The Roxy Music video is on You Tube here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4nT1-eE2E0M
Fascinating video to a great song. Such a shame that cinema was amongst the many now lost.
Visited 01/01/2022 - pleasantly surprised to see the wing our screen was in to see “I Wanna Dance With Somebody” had been completely refurbished. The other wing (Screens 8 to 14) are due to be done in the Spring, followed by the foyer. A staff member said it would be upgraded to a Showcase Cinema De Lux at that point, giving Bristol two. I remember being told they owned the freehold of this one. I’m pleased to see this place being invested in.
Finally - found the first interior photos thanks to the CTA. The place was demolished in 1967 after the owner closed it on spurious grounds in 1964 and could not get permission to turn it into a car sales place - he wasn’t up for bingo.
Made a point of visiting this cinema on the way up North from Bristol. I wasn’t disappointed. Excellent cinema with good picture, sound and sight lines - in Screen 2 at least, with theatrical presentation done right. Very friendly owner only too happy to show me round after the show. Crucial this cinema survives once Cineworld open nearby. Worth a visit and deserving your support if you are in the area.
Visited on Sunday. In better condition than the ABC but again the main auditorium is in semi darkness. No photographs allowed so this too is being deliberately run down before the multiplex replaces it. At least the ventilation was working properly, unlike the ABC up the road!
Visited the ABC on Saturday and saw “Jason Bourne” in Screen 1. Sadly it’s being deliberately run down with the tabs and lighting abandoned and just semi-darkness and a bare screen to greet you. Also it was uncomfortably hot inside like even the plenum system had packed up.
I wasn’t allowed to take any photos but I can’t help feeling they are making the experience here as bad as possible so the multiplex comes across as an improvement. Apparently that opens in January or early February. Not the worst looking leisure complex to be honest and at least it’s only on the other side of the lower gardens. But I still think it’s mad to
be eradicating cinemagoing in Westover Road. An epic fail by Bournemouth Council. Mind you, they blew £5m on demolishing the IMAX and leaving a hole in the ground, which kind of tells you all you need to know.
Are there any photographs of the inside of this cinema? I’ve been unable to find one anywhere. The site fascinates me as it’s very near my home and I still can’t believe they flattened it just to leave the site empty.
This was the first multiplex to have stadium seating in Bristol – but only in 5 of the screens. Showcase promptly retrofitted stadium seating in 13 of their screens at Avonmouth soon afterwards.
This was the first Newcastle cinema I visited when I was a student at the Poly between 1986 & 1989. I saw “Otello” in Screen 1 and have to admit the leg room was phenomenal. I reclined so much I go backache! it still had a real sense of occasion and size.
I saw many great films there but the one that sticks out was “Fatal Attraction”, then an “18” again in Screen 1. Two old ladies hobbled in and sat down near the front and I started thinking I’d gone to the wrong screen, or they had. Apparently not, after the movie they just hobbled out as the credits rolled.
Screen 2 was not as impressive but the sight lines were very good.
Essoldo’s metal cladding may not have been tat attractive but it was a great cinema, and it’s really depressing that the replacement building is so ugly.
Have to admit this is my Go To multiplex in Bristol. Love the seats, sound, picture, and the fact that you can relax in the bar before or after the film. Easy access from home by bus and loads of shopping and restaurants to hand.
Grade II listing is fantastic news. Popped in while in Blackpool for my birthday recently and work had clearly started to restore the ceiling. I look forward to seeing further progress in the future.
Flares is now Pop World. Does anybody know if the cinemas were above the windows that were added after the place closed as a cinema? Going past recently it’s clear the windows are for a second floor of the club, so is the former cinema part still disused or now part of Pop World?
This is excellent news, I saw the Luxour in a very derelict state on the last CTA visit to Paris. Just shows what can be done where there is the will. Just a shame the screens are bare, A festoon in the original proscenium would have topped the restoration off nicely, but that’s just me.
Actually some of the screens are not that bad – 1 and the original 3 (now 5?) are decent sized stadium auditoria while the two in the basement are OK. Shame they tripled the original Screen 2 – Saw “The Living Daylights” in there back in 1987 and it was a really nice auditorium.
Odeon 1 is the last Cinerama auditorium left in the UK. Bournemouth could lose it & the ABC for a small, underground multiplex. If you live in Bournemouth, please oppose these plans.
Bournemouth Council plans to replace this cinema and the Odeon up the road with an underground multiplex. If that happens Bournemouth will lose two West End standard cinemas, ABC 1 & Odeon 1, If you live in Bournemouth please oppose these plans.
Given the huge car park spaces either side of the auditorium, I’m amazed no-one has thought of converting the site to a multiplex by restoring the original auditorium and building additional screens over the car park, access could be through a new walkway under the circle with the circle and front stalls forming the largest screen. The bar area is still there and it would be far better than some of the multiplex plans I’ve heard of for Bournemouth.
