The Cinemas of The Meadows and West Bridgford

The Meadows is a well-defined area of Nottingham south of the city centre.  It is bounded on the south by the River Trent, on the east and north by the Nottingham canal, and by Queens Drive in the west. In the 1970s, housing in the Meadows was deemed unsuitable by the council and a large part of the area was demolished to make way for a new development of modern council housing.

In 1975, the viaduct carrying the Great Central railway and Arkwright Street station was demolished as the new development started to take shape.

 The map below(an amended version from (8)) shows the Meadows in 1973 before the start of the major re-development – and in the time that the cinemas flourished.  The location of the 4 cinemas that had been operating in the Meadows are identified, together with the Plaza over the river in West Bridgford – but which was in the City until 1951 (9 p13). [The 6^th cinema, the Tudor, is about a kilometre to the south of Trent bridge].  West Bridgford is a contiguous urban area with the Meadows located on the south bank of the Trent.  It is now in the borough of Rushcliffe whereas the Meadows is in the City.

The table below summarises the characteristics of the 6 cinemas: 

Cinema name	Location	Year opened as cinema	Year closed as cinema	Seats	Present state of the building
Queens	Arkwright St	1911	1955	400	Demolished
Globe	North side of Trent Bridge	1914	1962	850-684	Demolished 1969
Imperial Picture House	Wilford Road	1916	1957	1000+	Demolished
Plaza	South side of Trent Bridge	1918	1942	833	Demolished
Grove	Mayfield Grove/KirkWhite St	1938	1962	1000 - 800	Demolished
Tudor	Tudor SQ WB	1931	1959	1391	Demolished

The Queens

When this cinema originally opened it was known as the Midlands Electric Picture Palace.  Probably due to the death of the owner it closed in June 1935 and then reopened as the Queens in January 1936.  It closed in 1955 (1).  Photo from the front cover of (8).  It is taken from the junction of Arkwright Street and Queens Road looking south to Trent bridge.  The Queens hotel (now a fireplace showroom) is on the right.  The entrance to the Queens cinema can just be detected on the left – a few metres closer to the photographer than the parked car (10).  

This cinema was not held in the highest esteem – a flea pit is one description (2).  

The Globe

The Globe was situated opposite Turneys leather factory at Trent Bridge, and the sidedoor, as shown in the picture opened out towards the bridge .The cinema was located a little further towards the bridge than the present car wash (2). The cinema was built and owned by Mr and Mrs Brian Ludlow.  Brian was a well-known bookmaker in West Bridgford.  Its standard offering was an A and a B feature and the News (2). The picture below is from (9, p19).

The Globe closed on Friday 30th June 1961 as a cinema to reopen as a bingo hall on Monday 10th July 1961. This venture closed on Saturday 4th October 1961, and the Globe reopened as a cinema on Monday 23rd October 1961. It finally ceased as a cinema on Saturday 30th June 1962 (7).

From ref 3.  Lime trees were planted more than 100 years ago to commemorate a visit by Queen Victoria to Nottingham and the naming of Queen’s Walk in her honour.  Keen to retain the wood from the trees, local residents have worked with the Nottingham Express Transit (NET) extension project to ensure that it can be used to create something for the community to enjoy.

Two local artists have been painstakingly carving images into the tree trunks to create twelve 2.3 metre high ‘story poles’ representing the history and nature of The Meadows’ community. 

The first to be installed to mark the launch of the project is the Old Meadows story pole hand carved by local tree sculptor Dan Sly. The pole includes a film reel wrapped around the pole to celebrate The Meadows’ past and cinematic history. Dan used old photos to carve  a map of the Old Meadows, and the Globe Cinema frontage

The Imperial Picture House

After WWI a programme of building council houses began in The Meadows on vacant land south of Holgate Road. In 1916 the Imperial Cinema was erected on Wilford Road (11) , about 1/3 of the way down from the City to the Wilford Toll bridge on the left-hand side. (2)  The picture is from (9, p18).

