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Cinemas |
At one time practically every town in the country had its own cinema. A number of them were attractive buildings, having been built in the 1920's and 1930's, often in the art-deco style. Many of them resembled theatres having a small stage and even a musicians's pit in front of the screen. The cinema organ was a main feature of the experience in the silent film era, providing a live soundtrack to what was happening on the screen.
As the television's popularity and availability started to spread in the 1950's and 60's, so the local cinemas began to close down, and by the end of the 70's many of them had been demolished or adapted for other uses. Our modern idea of a cinema, now dominated by the large corporate chains and situated in the middle of shopping complexes bears little relation to the former glory of the small, independently owned 'picture palaces'.
A classic example of the old style cinema is The Electric, in Portobello Road in London. After nearly closing down on numerous occasions it has now been fully restored and is now prospering again.
Do you have any memories of the old cinemas? Why not add them to our forum?
We'd particularly like some photos of old cinemas - if you have any please to us and we'll post them on the site.
Useful links Article - Picture this The cinemas of Hertfordshire - a book by Allan Eyles
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Copyright Disappearing Britain 2005