It has to be the Odeon for me spent some wonderful Saturday mornings there. It was the first cinema I ever went to and the first two films I still remember. First was Captain Black Beards Ghost hillerious for a small child and the second was Jungle book which was amazing for children. It was a great place for mothers to deposit the kids on a Saturday then go shopping in Lynn St. I still remember the first time walking in with my older brothers and seeing this mega colourful t.v screen, I was in total awe. Crazy when you consider we had shitty small black n white televisions at home with white lines everywhere. We had to move the bloody ariel almost every few minutes and if that failed dad punched the wooden top of the t.v. and that would do the job. As for remote controls it's a Accy line " who are they "

Saturday morning pictures was brilliant, come on it was in colour…..six of us used to go ….all older brothers with a slightly younger brother you were responsible for in tow.
Funny how you had free range to go and explore in away most parents today would be having a meltdown

the one i still call the regal for me. first film i ever remember seeing was their, the desert rats staring james mason as rommell before he became god. my mother would never go back to the odean after being kicked out for laughing before the war. trouble was it wasn,t a comedy film but she found something funny in it that others didn,t. anyone who knew her would understand her sense of humour even jimmy james who used her as an audiance stooge once by accident where i wish i,d been invisable.

What about the Comet as you enter the Headland that was half built when WW2 started and never finished. Demolished in 70s or 80s.

like the idea of an open air cinema at the headland. thought the council would be all over an idea like that to promote the town.

My dad had the first remote control in the world. When Tv sets had four buttons on the front to change the four channels, instead of getting out of his chair to change channels, he sat there with his snooker cue and pressed the buttons with it. Worked a treat, apart from me Mam complaining about the amount of chalk she had to hoover up !!!!!!!

think the yanks invented one in the early 50,s well before most over here got their first tele. trust them buggers to invent something for lazy gits.

They’d be showing the ‘Cruel Sea’ on a loop.

Walking past the Wesley today there was a Fire Detection installation companies van parked outside, hindsight is great ?

I remember watching CinemaScope fillums being broadcast on small TV screens when much of the action happened off screen to the left or right was missed as we only saw the central bit. Also my dad brought one of those clip on screens that he said would turn our tiny b&w TV into a colour one. All it consisted of was a filter that was sky blue at the top and green/brown at the bottom with various shades in between. He subsequently got clubbed with it by our mam.

When colour tellies we’re coming out I remember at work (as the trainee) listening to one of the mates, who was a sandwich short of a picnic, complaining to the lads in the galley cabin that he’d bought one and the colour was a bit funny, so one of the lads piped up and said when you get back home, check the carpet underneath the telly because if there’s a puddle of colour there, it might be leaking and need topping up.
He went on leave for two weeks and on return told the lads he’d checked it but there was nothing on the carpet

that sounds like one of the early experiments for colour films that were not cartoons.

Demolition has started today and film/photos all over social media and press.
However there is no water suppression of dust and would not this building be full of asbestos?
Any ideas?

Spent years saying they can’t demolish it because it was listed then all of a sudden it’s being demolished so much for the frontage, no effort made to salvage them either.

More than likely, in fact I’d bet my boots on it, I suppose they can claim the unsafe state of the structure prevents investigation, but that’s why water spray suppression is vital.

If those frieze panels above the entrance have been smashed can someone tell me why ?

Who ownes the Odeon?

Wilkies or one of them ?

It was the Wilkies and probably still is.

Read somewhere that they are hoping to salvage them.

Has anyone noticed all the recent fires at the Wesley, Engineers and Odeon are within spitting distance of the Police Station. Bizarre.

Millhouse Masterplan area.
Gunna be some fingers in that pie for sure.
No wonder someone's hanging about.

There isn’t any Policeman in the station, a fifteen year old arrested for starting it, has he been on an arsonist course, quite a large building to set on fire and burn to the ground.

Exactly.......... the job was 100% effective.

possibly did that course after being arrested on suspicion for a similar offence before. back to the old question though if he comes up for trial and found guilty he,ll never be named and shamed. anybody who thinks they are big enough to start fires or commit other serious offences should be named as its not normal behaviour for any kid in their early teens to do. others might then think twice knowing everyone will know what a scrote they are.

Just seen a recent photo on Arsebook and it looks like a bit of one of a panel has been taken off with some damage.

All the panels have been taken off and look in reasonable condition. However they remain the property of the owners so no doubt will be sold to the highest bidder. The bricks are being cleaned and put on pallets and shrink wrapped. Someone said they are quite valuable as they are a different size.
No doubt we will see the Odeon rebuilt in London or Saudi

Think you will find everything rescued will now belong to the insurance company. Either the council or museum will have 1st refusal. There is a good chance these will end up being reused but this time inside a building for historical reasons and protection.

Don't know if you personally seen it Bluestreak but there is a ghostly figure in your picture.

It’s Jamie’s spirit.

I suspect the demolition cost may have been paid by the Council…?
If so, the panels can be part of the costs.

The owners will pay but maybe not initially. Deductible from land sale to HBC or HDC but the Mail says art deco etc are owners property. The ghostly figure was the 1968 spirit of the cinema:)

part of our ground improvement plan used inside the rink end.

The Engineers and Willows building are now (just) in the possession of the Receivers so hopefully we might get some action on the site.
I wonder if HBC might buy it?

The RAFA seems to have a new roof (for the time being anyway)

Both the freehold sites of Virgin Money and the old Barclays building in York Road are up for sale but with no impact on current leaseholder.

The land near the lock gates in the Marina is to be developed soon.

Things are happening.

I don’t think the Council had a choice, it would only take some to hurt by falling debris and a claim would be going in.

You can guarantee that land at the Marina will be more bloody flats blocking the view across the water.

Site now cleared with topsoil laid and looking good.
The bloke said machines and fence will go soon and council to fix footpaths.

Last week all that remained were the twisted rusty girders that looked like a line of modern sculptures, never did get a photo.

the art luvvies would have paid a fortune for that and give an award to the arsonists from the arts council.

Pigeons n rats will now have to downgrade to the Engineers Club.

Next fire!!!

If there’s one building I hate it’s the Engineers club, looks like a couple of shoe boxes, doubt it was a long tome since any ‘engineers’ mey that place.

Went past this morning and it's all done and dusted. Just needs the barriers removing and grassed over.

I hope that in the new planning act that is going to go through parliament there is something to deal with this type of owner and long term derelict premises.
Currently we rely on acts of arson to improve the town.

Maybe the term fire sale originated in the town

Its about time the Engineers was demolished its a disgrace.

It was a disgrace when it was built, an affront to architecture.

Eskimo Joes gets the arson treatment. Roads closed and what a mess.

Drove past last night at it’s height, the smoke was terrible and the wife informs me 2 14 year olds and an 11 year old were arrested.

Three boys have been arrested, one of them is only 11. It's shocking, it really is!!

Has it been trading, Companies House said it’s in liquidation ?