Cliff Ton 10,512 Posted July 4, 2014 Report Share Posted July 4, 2014 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. 12 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
firbeck 860 Posted July 4, 2014 Report Share Posted July 4, 2014 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. 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
MelissaJKelly 2,124 Posted July 4, 2014 Report Share Posted July 4, 2014 Great post. Familiar with quite a few..would be interested to see how they looked in their hay day Quote Link to post Share on other sites
DAVIDW 1,697 Posted July 4, 2014 Report Share Posted July 4, 2014 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 . 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Merthyr Imp 729 Posted July 4, 2014 Report Share Posted July 4, 2014 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. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
firbeck 860 Posted July 4, 2014 Report Share Posted July 4, 2014 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? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
katyjay 5,091 Posted July 4, 2014 Report Share Posted July 4, 2014 Demolished. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Cliff Ton 10,512 Posted July 4, 2014 Author Report Share Posted July 4, 2014 For some reason we tended to go to the Odeon more than anywhere else, what happened to that? Pay attention ! http://nottstalgia.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=10082&hl=odeon Quote Link to post Share on other sites
loppylugs 8,429 Posted July 4, 2014 Report Share Posted July 4, 2014 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. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
.... 23 Posted July 4, 2014 Report Share Posted July 4, 2014 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. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
tomlinson 879 Posted July 4, 2014 Report Share Posted July 4, 2014 Seeing these reminds me of the title of a book by J.B. Priestley. 'Lost Empires'. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
mgread1200 141 Posted July 4, 2014 Report Share Posted July 4, 2014 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. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Merthyr Imp 729 Posted July 4, 2014 Report Share Posted July 4, 2014 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? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Cliff Ton 10,512 Posted July 4, 2014 Author Report Share Posted July 4, 2014 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. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
MELTONSTILTON 452 Posted July 4, 2014 Report Share Posted July 4, 2014 I think there was a cinema on Market street, that showed risqué films in the 70' Quote Link to post Share on other sites
firbeck 860 Posted July 4, 2014 Report Share Posted July 4, 2014 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 . Quote Link to post Share on other sites
LizzieM 9,527 Posted July 4, 2014 Report Share Posted July 4, 2014 Wasn't that the Scala? A cosy little place with wide seats that 2 people could sit on/in? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
bamber 128 Posted July 4, 2014 Report Share Posted July 4, 2014 So when will people start getting all misty-eyed about the hulking cathode-ray tv sets which now squat in the corner of ever-fewer sitting rooms? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Merthyr Imp 729 Posted July 4, 2014 Report Share Posted July 4, 2014 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. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Cliff Ton 10,512 Posted July 5, 2014 Author Report Share Posted July 5, 2014 Not a dirty mac in sight. 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Moz 164 Posted July 5, 2014 Report Share Posted July 5, 2014 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. 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Moz 164 Posted July 5, 2014 Report Share Posted July 5, 2014 And the only cinema still standing and operating as a cinema from our youth is the Savoy. 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Cliff Ton 10,512 Posted July 5, 2014 Author Report Share Posted July 5, 2014 True. I thought about giving The Savoy a special mention in my list of survivors. I don't think there is any other cinema still operating which existed 30+ years ago. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Rikki72 17 Posted July 5, 2014 Report Share Posted July 5, 2014 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. 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Tim in the North East 200 Posted August 15, 2014 Report Share Posted August 15, 2014 Is the metropole on Mansfield Road opposite Edwards Lane still there? It was converted to a supermarket after closing as a cinema Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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