Going To The Pictures

The happy memories of the Odeon Cinema, Waterloo (now the Plaza)

Edwina Lyons as child web


I am one of seven children and live in Waterloo. In the late 1950s and early 1960s, when we were all younger, we used to go to the Odeon cinema (now the Plaza) on Crosby Road North, Waterloo.

On Saturday mornings Mum would be glad to see the back of us and we would head off to the cinema where they held the Saturday Club. We would pay our 6(d) pence to go in to the cinema, we would then buy our sweets and popcorn from the counter and when we walked into the main auditorium there would usually be a man playing the organ. This would then lead to us all singing our Saturday morning song, when we had finished we would settle down to watch something exciting like Flash Gordon, or a western. I always remember the adverts; it’s a bit like the telly nowadays, but without the fast forward. During the interval we would look out for the lady with the ice-creams and would have either a tub or an Orange Maid. If you were lucky you got a Jubbly – hmm, lovely. After the interval there would be something else to do, such as a competition or a draw. Sometimes the competition was a Yoyo race to see who could ‘walk the dog’, ‘swing the baby’ and other tricks that I have long forgotten. This did not happen all the time, but when it did it was great!!!

We lived from one Saturday to another and the happy memories of the Odeon for me as a child in the 50s and 60s are filled with happy times.”

Edwina Lyons