Classic Hayes

This was originally a project of Essoldo Cinemas to bring back a cinema to Hayes after they had closed the Essoldo (former Savoy Cinema) to become a bingo club. Prior to its opening the Essoldo company had been taken over by Classic Cinemas Ltd. chain. It was located in space above a newly built supermarket that was adjacent to the former Savoy/Essoldo Cinema (now a Mecca Bingo Club). The entrance and stairs up to the cinema was made through a former shop in the Essoldo Cinema building, with a connecting ‘bridge’ across to the new building.

The Classic Cinema opened on 2nd June 1972 with Twiggy in "The Boy Friend". It was a comfortable, but rather bland cinema, with a plain facade and an auditorium which had orange coloured drapes on its walls.

Initially a success, business began to dwindle when multiplex cinemas began to open. The staff organised a petition against closure, which gathered 15,000 signatures. However this was in vain and the then owners, the Cannon Group, set a date and it was closed on 2nd January 1986 with a full house watching Michael J. Fox in "Back To The Future".

The cinema was unused and later the Waitrose Supermarket below was closed, leaving a desolate building. It was demolished in the early-2000’s and a ‘shed’ was built which is now occupied by a Lidl Supermarket.

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