The Roxy Music video is on You Tube here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4nT1-eE2E0M Fascinating video to a great song. Such a shame that cinema was amongst the many now lost.
Correction - taken on 01/01/2023
Visited 01/01/2022 - pleasantly surprised to see the wing our screen was in to see “I Wanna Dance With Somebody” had been completely refurbished. The other wing (Screens 8 to 14) are due to be done in the Spring, followed by the foyer. A staff member said it would be upgraded to a Showcase Cinema De Lux at that point, giving Bristol two. I remember being told they owned the freehold of this one. I’m pleased to see this place being invested in.
Finally - found the first interior photos thanks to the CTA. The place was demolished in 1967 after the owner closed it on spurious grounds in 1964 and could not get permission to turn it into a car sales place - he wasn’t up for bingo.
Made a point of visiting this cinema on the way up North from Bristol. I wasn’t disappointed. Excellent cinema with good picture, sound and sight lines - in Screen 2 at least, with theatrical presentation done right. Very friendly owner only too happy to show me round after the show. Crucial this cinema survives once Cineworld open nearby. Worth a visit and deserving your support if you are in the area.
Visited on Sunday. In better condition than the ABC but again the main auditorium is in semi darkness. No photographs allowed so this too is being deliberately run down before the multiplex replaces it. At least the ventilation was working properly, unlike the ABC up the road!
Visited the ABC on Saturday and saw “Jason Bourne” in Screen 1. Sadly it’s being deliberately run down with the tabs and lighting abandoned and just semi-darkness and a bare screen to greet you. Also it was uncomfortably hot inside like even the plenum system had packed up.
I wasn’t allowed to take any photos but I can’t help feeling they are making the experience here as bad as possible so the multiplex comes across as an improvement. Apparently that opens in January or early February. Not the worst looking leisure complex to be honest and at least it’s only on the other side of the lower gardens. But I still think it’s mad to be eradicating cinemagoing in Westover Road. An epic fail by Bournemouth Council. Mind you, they blew £5m on demolishing the IMAX and leaving a hole in the ground, which kind of tells you all you need to know.
Are there any photographs of the inside of this cinema? I’ve been unable to find one anywhere. The site fascinates me as it’s very near my home and I still can’t believe they flattened it just to leave the site empty.
This was the first multiplex to have stadium seating in Bristol – but only in 5 of the screens. Showcase promptly retrofitted stadium seating in 13 of their screens at Avonmouth soon afterwards.
This was the first Newcastle cinema I visited when I was a student at the Poly between 1986 & 1989. I saw “Otello” in Screen 1 and have to admit the leg room was phenomenal. I reclined so much I go backache! it still had a real sense of occasion and size.
I saw many great films there but the one that sticks out was “Fatal Attraction”, then an “18” again in Screen 1. Two old ladies hobbled in and sat down near the front and I started thinking I’d gone to the wrong screen, or they had. Apparently not, after the movie they just hobbled out as the credits rolled.
Screen 2 was not as impressive but the sight lines were very good.
Essoldo’s metal cladding may not have been tat attractive but it was a great cinema, and it’s really depressing that the replacement building is so ugly.
Correction – the cinemas actually closed in 1990.
Have to admit this is my Go To multiplex in Bristol. Love the seats, sound, picture, and the fact that you can relax in the bar before or after the film. Easy access from home by bus and loads of shopping and restaurants to hand.
Grade II listing is fantastic news. Popped in while in Blackpool for my birthday recently and work had clearly started to restore the ceiling. I look forward to seeing further progress in the future.
Flares is now Pop World. Does anybody know if the cinemas were above the windows that were added after the place closed as a cinema? Going past recently it’s clear the windows are for a second floor of the club, so is the former cinema part still disused or now part of Pop World?
This is excellent news, I saw the Luxour in a very derelict state on the last CTA visit to Paris. Just shows what can be done where there is the will. Just a shame the screens are bare, A festoon in the original proscenium would have topped the restoration off nicely, but that’s just me.
Actually some of the screens are not that bad – 1 and the original 3 (now 5?) are decent sized stadium auditoria while the two in the basement are OK. Shame they tripled the original Screen 2 – Saw “The Living Daylights” in there back in 1987 and it was a really nice auditorium.
Odeon 1 is the last Cinerama auditorium left in the UK. Bournemouth could lose it & the ABC for a small, underground multiplex. If you live in Bournemouth, please oppose these plans.
Bournemouth Council plans to replace this cinema and the Odeon up the road with an underground multiplex. If that happens Bournemouth will lose two West End standard cinemas, ABC 1 & Odeon 1, If you live in Bournemouth please oppose these plans.
There was so much of this cinema that was intact it should have been listed.
Given the huge car park spaces either side of the auditorium, I’m amazed no-one has thought of converting the site to a multiplex by restoring the original auditorium and building additional screens over the car park, access could be through a new walkway under the circle with the circle and front stalls forming the largest screen. The bar area is still there and it would be far better than some of the multiplex plans I’ve heard of for Bournemouth.