Odeon Morden

I used to stay in Morden back in the mid to late sixties at my Aunts house near Cannon hill during the school holidays. I remember going to the Odeon to see the film Khartoum in 1966, its spectacle and tragic ending had quite and effect on me. I can remember walking up to the facade and being quite excited in seeing a film there as I came from Lincolnshire and the Odeon was quite an imposing building to me. I remember the interior was quite grand to what I was used to but I can’t remember a cafe there. Perhaps thats due to the fact that we would visit the Wimpy bar after. I also saw the Daleks Invasion Earth AD 2150 film with Peter Cushing and the 1966 Gerry Anderson film Thunderbirds Are Go there, both egg and milk to an 11 year old boy.

Then in 1980 I had an occasion to visit London and I drove through the centre of Morden on the way to relatives in the South. I saw that the Odeon had become a DIY store and was quite shocked. Now there is not much left of the Morden I remember, the Odeon, Caterfoods Supermarket and United Dairies all gone. It all looks a bit Dystopian to me now as I was there six years ago to visit my Uncle who still lives there. I have fond memories of Morden and the Odeon, like many such buildings it is such a shame it wasn’t valued more than it was.