In the pictures section the image of the tabs with the white lines on them is, I am reasonably certain, of The Kino in Walton On he Naze which was situated on the sea front and visibly smaller than The Regal.
Prior to 1986 it was a snooker club called Stowmarket Snooker Exchange. When they left for a larger venue I took the lease on The Corn Exchange and opened Movieland Cinema on 6th December 1986 with Labyrinth, starring Jennifer Grey and David Bowie. At this time Stowmarket had been without a cinema for over a year as the council turned The Regal into more of a live venue, preferring not to show films. Movieland was very successful, filling the cinematic gap left by the rebranding of the Regal.
Two years later I sold Movieland to another operator and when he went out of business a year or two later, sadly he took Movieland with him. After a couple of people had a go with it and failed, it was permanently closed. Stowmarket Town Council took the lease on the building as they had by that time, returned The Regal to its previous role as a cinema with occasional stage shows.
Diamond Screen was big investment that just didn’t pay off. I had enjoyed a long history with film distributors by this time but the cinemas in Bury St Edmunds obviously helped sway distributors concerning my twin in Thetford. In the end we were not far behind if at all but ultimately due to the nature of some of the patrons we decided to pull the plug and move on. Trevor Wicks at Hollywood Norwich bought much of seats and equipment and I was happy to turn the key!
In the pictures section the image of the tabs with the white lines on them is, I am reasonably certain, of The Kino in Walton On he Naze which was situated on the sea front and visibly smaller than The Regal.
Richard Gibson. Your photo is indeed from 1988. Thanks for sharing. I loved creating and owning this little cinema! Great times.
Prior to 1986 it was a snooker club called Stowmarket Snooker Exchange. When they left for a larger venue I took the lease on The Corn Exchange and opened Movieland Cinema on 6th December 1986 with Labyrinth, starring Jennifer Grey and David Bowie. At this time Stowmarket had been without a cinema for over a year as the council turned The Regal into more of a live venue, preferring not to show films. Movieland was very successful, filling the cinematic gap left by the rebranding of the Regal.
Two years later I sold Movieland to another operator and when he went out of business a year or two later, sadly he took Movieland with him. After a couple of people had a go with it and failed, it was permanently closed. Stowmarket Town Council took the lease on the building as they had by that time, returned The Regal to its previous role as a cinema with occasional stage shows.
Diamond Screen was big investment that just didn’t pay off. I had enjoyed a long history with film distributors by this time but the cinemas in Bury St Edmunds obviously helped sway distributors concerning my twin in Thetford. In the end we were not far behind if at all but ultimately due to the nature of some of the patrons we decided to pull the plug and move on. Trevor Wicks at Hollywood Norwich bought much of seats and equipment and I was happy to turn the key!
I believe this is actually The County in Sudbury, Suffolk.