We attended one of the Auction open days and got some photos of the interior and exterior. I used to play there when it was Top Rank Bingo, loved the building, was such a shame they didn’t make more use of it and keep it in good repair. I seem to recall a news story of them uncovering large murals on the walls of the hall when refurbishing, I can’t recall when though. Anyway, the photos of the building can be seen here.
I only went there once as a child and have dim memories of it. One thing though that a couple of other patrons have told me about itwas that the roof could open, and often would in the summer. I’ve heard this a couple of times and was wondering if anyone knew if it was true or not?
There’s a nice gallery of images of the buildings interior here, from around 1991 when it was the Top Rank Gaiety Bingo Club. Quality’s not great I’m afraid, but you get the idea of the style of the building.
So many great memories of this cinema, I still get dreams about it every so often. I went there between 1977 and the time it closed. I recall seeing Star Wars there when it first came out, and my father would take me regular. The auditorium took up most of the building. There was a ticket stall in the porch area of the building, which is where they sold the sweets and stuff as well.
Once you went past the ticket booth you had two options – go into the down stairs through one door or go upstairs up a winding spiral staircase. If my recall is good, the toilets were in the middle of the spiral up to the balcony. At the very back of the balcony area was a single L-shaped seat that could seat 3 or 4 people. That was where we always sat (when we could get it!) I’d love to see some interior photos of it one day, there’s not many about.
It would seem that the Gala Bingo that currently occupies the site has just closed. I’m not sure what the future holds for the building now.
We attended one of the Auction open days and got some photos of the interior and exterior. I used to play there when it was Top Rank Bingo, loved the building, was such a shame they didn’t make more use of it and keep it in good repair. I seem to recall a news story of them uncovering large murals on the walls of the hall when refurbishing, I can’t recall when though. Anyway, the photos of the building can be seen here.
I only went there once as a child and have dim memories of it. One thing though that a couple of other patrons have told me about itwas that the roof could open, and often would in the summer. I’ve heard this a couple of times and was wondering if anyone knew if it was true or not?
There’s a nice gallery of images of the buildings interior here, from around 1991 when it was the Top Rank Gaiety Bingo Club. Quality’s not great I’m afraid, but you get the idea of the style of the building.
So many great memories of this cinema, I still get dreams about it every so often. I went there between 1977 and the time it closed. I recall seeing Star Wars there when it first came out, and my father would take me regular. The auditorium took up most of the building. There was a ticket stall in the porch area of the building, which is where they sold the sweets and stuff as well.
Once you went past the ticket booth you had two options – go into the down stairs through one door or go upstairs up a winding spiral staircase. If my recall is good, the toilets were in the middle of the spiral up to the balcony. At the very back of the balcony area was a single L-shaped seat that could seat 3 or 4 people. That was where we always sat (when we could get it!) I’d love to see some interior photos of it one day, there’s not many about.