The Plaza

The Plaza was opened in 1918 as the Pavilion Picture House & Garden. As can be seen below, this was quite a grand building (10).

The Pavillion closed on the 27th August 1927 and reopened as the Palace on Thursday 15th September 1927. It closed on Saturday 26^th December 1931. It was restyled by Alfred Thrave, with a new entrance (picture(10) and reopened on Monday 16^th May 1932 as the Plaza (1 p71).  It closed on 14th March 1942 (7).

Images of the Elite Cinema

        

 The Elite Picture Palace

The idea of building a high quality picture palace in Nottingham was actually conceived in the trenches of France during WW1. J A Lomax, an officer in one of the   Nottinghamshire Regiments discussed with his commanding officer Lt Col Adamson the slum clearance taking place in the centre of the city & how a triangular site between King St & Queens St would make a perfect site for the development of a high quality picture palace together with shops and offices.

After the war, Adamson, who was a partner in Adamson & Kinns,  a firm of London architects & Lomax  the son of a Nottingham building contractor formed a company together with the brewer Thomas Shipstone.

When it opened its doors to the public on 22nd August 1921 the Elite was described as one of the finest picture palaces in the country, a dazzling fairy palace and the last word in amusement.

It was one of the first in a new breed of ‘super-cinemas’. The building was magnificent. The facade and exterior side walls were covered in expensive white glazed tiles & statues were placed along the upper portion of the building. The internal decoration was stunning, the auditorium walls lined with wood panels and there was a great deal of decorative plaster work. No wonder it was referred to as a palace.

It was given the seal of approval by being ceremonially opened by the mayor of Nottingham who described it as one of the finest picture palaces in Great Britain. Telegrams of congratulations were received from Charlie Chaplin, Douglas Fairbanks & other notable Hollywood stars. The opening film was POLLLYANNA starring Mary Pickford the biggest female star at that time.

The cinema had seating for 1,500 people & a very expensive, specially designed orchestral organ which was to play at every performance. The facilities within the building also included a restaurant, a Georgian Tea Room, a French Cafe in Louis XVI style and a large ballroom located on the top floor. The foyer evehad rubber flooring to minimise noise. (See drawings of the interior)

 The Elite was not just for watching films but a whole new leisure experience & one that could be used by all either day or night. It must have given all who went a taste of the glamour enjoyed by their screen idols and a glimpse of a better life.

Programmes were given in a continuous performance from 2pm to 10pm.Prices ranging from 9d (4p) to 2s 4d (11p) when the average weekly pay in 1925 for a male unskilled labourer was £2.2shs & for a skilled labourer was 2.16sh.

The introduction of legislation reducing the working week led to an increase in the time available for leisure activities. Also, during the war, women had been employed in factories, replacing the men who had gone to fight and after the war many continued to work so increasing the household’s weekly income & providing a little spare cash for treats like going to the cinema

The 1920s was a period of great social change. People were trying out new things in order to escape from the memories of the war, and for a time (before the depression) they had more money and more time for leisure activities than ever before. Going to the cinema provided escapism into a world of excitement and glamour and a luxurious environment in which to socialise.

Big named Hollywood stars also contributed to the increase in the popularity of the cinema & the public’s demand to see their films was unbounded. Icon worship became a major pastime in the 20s and the Hollywood star making machine was pleased to oblige with such names as Clara Bow and Rudolph Valentino.

The first ‘talkie’ in Nottingham was shown at the Elite Picture Theatre; George Jessel in "Lucky Boy" and after its screening, the cinema was closed for several weeks in July 1929 for a re-furbishment.

In October 1935 the Elite Picture Theatre was taken over by Associated British Cinemas (ABC) and they operated the building for most of the remainder of its life. There were plans to demolish it in 1972, but they were not carried out. The EMI organisation took over ABC and they eventually closed the Elite Picture Theatre in March 1977.

