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.
Like cinema itself, the way women have been represented on the big screen has changed through the decades
Explore this map of 21 local cinemas within a 3 mile radius of the Plaza, from 1930 to 1960.
The Winter Gardens cinema was a popular place for showing ‘X’ certificate films and memories have been shared
The role of women portrayed on the screen often fell within the stereotypical roles amplified and made up by Hollywood
Very few original pieces of cinema memorabilia have survived over the years, but through the project we have been able to unearth and scan some great pieces which may have other wise been discared. Here we have a Cinmea Flyer from 1962
In some cinemas admission could be obtained by exchanging jam jars if you had no money. This practice was especially true at the children’s cinema matinees where some children would take them to the cinema with jam still in.
When we were all younger, we used to go to the Odeon cinema for the the Saturday Morning Club. We would pay our 6(d) pence to go in, buy our sweets and walk into the main auditorium were a man played the organ.
Cinema was very much a part of Derek’s life, becoming a manager and meeting his wife at the cinema. One memory was when Fulham Football team visited one of the cinemas he managed, before playing Liverpool the next day.