ABC London Road
108 London Road,
Reading,
RG1 5AY
108 London Road,
Reading,
RG1 5AY
1 person
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Additional Info
Previously operated by: Associated British Cinemas Ltd.
Architects: Edgar J. Simmons
Styles: Art Deco
Previous Names: Granby Cinema, ABC Granby
Nearby Theaters
Located to the east of Reading city centre at Cemetery Junction. The Granby Cinema was opened on 2nd September 1935. It had a cafe, for the convenience of its patrons. At opening it was independently operated, and was taken over by the Mayfair Cinema chain in 1941. In August 1943, they were taken over by the Associated British Cinemas(ABC) chain.
It was re-named ABC Granby (to avoid confusion with the ABC Reading (former Central Cinema). Later re-named ABC London Road, it was modernised in 1969 and became a 70mm roadshow cinema for the town.
The ABC London Road was closed on 27th November 1982 with "Creepshow", and the building was demolished in 1987.
Contributed by
Ken Roe
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Recent comments (view all 6 comments)
Three vintage photographs of the auditorium of the Granby Cinema in 1952:
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I’m sorry to report that l was the closing manager for this fabulous building. As soon as the last patron had left the building after the last dreadful program (Creepshow), engineers were removing the tabs and projectors while we held a staff closing party in the Licensed Bar. One of our 70mm projectors (Philips dp75, l think,) ended up at the ABC Brighton in time for the first showing of ET in 70mm.
The photos in Ken’s links appear to show a completely different auditorium to the photo heading the article.
The first looks like the original auditorium of the Victoria Cambridge…….
Hmm. I think there may have been a mistake in the Architects dept. pencil mark.