In the last few years of operation the Elite Picture Theatre had played ‘off circuit’ releases as ABC had their main Carlton Cinema in the town centre. The last films to play the Elite Picture Theatre were the (X) certificate double bill; "Erotic Young Lovers" and "Take an Easy Ride".

EMI converted the cinema into a bingo hall which continued until the early-1990.

The building was granted a Grade II Listed building status in 1990, saving it from demolition plans and it is now used for shops  and offices.

The Cinemas of Ilkeston in the Twentieth Century

Ilkeston lies roughly equidistant between Nottingham and Derby.  Its major industries were traditionally coal mining, iron working and lace making / textiles, but these have all but disappeared in the last few decades.

The population in 1901 was 25,000.  It rose to 32,000 by 1911 and then stayed relatively stable, rising gradually to the present 38,000.  Ilkeston would now seem mainly to be a dormitory town for Nottingham and Derby.

The first purpose-built cinema was the Scala (always pronounced Skayla!).  Before that, there had been the Hippodrome from 1909 that was primarily a music hall but showed some films as part of a performance, and pubs that would occasionally show films.

A list of the cinemas in Ilkeston is set out in the table (data extracted from The Thrill of it all by David Roddis.  This shows that since 1915 there were either 3 or 4 cinemas up until the closures in the 1960s. In the after-war years to the mid-60s there were an estimated 5600 cinema seats available to a population of roughly 35,000; 17 seats per 100 people.

Only the Scala is still operating as a cinema: the Ritz building has been saved, but is no longer a cinema.

Final name	Year opened as cinema	Year closed as cinema	Seating	Present state of the building
Electric Picture Palace	1910	1914		Demolished
New Theatre*	1911	1965	2000 - 800	Demolished
Scala	1913		1000 - 800	Grade II listed Operating as a cinema
Kings	1915	1964	1340	Demolished
Globe	1915	1923	850	Demolished
Ritz	1938	1968	1400	Grade II listed.  Operating as a bingo hall

*The New Theater (always pronounced New Thee-Ater!) had several names: it started as The Theatre Royal, then in 1911 it became Vint’s Electric Picturedrome.  It changed its name to The Coliseum, back to The Theatre Royal and finally in 1931 changed and stuck with the name The New Theatre.

  

The Scala Cinema

The Scala was Ilkeston’s first purpose-built cinema, designed by James Parsons and Sons of Bulwell. The style incorporates features of Edwardian, classical and art nouveau designs.

Note the text below which is a legacy record and has not been updated since the building was originally listed. [Listing NGR: SK4643941782  Source: English Heritage Listed building text is © Crown Copyright].   Details of the building may have changed in the intervening time. You should not rely on this listing as an accurate description of the building today.

Stock brick, partly cement rendered and painted. Welsh slate roof.  Frontispiece in Edwardian Classical style, utilitarian brick range behind. The frontispiece is a tripartite composition of gabled centre bay, flanked by canted bays. Banded rustication.

The centre bay is filled by a large semi-circular headed arch, supported on Ionic columns, the entablature and dentil cornice of which continue across the canted bays and along the return walls. The arch has a stepped keystone with swag and cartouche above in the apex of the gable. The canted bays have 2-light square section mullion windows to each face and on the main face, beneath the sill, a panel with a swag. Tall attic/parapet with moulded stringcourse. Within the entrance arch is a half domed semi-circular recessed porch. The entablature and cornice continue round and the half dome has panels of applied mouldings. The back range is of stock brick, without windows and with the east and west elevations broken up by panels of recessed brickwork.

Scala Cinema is a Grade II listed building, and also it has been given a Star Award because of its continued use.

The cinema has reopened after a £150,000 centenary revamp – shown in all its finery in the picture.  It is currently owned by the Loughborough-based Reel Cinemas.

