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ABC Cinema
The ABC is a grade two listed building designed by William R. Glen and Alfred Ernest Shennan for £200,000 and opened in 1931 as a Forum Cinema. The building has an impressive interior, noted as one of the architect's best, boasting Italian marble lining the walls of the foyer and second floor, the notorious 'sunburst' design on the lower floor ceiling as well as in chandelier form on the towering arched ceiling and a decorated proscenium. The building was renamed to ABC Cinema in 1971 and then split into three individual screens to show films more frequently. In 1986 it was renamed Cannon Cinema before closure in 1998. Sometime in 2016, the main hall was de-tripled showcasing the beautiful original design once more.
The power functioned on the lower floors are partly into the foyer on our first visit, which is when the lit up shots were taken. If you left the lights on for more than 3-4 minutes, a loud alarm would go off so we saved turning them on to the end of our visit. On our second venture, the lights wouldn't work at all. I heard someone else went following us and got them back on again though, so I'm not sure how the situation with them truly is.
We'll start with the main highlight. Hardly anything has changed from 1939, apart from recent signs of deterioration.
A closer look at some of the seats, covered in dust.
The newer projection room. We missed the older one in the oval dome, which was definitely the better of the two.
Downstairs with the lights on.
Looking back at the main hall from the stage.
Foyer
The Playtime Popcorn machine still had bare bits inside.
I was very surprised that these goodies were still remaining. A storage room in the basement full of old lenses. I first saw this space in @meth 's report from 2009 but I never expected them to still be inside.
A few miscellaneous bits in the upper floors to conclude.
Here you can find our documentary styled video of this location. We cover the cinema's past, present and future through cinematics and narration:
Thanks for reading
The ABC is a grade two listed building designed by William R. Glen and Alfred Ernest Shennan for £200,000 and opened in 1931 as a Forum Cinema. The building has an impressive interior, noted as one of the architect's best, boasting Italian marble lining the walls of the foyer and second floor, the notorious 'sunburst' design on the lower floor ceiling as well as in chandelier form on the towering arched ceiling and a decorated proscenium. The building was renamed to ABC Cinema in 1971 and then split into three individual screens to show films more frequently. In 1986 it was renamed Cannon Cinema before closure in 1998. Sometime in 2016, the main hall was de-tripled showcasing the beautiful original design once more.
The power functioned on the lower floors are partly into the foyer on our first visit, which is when the lit up shots were taken. If you left the lights on for more than 3-4 minutes, a loud alarm would go off so we saved turning them on to the end of our visit. On our second venture, the lights wouldn't work at all. I heard someone else went following us and got them back on again though, so I'm not sure how the situation with them truly is.
We'll start with the main highlight. Hardly anything has changed from 1939, apart from recent signs of deterioration.
A closer look at some of the seats, covered in dust.
The newer projection room. We missed the older one in the oval dome, which was definitely the better of the two.
Downstairs with the lights on.
Looking back at the main hall from the stage.
Foyer
The Playtime Popcorn machine still had bare bits inside.
I was very surprised that these goodies were still remaining. A storage room in the basement full of old lenses. I first saw this space in @meth 's report from 2009 but I never expected them to still be inside.
A few miscellaneous bits in the upper floors to conclude.
Here you can find our documentary styled video of this location. We cover the cinema's past, present and future through cinematics and narration:
Thanks for reading
