I met the former manager of the Tivoli about six years ago when he was employed as a film distributor. He was in the chair at the Tiv when it closed back in 1980. He told me that the cinema was doing very well at the time but they had a compulsory order to close since the building was going to be demolished for a road scheme, which never happened. Then as Ken Roe pointed out it sat derelict for the next ten years until the Friends Of The Tivoli got together to resurrect the old cinema.
When I visited the Tyneside Cinema in 2003, I was shown around the Projection room and reel-to-reel changeover projection was still in use here. The projectors were either Philips DP70’s or DP75’s but I am not sure which. They still used Carbon-arc lamps for the light source but I do not know if this is still the case now as they may have updated it during the recent refurbishment.
The auditorium was demolished during the summer and autumn of 2002. Many were glad to see the back of it as it was an “eyesore”. It was a sad state of affairs that what was at one time a grand building had been allowed to fall into such a sorry state. It had become a shelter for rough sleepers and a safety hazard. I saw some pictures of how it was on the inside before the demolishion men moved in and gutted it prior to knocking it down. In the former circle there was still rows of seats in place and its unique Oriental style decor was still very much in evidence albeit with peeling paint around the proscenium and walls. Sadly the screen had long since gone but the guy who took the photographs said that there was several pulleys behind the stage, which probably worked the screen tabs – no trace of those either I am sorry to say!
I was formerly employed as a Projectionist at this cinema. When I started it was equipped with a pair of Gaumont Kalee-18 projectors with the old carbon-arc lamps but these were subsequently replaced by Xenon-arcs, which allowed for a better picture quality. In March 2002 the Kalee’s were replaced by two Ernemann 12’s. The Kalee’s held 2,000 ft reels that meant reel-to-reel changeovers every twenty minutes but the Ernemann projectors held 6,000 ft spools and this reduced the number of changeovers to one an hour.
The Orpheus is now under the ownership of Scott Cinemas who own a number of cinemas in Devon such as the Central in Barnstaple and the Regent in Lyme Regis (Dorset).
There used to be an ABC cinema in the Boscombe area of the town many years ago. It was closed in 1974 and The Sir Percy Florence Shelley pub on Christchurch Road was the former entrance to the place. This is the only part of the building which survives now. For many years the auditorium stood in a derelict state with the pub separated by a false wall. The auditorium was decorated in an Oriental style and many of its old seats and decor survived although at the time of demolition some seven years ago it was in a sorry state.
The Carlton cinema was hit by a 250kg bomb on 05 December 1940, which exploded in the projection room. Over fifty out of the 250 people who were in the cinema at the time were either killed or injured.
The Plaza was taken over in October last year by the same people who took over the running of the Picturedrome Cinema in Bognor Regis. A major restoration project is on the cards for the Plaza and according to the local press, the main screen has already been redecorated and fitted with brand new seating. Later in the year the foyer looks set to be given an overhaul and it is possible that a third screen will be added to the existing twin-screen cinema site in Trinity Street at some time in the future.
The Plaza cinema seems to have changed hands but I have not been able to find any news stories in the local press. The cinema is no longer listed on Reeltime’s (who have owned the Plaza since 1991) website but a new site has appeared advertising film showing times at the venue. The company calls itself The Picturedrome Electric Theatre Company Limited.
The Freehold on the Plaza cinema site has been put up for sale by the owners. However, the independent operating company has a lease on the building and has given assurances that the cinema will carry on showing films for at least another two years.
The development at the Old Brewery site in Dorchester includes plans for a brand new three-screen cinema with an outdoor screening area, which is due to be up and running within the next two years.
The group of nine volunteer directors who have been running the Rex since the original owner retired in 1987 have put this historic cinema up for sale. However, a covenant has been placed on the site stating that whoever buys it will have to keep it operating as a cinema.
It is extremely sad to hear that the Carlton looks set to go the way that so many of the High Street traditional cinemas have gone over the years. The venue was under great competitive pressures from two multiplexes (I never go near a multiplex, not if I can help it) in the Portsmouth area. I have supported this charming venue a lot between 2003-2007 and since then it has changed hands no less than three times since Odeon gave up the lease. I really do believe that somebody should acquire the lease and transform the place into an arthouse venue as I think that it would stand a better chance of survival if the Carlton went in that direction. A number of traditional cinemas that have survived the arrival of the multiplex are now arthouses, The Little Theatre Cinema in Bath, being a good example.
Have just heard the news about the proposals to demolish the Carlton cinema and put up a block of flats. I have supported this cinema quite often in recent years. It was here where I saw the original, The Exorcist, when it was screened here as a one off. It has great character and I hope the manager is successful in his campaign to save the place from the bulldozers. Too many of these wonderful suburban palaces have gone over the years and let’s not let the Carlton be one of them – I urge people to get down there and sign the petition!
The Picturedrome has changed hands again recently, this time it has been acquired by an independent operator known as Picturedrome Electric Theatre Co Ltd.