The Ritz Cinema

[From Ilkeston Advertiser 12 October 2000].  Ilkeston’s former Ritz cinema has been made a listed building - thanks to popular demand.  Arts Minister Alan Howarth made the announcement, after a nationwide survey of historic Picture Palaces by English Heritage and widespread public consultation. They are among 40 cinema buildings throughout the country to gain extra protection, bringing the total number of listed buildings to 155.

English Heritage have described The Ritz as: The finest surviving cinema building designed by Reginald Cooper, who was one of the most fluent provincial architects specialising in cinema design.

Interior views of the Ritz, now used as a bingo hall

Opened on May 16th, 1938, the exterior displays the influence of contemporary Odeon cinemas, inspired by German modernism from the previous decade.  The auditorium is in streamlined Moderne mode with decorative motifs derived from the neo-Chinese fretwork style originated by German theatre architect Oskar Kaufmann. Mark Lowe, Manager at the Ritz, said he was pleased the building had been listed, but said he had expected it to have happened much sooner.

Sir Neil Cossons, Chairman of English Heritage, said: The overwhelming and enthusiastic response to our public consultation illustrates how much people treasure their local cinemas. According to the hundreds of letters we received from all over the country, these Picture Palaces are not only magnificent architecturally but are held in great affection by people and can play a key part in local regeneration. Too many splendid cinemas have disappeared over the years and the announcement will safeguard some of the finest remaining examples.

The Ritz now runs as a bingo and social club, operated by Beacon Bingo Clubs: Cricklewood, North London.

Here is a list of what we decided to cover. Each week will be dedicated to a particular area and you will have the opportunity to gather as much information about the cinemas in each area and the audiences that frequented them.

Week 2: City Centre Part One

Gaumont (aka Hippodrome) Wollaton St, Mechanics, Milton St, Playhouse Cinema, News House (aka Regal/British Cinema) Parliament St

Week 3: City Centre Part Two

The Elite, Parliament St, Odeon (aka Ritz) Angel Row, Victoria, Milton St, Carlton, Chapel Bar Mount St, Scala, Market St

Week 4: Wider Nottinghamshire

Any cinemas outside of Nottingham and in the wider Nottinghamshire area. This could include Ilkeston, Belper, Narrowmarsh, Eastwood, Druryhill etc

Week 5: City North

Any cinemas in the following areas: Forest Fields, Radford, Hyson Green and New Basford (Bonnington, Radford rd Hyson Green, Futurist, Valley Rd Basford, Grand, Radford Rd Hyson Green, Leno’s Radford Rd etc)

Week 6: City Suburbs

Any cinemas in the following areas: Carlton, Bakersfield, Mapperley, Sherwood and Bulwell and anything we have missed out!

Nottingham's Cinema History

This blog will follow the Exploring Nottingham's Cinema Heritage course and include all the research findings, pictures and videos compiled by the group.

Each week we will focus on a different cinema or area of Nottingham to try to build a nostalgic history of the culture of Nottingham's cinemas.

The group will be able to speak to friends and relatives, use the public library and the internet to uncover stories, insights and memories of Nottingham's cinema past.

All findings will be emailed or scanned in and placed in this blog to give everyone a sense of ownership over the material and to be able to access a unique picture of Nottingham's past.

It is hoped that over the next 6 weeks we will be able to unearth a cultural history of cinema culture in Nottingham built on your memories and experiences.

To help get you started there are a few useful resources that might be worth a look. The documentary 'Nottingham at the Cinema' is a detailed look at cinema's that are no longer with us and reveals a personal history over about 100 years. A short clip and details are below

Short clip from the dvd/video of the same name available for £4.99 from Nottingham Audio Visual (NAV) Tel: +44 (0)115 939 3322

Also the book 'Going to the Pictures: A Short History of Cinema in Nottingham' by Michael Payne and published by Nottingham Civic Society is essential reading as are a collection of books detailing local history produced by the group. 

 read about the book here link