film to be shown "P.T. 109". From then on it was converted, as so many old cinemas and theatres were, to a bingo hall which passed through various chain owners until it closed in 2012.

The outside of the building away from the street is extremely weird, all asymmetrical angles and curves and odd pointy-out bits that look like they've been tacked on with no thought to the look apart from the beautiful frontage. I don't explore many cinemas or theatres as they aren't really my main area of interest but it was a great feeling to cross this one off the list at last.

1


2


3


4


5


6


7


8


9


10


11


12


Thanks for looking

Awesome! Glad you got it in your catalog.
Fav's: 2,6, & 8

Nice place, doesn't look ruined. If the area is decent, it could
be brought back to use, there's clearly extra "lounge" space that
could be used for events.

Awesome! It is so nice seeing stuff that's not completely vandalized especially this old...

Great photos! Love the architecture.

its so beautiful as it is now.. I cant imagine how it looked in its prime.

Great set, that's a lovely theater.

Anything left of the audio system?
Mmmmm, vintage tube amps

Posted by blackhawk Anything left of the audio system? Mmmmm, vintage tube amps

I'm actually going back tomorrow to hopefully show a couple of friends around so provided it's still as accessible I'll have a better look. It was weird not finding a projection room, I think it was a rear projection onto the screen. The basement is unfortunately flooded pretty much up to the floor of the main auditorium so no chance of finding goodies in there.

Posted by mookster I'm actually going back tomorrow to hopefully show a couple of friends around so provided it's still as accessible I'll have a better look. It was weird not finding a projection room, I think it was a rear projection onto the screen. The basement is unfortunately flooded pretty much up to the floor of the main auditorium so no chance of finding goodies in there.

I saw some interesting looking equipment(?)behind where the screen would have been but it was too underexposed to make out.
Not sure if they even used rear screen protectors then. It's impractical for wide screen.
Multiple synced projectors?
Lol, I didn't wiki this, but know there was many different projection technologies used at various times/sites.
Be interesting what you find

If and what was left behind is a crap shoot. If it had a state of the art sound system for that era, be cool to capture some images if it's still there. The projection system may be far more intriguing.
Good luck

The trouble is this place, and so many other ex theatres and cinemas, became bingo halls after closure and then it really is a complete crapshoot as to what was left untouched and what was 'bingofied' in the conversion.

Posted by mookster The trouble is this place, and so many other ex theatres and cinemas, became bingo halls after closure and then it really is a complete crapshoot as to what was left untouched and what was 'bingofied' in the conversion.

Yeah, and if they put it in the basement...
Than again if it wasn't for bingo keeping active you probably wouldn't have had anything left to explore. Backstage looks promising. The amps might be tucked away, but they needed ventilation and accessibility.
I think you might get lucky
I meant to say...
Go break a lense*




*UE superstition, rules of luck

Outstanding as always mooks!

Amazing.

LOVE the art deco interior!

Also, is that a fireplace in the round room?

Thanks for the bit of history to give a bit more of a name to the face of the photos.