The Regal was equipped for the showing of 3D films during that short-lived craze in the early fifties. One of the pictures shown successfully in 1953 was House Of Wax starring Vincent Price.
The cinema closed as the ABC (under the ownership of Odeon) on January 2 2003. A petition was signed by several locals in favour of keeping the cinema open. On January 24, the small independent chain Reeltime Cinemas acquired the lease on the building and reopened it renaming it back to its original name of Carlton Cinema.
Unfortunately, despite a huge protest to keep the movies rolling, support for the Carlton was poor mainly due to competition from two nearby multiplexes. So on 30 March 2005, Reeltime decided to close the site and it was reopened again on April 1 2005 under the ownership of Cineplex Cinemas and was renamed as the Cineplex.
Within less than a year, the site was under threat of closure again, but an independent operator stepped in and reopened it under its former name.
The first film shown at the original Odeon cinema of 1936 on 7 November was MR DEEDS GOES TO TOWN. The newly twinned cinema opened on 12 August 1971 with the films SOLDIER BLUE and THE ARISTOCATS.
Up until 1957, the Plaza competed with another cinema in Dorchester, the Palace in Durngate Street. This cinema seated 400 patrons in stalls and circle and was presenting the town with film entertainment as early as 1911 when it was known as the Dorchester Electric Picturedrome. It was renamed as the Palace in 1920 when Mr Albany Ward acquired the site. Mr Ward owned several cinemas in Dorset including another Palace in the Easton district of Portland.
By the 1930’s, the Gaumont British Corporation took over the Dorchester Palace and they ran it until it finally closed on 6 May 1957. The final film starred Van Johnson in KELLY AND ME.
The Odeon cinema in Bridgewater is still functioning under the ownership of a small independent chain called Scott Cinemas renamed simply as “The Film Centre”. It is now a twin screen cinema.
The Cottage Cinema (also in Headingly) has been saved from closure by Northern Morris Cinemas Ltd who own other cinemas in Northern England such as the Rex in Elland and the Regal in Lancaster.
The cinema was closed as the ABC by Odeon on 1 September 2002 and re-opened by Northern Morris Cinemas Ltd on 17 January 2003 with the films 8 Mile starring rapper Eminem and Gangs Of New York.
The Ritz did indeed close down in July 2002, but an independent operator bought the cinema and extensive renovations were carried out. It reopened in September 2004 with two screens, digital sound and new projectors and is showing films every day of the week.
I met the former manager of the Tivoli about six years ago when he was employed as a film distributor. He was in the chair at the Tiv when it closed back in 1980. He told me that the cinema was doing very well at the time but they had a compulsory order to close since the building was going to be demolished for a road scheme, which never happened. Then as Ken Roe pointed out it sat derelict for the next ten years until the Friends Of The Tivoli got together to resurrect the old cinema.
The multi-coloured lighting system in the Tivoli’s auditorium has now been restored to working order.
When I visited the Tyneside Cinema in 2003, I was shown around the Projection room and reel-to-reel changeover projection was still in use here. The projectors were either Philips DP70’s or DP75’s but I am not sure which. They still used Carbon-arc lamps for the light source but I do not know if this is still the case now as they may have updated it during the recent refurbishment.
The auditorium was demolished during the summer and autumn of 2002. Many were glad to see the back of it as it was an “eyesore”. It was a sad state of affairs that what was at one time a grand building had been allowed to fall into such a sorry state. It had become a shelter for rough sleepers and a safety hazard. I saw some pictures of how it was on the inside before the demolishion men moved in and gutted it prior to knocking it down. In the former circle there was still rows of seats in place and its unique Oriental style decor was still very much in evidence albeit with peeling paint around the proscenium and walls. Sadly the screen had long since gone but the guy who took the photographs said that there was several pulleys behind the stage, which probably worked the screen tabs – no trace of those either I am sorry to say!
I was formerly employed as a Projectionist at this cinema. When I started it was equipped with a pair of Gaumont Kalee-18 projectors with the old carbon-arc lamps but these were subsequently replaced by Xenon-arcs, which allowed for a better picture quality. In March 2002 the Kalee’s were replaced by two Ernemann 12’s. The Kalee’s held 2,000 ft reels that meant reel-to-reel changeovers every twenty minutes but the Ernemann projectors held 6,000 ft spools and this reduced the number of changeovers to one an hour.
The Orpheus is now under the ownership of Scott Cinemas who own a number of cinemas in Devon such as the Central in Barnstaple and the Regent in Lyme Regis (Dorset).
There used to be an ABC cinema in the Boscombe area of the town many years ago. It was closed in 1974 and The Sir Percy Florence Shelley pub on Christchurch Road was the former entrance to the place. This is the only part of the building which survives now. For many years the auditorium stood in a derelict state with the pub separated by a false wall. The auditorium was decorated in an Oriental style and many of its old seats and decor survived although at the time of demolition some seven years ago it was in a sorry state.
The Carlton cinema was hit by a 250kg bomb on 05 December 1940, which exploded in the projection room. Over fifty out of the 250 people who were in the cinema at the time were either killed or injured.
