Like most blokes I like to keep in contact with my old friends usually for a quick pint and to talk about the old days. Although we all used to meet up regularly back in the day, we all now only manage to meet-up a few times a year, so our meetings are usually planned well in advance. This particular meet-up was originally arranged for June but was cancelled due to a health issue on my part. As a result the guys rescheduled the meeting for early December (as our Christmas night out) in my old home town where I stayed from 1960 -to the early 1970s in a pub that used to be an old cinema. As it turned out this was the cinema that I watched the then new James Bond release "Thunderball" as a 5 or 6 year old in with my mum. Although I expected to see the revamped pub retain some of the old cinema’s format I was (pleasantly) shocked to see that the pub chain (Wetherspoons) had retained so much of the original Savoy cinema as can be seen below.
Above the upper viewing deck of the old Savoy cinema where I think my mum and myself watched "Thunderball" . Below the view showing the new bar where the lower seating area, toilets and concession stall used to be. I also took a picture of the entrance area but deleted that in error.
This visit really was a bit like time travel for me as it all seemed so familiar and brought back many long lost memories of that time. Below is the original front of the old cinema that closed not long after I saw this movie.
It was realy strange to think that all those years ago my mum and myself visited this place to watch a movie, we may even have stood at the bar area in 1965/6 to buy some sweets before the film started.
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Ah, it's always nice to revisit the past, isn't it. My old cinema was the first purpose-built cinema in the UK since World War II and had the largest screen in Scotland. What was it called again? Ah, yes - The Cinema! It's now a Bingo Hall, but it's days are numbered if development plans for the Town Centre get the go-ahead.
ReplyDeleteI like the cinema in East Kilbride and hope it's not knocked down for redevelopment. It is indeed nice to revisit those days from time to time, but sometimes it would be nice to,stay a bit longer .
ReplyDeleteYou seem to be thinking of the new cinema multiplex, McS, which I think is safe, whereas I'm talking about the original Cinema - which is now a Bingo Hall. There's talk of some changes around where the Bingo Hall now occupies, as well as demolishment of the newer end of the centre - the Debenhams end, to be replaced by flats and houses.
DeleteAh I was indeed thinking of the multiplex. There used to be cinemas in literally every town in Scotland now even large towns like Motherwell, Wishaw and Paisley don't have one. I suppose that's the effects of things like Netflix.
ReplyDeleteMerry Christmas and a Happy New Year, McS. Lang may yer lum reek.
ReplyDeleteHave a great Christmas Kid and all the best for 2025
ReplyDelete