ABC Wellingborough

Lyric – Wellingborough. As can be seen from the 1946 photo the projection room was vast in size. It stretched the entire width of the cinema and had rewind / battery / rectifier / workshop / office / toilet & rest room all on the one floor. There were three entrances to the projection room (1) up the fire escape from street level which went past the Managers Office window. (2) through the disused Cafe / Restaurant (3) through a door in the projection room wall at the back circle in the gangway behind the last row of seats. Nothing surprised us more if a patron should suddenly appear in the secondary sound proof door expecting to find the toilet! There were 4 (recorded) Midland Console broadcasts: two each by Trevor Willetts and Reginald Porter Brown. The organ was eventually removed and was installed in Weavers Road School for many years, devoid of its decorative glass surrounds. It now resides and is a feature in Bilston Town Hall. The Manager during my time there was Mr Ron Crabb. A great and approachable Manager, and one who was very publicity minded, but who stood no nonsense from staff or unruly patrons. There was also a visit from the popular BBC ‘DOWN YOUR WAY’ team, who had responded to a letter from me indicating that I had never ever heard of a projectionist being interviewed on it. Myself and the Manager were both interviewed by the programme presenter Franklin Engelmann. I was 21 years of age and the youngest Chief Projectionist on the ABC circuit at that time. Back stage there was two floors of dressing rooms and in earlier days it is clear that stage presentations of one sort or another were presented. In later years with the installation of the cinemascope screen, it could still be used for this purpose, although the Strand Electric board was not duplicated, and therefore had to be operated from the projection room. Apart from the two Ross projectors, there was a Stelmar spotlight and a single Robert Rigby slide lantern. In the very early days the adjacent Car Park actually had a Petrol Pump and an attendant to operate it from a brick hut at the entrance. The pump was eventually removed and the hut became a place to store Staff bicycles! The cinema also had another unique facility which permitted hundreds of patrons to queue for the next performance in inclement weather. This indoor facility stretched the length of the building down the left hand car park side and was accessed through curtains at the back right hand side of the entrance foyer …which also was the access for the Ladies Toilet! The entrance to the ‘queuing ramp’ (as it was known) can be seen in the historic architect shot of the entrance foyer, as can also be seen the decorative lanterns that initially provided the foyer illumination. It was of course, the projectionists’ job to lamp and wash all the glasswork for these, as can be seen in one of the photos. When the cinema was redecorated these wall lanterns were all removed and replaced with a central modern chandelier as can be seen in the colour shot. Patrons entered through sets of double doors from the street and obtained tickets from a small central pay box, and from there walked into the foyer and made their way to the stalls at the right hand side, or the circle by the stairs to the left.
I was sorry when it came time for me to leave the Lyric as it was a fun place to work in those days, but I’d applied for, and gained the position of Chief Electrician/Projectionist at the newly built ABC Blackpool….but that’s another story.