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Not sure why I did this. It just happened

These are all (I think) of the old cinemas around Nottingham where the original building has survived into the present day. Some have a new use and some are lying derelict.

vernonrio-1.jpg

apollocapitol-1.jpg

eliteclifton-1.jpg

housekinema-1.jpg

regalcavendish-1.jpg

highburyfuturist-1.jpg

majesticwindsor-1.jpg

nether-3.jpg

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Fascinating pictures, I'd be interested to know what the interiors are like, especially the Elite. I always thought of it as a vast gloomy place, they used to hold a model railway exhibition in rooms upstairs, to get to it you had to pass by the auditorium, all in darkness, it was very creepy to a young kid. In the 70's I carried out surveys on some of these then closed cinemas, the Cavendish in St Anne's I remember well, trying to measure up such a vast place by torchlight was not fun. Apart from the Elite, the only other one I went to was the Futurist on Valley Rd where I saw Woodstock, circa 1970, the place was empty.

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Great stuff !

My grandad was stated to be a projectionist on the 1911 Census . Would have loved to have known where he worked . Didnt find that out until after my parents had died.Grandad died way before I was born .

1913 he was living Carlton side of Carlton hill so could have worked Carlton or got on a tram to town so could have been anywhere .

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A sobering thought that, if we discount the one on Long Row (which I venture to say none of us remembers as a cinema), out of all those in the city centre - and there were several - the only one remaining is the Elite.

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Is the Elite still in use as a cinema then or is it used for something else. For some reason we tended to go to the Odeon more than anywhere else, what happened to that?

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Very interesting to see. Thanks for posting these. Sort of made me sad too. I suppose it's called progress. If they were no longer profitable for their owners they would have to close. Of course I suppose we are all part of the problem, first TV then the VCR and now Hi def' blue ray etc. not much point in going out and paying big. $$s to sit in a theatre.

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Apparently, according to author, Michael Payne in his talk: 'Going to the Pictures – a short history of cinema in Nottingham' at Lowdham Book Festival last week, this building on Mansfield Road in Sherwood was purpose built as a cinema but never used as such:

https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@52.983177,-1.144904,3a,75y,296.71h,84.72t/data=!3m4!1e1!3m2!1soLD2OWagZd2CXStqy0Txhw!2e0

Opposite Hall Street.

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I remember going to the Windsor for the childrens matinee on a saturday afternoon, cost just a couple or three pence to go in plus the essential ice lolly (sucker) all in all about a tanner. We were entertained with stuff like The Bowry Boys or Flash Gordon played by Buster Crabbe, Old Mother Riley was another one.

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Is the Elite still in use as a cinema then or is it used for something else. For some reason we tended to go to the Odeon more than anywhere else, what happened to that?

I should have said in my earlier post, the only building remaining is the Elite. It closed as a cinema many years ago (40 or so?) - not sure what the building is used for now.

All the other city centre cinemas have been demolished and replacement buildings put up - Odeon, ABC, Gaumont, Scala, Mechanics, Moulin Rouge, and the News & Cartoon cinema near the Co-op. Have I missed any out?

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I agree, Merthyr Imp, that all those city centre cinemas have been replaced by "progress".

I discovered a number of lesser-known ones which have also disappeared, and probably very few people ever knew they even existed unless you were in the market for going to the cinema pre-1950.

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Sorry I"m sitting out in the garden trying to do this on my new smart phone and it's proving difficult, can someone erase my last postings, I've come in to watch the end of the Brazil match now and it's too late to respond, I've got a heavy Le Tour weekend ahead.

Cheers

.

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I think there was a cinema on Market street, that showed risqué films in the 70'

Yes - that's what I and LizzieM referred to as the Scala. It was the Classic in the 1970s. And before that, before anyone else queries it, it also had a spell as a News and Cartoon cinema in the mid-60s.

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We went there in the 60s - it was known as the 'Funnies'. We'd go on a Sunday after the afternoon session at the Dungeon for a cuddle in those double seats.

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As far as I'm aware the cinema in the elite building has been a nightclub since the late 1990's, with the entrance on Queen St (not sure where it was when it was a cinema). This is a 360 degree panoramic photo of what appears to be the auditorium (you can zoom in & out):

http://www.panoptics.co.uk/gallery/gatecrasher/nottingham/main-bottom

I assume the floor on which it is taken was added during the conversion.

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