The aim of the Going to the Pictures Project has been to help preserve a part of our local cinema heritage by collecting and recording memories from people who used and worked in the local picture houses from the 1930′s to the 1960′s.
Explore this map of 21 local cinemas within a 3 mile radius of the Plaza, from 1930 to 1960.
Opening in the roaring 20′s The Coliseum was a large 1400 seat cinema which had balcony and cafe lounge upstairs for cinema goers to socialise and wait for the silent film screenings to begin
Happy memories of The ABC Minors and dates at the pictures
Things sold within the cinema during the 1930′s to the 1960′s were limited in terms of the refreshments and snacks sold within modern cinemas.
This is a scanned copy of a flyer that was handed out in cinemas to advertising forthcoming films.
The Bootle Picture Palace Marsh lane was built in 1912 and was the first building locally to be erected as a cinema.
The cinema became a place of respectable employment and offered roles to both men and women
The Gainsborough, opened in 1922 and was named after the famous painter Thomas Gainsborough. It was built almost directly opposite The Picture House of Bootle and helped bring about its closure.
Common themes remembered by cinema goers of the 30’s to the 60’s is that of ‘bunking in’ or not paying to get into the cinema. Also young cinema goers from the period of the 30′s to the 60′s would often ask strangers if they could go into the cinema with them so they could watch films that maybe they shouldn’t due to censorship and film classifications.