Made a rare visit to this fleapit in the late 70s . The building was very run down and have to say viwing the film was a bit off putting as rain from outside trickled in along walls and down aisles ( psychedelic it was not )
Large central cinema as I recall – saw many films in my youth ( 1970s ) and enjoyed its later incarnation as a nightclub ( Busby’s ) . Always enjoyed the junction between the local Bristolian accent and the term “Gaumont” which always sounded quite odd. Most recent use was as “The Sports Cafe” a sports themed huge bar hoping to catch in on the late 1990s sports craze , but that chain disappeared as quickly as it arrived .
Never visited this as a cinema but the door to the front left was formerly the entrance to a snooker club “The Paragon” . I presume it used the upper level of the former cinema .
This cinema was known as The ABC Bedminster for years and I remember seeing dozens of movies through the seventies there – from Kelly’s Heroes to Grease . Became a little run down , like the area it supported . Sadly it went the way of many large suburban cinemas , poor film choices , poor facilities , insecure car park did not help . Will remember forever the many years of going to the ABC Minors shows on a Saturday morning. More recently it was a run down bingo hall and closed to become yet more flats.
Made a rare visit to this fleapit in the late 70s . The building was very run down and have to say viwing the film was a bit off putting as rain from outside trickled in along walls and down aisles ( psychedelic it was not )
Large central cinema as I recall – saw many films in my youth ( 1970s ) and enjoyed its later incarnation as a nightclub ( Busby’s ) . Always enjoyed the junction between the local Bristolian accent and the term “Gaumont” which always sounded quite odd. Most recent use was as “The Sports Cafe” a sports themed huge bar hoping to catch in on the late 1990s sports craze , but that chain disappeared as quickly as it arrived .
Never visited this as a cinema but the door to the front left was formerly the entrance to a snooker club “The Paragon” . I presume it used the upper level of the former cinema .
This cinema was known as The ABC Bedminster for years and I remember seeing dozens of movies through the seventies there – from Kelly’s Heroes to Grease . Became a little run down , like the area it supported . Sadly it went the way of many large suburban cinemas , poor film choices , poor facilities , insecure car park did not help . Will remember forever the many years of going to the ABC Minors shows on a Saturday morning. More recently it was a run down bingo hall and closed to become yet more flats.