Granada North Cheam
562 London Road,
North Cheam,
SM3 9AA
562 London Road,
North Cheam,
SM3 9AA
1 person
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Additional Info
Previously operated by: Granada Theatres Ltd.
Architects: James Morrison, David Evelyn Nye
Styles: Italian Renaissance
Nearby Theaters
The Granada Theatre in North Cheam opened on 22nd September 1937 with Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers in "Shall We Dance?" and Roscoe Karns in "Clarence". The opening was attended by film stars Jesse Matthews and her husband Sonnie Hale. The Wurlitzer 3Manual/8Rank organ was opened by organist Lloyd Thomas. The proscenium was 52 feet wide and the fully equipped stage was 12 feet deep. The cinema had a large cafe located over the entrance and large car park which had a capacity for over 200 cars.
Architect James Morrison designed the Granada, but early into its construction he committed suicide, and the project was taken over David Evelyn Nye. The interior was by Russian designer Theodore Komisarjevsky and was considered the finest example of his ‘standard’ Granada Theatre’s.
The Granada was closed on 18th October 1969 with Omar Sharif in "Mayerling". It was demolished and a Sainsbury’s supermarket and offices were built on the site. In July 1995, a pub in the J.D. Wetherspoon chain named The Nonsuch Inn opened at this address.
Contributed by
Ken Roe
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Recent comments (view all 3 comments)
Vintage photographs of the Granada, and its Wurlitzer organ console;
http://www.ukwurlitzer.co.cc/2214.html
In the mid 1960s all my mates from work and I used to go to the Court School of Dancing which was located above the Grenada cinema foyer. I think the entrance was through a separate door to the right of the main cinema entrance. One evening the manageress/chief instructor threw us out because we wouldn’t ask any of the girls to dance.
I worked at the Granada North Cheam as a projectionist from Jan 1964 until July 1967 when I left to join the BBC. Have many fond memories of those years but one that sticks in my mind was when we previewed Mary Poppins and our Manager at that time Bernard Worster made full use of the wurlitzer organ and gave a melody of Mary Poppins Music before the afternoon showings and occasionally on Saturday evenings.