The former Theatre Royal building now looks set to become a Portugese church according to the local press.
The Plaza was taken over in October last year by the same people who took over the running of the Picturedrome Cinema in Bognor Regis. A major restoration project is on the cards for the Plaza and according to the local press, the main screen has already been redecorated and fitted with brand new seating. Later in the year the foyer looks set to be given an overhaul and it is possible that a third screen will be added to the existing twin-screen cinema site in Trinity Street at some time in the future.
The Plaza cinema seems to have changed hands but I have not been able to find any news stories in the local press. The cinema is no longer listed on Reeltime’s (who have owned the Plaza since 1991) website but a new site has appeared advertising film showing times at the venue. The company calls itself The Picturedrome Electric Theatre Company Limited.
Yet another traditional cinema which has lost out to the onslaught of the multiplex – I wonder who will be next?
The Freehold on the Plaza cinema site has been put up for sale by the owners. However, the independent operating company has a lease on the building and has given assurances that the cinema will carry on showing films for at least another two years.
The development at the Old Brewery site in Dorchester includes plans for a brand new three-screen cinema with an outdoor screening area, which is due to be up and running within the next two years.
The group of nine volunteer directors who have been running the Rex since the original owner retired in 1987 have put this historic cinema up for sale. However, a covenant has been placed on the site stating that whoever buys it will have to keep it operating as a cinema.
It is extremely sad to hear that the Carlton looks set to go the way that so many of the High Street traditional cinemas have gone over the years. The venue was under great competitive pressures from two multiplexes (I never go near a multiplex, not if I can help it) in the Portsmouth area. I have supported this charming venue a lot between 2003-2007 and since then it has changed hands no less than three times since Odeon gave up the lease. I really do believe that somebody should acquire the lease and transform the place into an arthouse venue as I think that it would stand a better chance of survival if the Carlton went in that direction. A number of traditional cinemas that have survived the arrival of the multiplex are now arthouses, The Little Theatre Cinema in Bath, being a good example.
Have just heard the news about the proposals to demolish the Carlton cinema and put up a block of flats. I have supported this cinema quite often in recent years. It was here where I saw the original, The Exorcist, when it was screened here as a one off. It has great character and I hope the manager is successful in his campaign to save the place from the bulldozers. Too many of these wonderful suburban palaces have gone over the years and let’s not let the Carlton be one of them – I urge people to get down there and sign the petition!
The Picturedrome has changed hands again recently, this time it has been acquired by an independent operator known as Picturedrome Electric Theatre Co Ltd.
The Regal was equipped for the showing of 3D films during that short-lived craze in the early fifties. One of the pictures shown successfully in 1953 was House Of Wax starring Vincent Price.
The cinema closed as the ABC (under the ownership of Odeon) on January 2 2003. A petition was signed by several locals in favour of keeping the cinema open. On January 24, the small independent chain Reeltime Cinemas acquired the lease on the building and reopened it renaming it back to its original name of Carlton Cinema.
Unfortunately, despite a huge protest to keep the movies rolling, support for the Carlton was poor mainly due to competition from two nearby multiplexes. So on 30 March 2005, Reeltime decided to close the site and it was reopened again on April 1 2005 under the ownership of Cineplex Cinemas and was renamed as the Cineplex.
Within less than a year, the site was under threat of closure again, but an independent operator stepped in and reopened it under its former name.
The first film shown at the original Odeon cinema of 1936 on 7 November was MR DEEDS GOES TO TOWN. The newly twinned cinema opened on 12 August 1971 with the films SOLDIER BLUE and THE ARISTOCATS.
Up until 1957, the Plaza competed with another cinema in Dorchester, the Palace in Durngate Street. This cinema seated 400 patrons in stalls and circle and was presenting the town with film entertainment as early as 1911 when it was known as the Dorchester Electric Picturedrome. It was renamed as the Palace in 1920 when Mr Albany Ward acquired the site. Mr Ward owned several cinemas in Dorset including another Palace in the Easton district of Portland.
By the 1930’s, the Gaumont British Corporation took over the Dorchester Palace and they ran it until it finally closed on 6 May 1957. The final film starred Van Johnson in KELLY AND ME.
The Odeon cinema in Bridgewater is still functioning under the ownership of a small independent chain called Scott Cinemas renamed simply as “The Film Centre”. It is now a twin screen cinema.
The Cottage Cinema (also in Headingly) has been saved from closure by Northern Morris Cinemas Ltd who own other cinemas in Northern England such as the Rex in Elland and the Regal in Lancaster.
The cinema was closed as the ABC by Odeon on 1 September 2002 and re-opened by Northern Morris Cinemas Ltd on 17 January 2003 with the films 8 Mile starring rapper Eminem and Gangs Of New York.
The Ritz did indeed close down in July 2002, but an independent operator bought the cinema and extensive renovations were carried out. It reopened in September 2004 with two screens, digital sound and new projectors and is showing films every day of the week.