Co-Op Report

Look what I found

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And this:

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And the posh one for special occasions

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The State - certainly not an architectural delight on the outside but in its heyday 30's splendour inside.

What was the name of The Odeon before it became The Odeon? Was that The Gaumont? What was the name of the club downstairs? I remember going there as a young teenager on Saturday morning discos and then later to see Tyrannosaurus Rex as well as Savoy Brown.

All we need now are pictures of The Plaza (me and my mates aged about 14 tried to get into an 18 film there by paying half-price..... we were turned away); The Belgrave which was the first one I ever went into to see Davy Crockett when I was about 4yrs old - I was terrified;

I tried to find a picture of the Forum, since it's just down the road from me, but most of what came up was either just a view of the street with the cinema in the distance or else pictures of it as it is now - the most popular bingo hall in Plymouth, judging by the racket people make when they're coming out of a big night there.

I think I only ever knew the Odeon as the Odeon. Sat upstairs in there to see the Sound of Music.

Was the Plaza Studio Seven?

Tell you what an all - didn't everything look much more spacious when there weren't so many cars clogging the place up? No wonder I think everything's smaller now I'm (nearly) grown up.

And here's a rare archive photo of me doing my 200 yards breaststroke

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Lo & behold ..... The Belgrave. I think part of the building is still there.

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I saw my first ever X rated film (Friday the 13th in case you are wondering) in the Belgrave when I was about 15. The building is still there but it is a snooker club now.

Jello wrote:

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An aunt of mine worked there. Her job was to clean the seats after the shows. (I made that last sentence up but I've been waiting to use it for years after an American friend told me that was one of his first jobs to earn money at college.)

For Pepsi Pete.

Whitliegh before, well, it was there !! The road on the left is Crownhill road.

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On a seperate note. This made me laugh. The first Ivor Dewdney's on the left, A tonic shop on the right! 

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For anyone with a real interest in this sort of stuff, may I recommend Brian Mosely's plymouth data website.

Warning: Once you start looking/reading, you'll be stuck in there for hours. 

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Jello wrote:

For Pepsi Pete.

Whitliegh before, well, it was there !! The road on the left is Crownhill road.

Thank you very much, always interested in old Plymouth pictures. Only lived in Whitleigh for 12 years, after 30 years in Peverell. Was born and grew up in South Molton, North Devon.

Jello wrote:

For anyone with a real interest in this sort of stuff, may I recommend Brian Mosely's plymouth data website.

Warning: Once you start looking/reading, you'll be stuck in there for hours. 

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That's where I was getting most of my piccies from. A grand site!

This one is almost as good with shots from further afield as well.

Jello wrote:

For Pepsi Pete.

Whitliegh before, well, it was there !! The road on the left is Crownhill road.

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On a seperate note. This made me laugh. The first Ivor Dewdney's on the left, A tonic shop on the right! 

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I've very possibly been in the car outside Ivor's, if not that actual one another one of his that looked like it, he was friends with my Grandparents and took me dog racing, he owned and raced Greyhounds btw.
Where was the State, can't say I remember that one?

The State was half-way down St Budo hill.

When was Whitleigh developed? I think Ernesettle was the first estate built after WW2 so I'm guessing most of Whitleigh came after that?

Edit: I've just looked it up..... [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

Was? The State's still there, albeit serving (I think) as a carpet warehouse. It was a snooker hall for a while, too. Towards the bottom of Victoria Road, Budo.

All these lovely proper cinema buildings, most of them still relatively intact, properly soundproofed and grand in a way a purpose-built multiplex never can be. Wouldn't it be great if some rich person decided to spend some money turning them back into cinemas?

Peggy wrote:

Was? The State's still there, albeit serving (I think) as a carpet warehouse. It was a snooker hall for a while, too. Towards the bottom of Victoria Road, Budo.

All these lovely proper cinema buildings, most of them still relatively intact, properly soundproofed and grand in a way a purpose-built multiplex never can be. Wouldn't it be great if some rich person decided to spend some money turning them back into cinemas?

Some brave souls are having a go at the old Palace theatre, Union Street. I'm not sure it's going to succeed after reading the story. Got to admire their effort though.

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We've had Whitleigh before it was built. Here's Southway.......

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The cinema on Ilfracombe High Street is a cracker. Proper olde worlde inside and they even have an intermission during the film so that you can get a Kia Ora and a choc ice.

And Lynton has one with only about 50 seats. I think it's the smallest in the country.

I do know the State after all, never been inside though.
My last cup of tea was quite a comfortable temperature, normality resumed.
Sorry thought this was mundane.

knecht wrote:

When was Whitleigh developed? I think Ernesettle was the first estate built after WW2 so I'm guessing most of Whitleigh came after that?

Edit: I've just looked it up..... [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

I think alot of the more outskirt parts of Plymouth were part of the post WW2 redevelopements. An idea of utilizing the general geography of the area allowed the planning of each small settlement e.g. Southway, Whitliegh, etc etc to include community assets and shops as well as a number of houses to support each development.

Meanwhile, in hippoland, I had a crap nights sleep due to various cats barfing and shitting all over the place. Decided to visit the bar this evening to work towards a slightly tiddly nights sleep.