Medway Cinema`s

[grandarog]

Thanks Smiffy, I should have said that was in 1956.

[Smiffy]

grandarog, that would be the Embassy, later the Odeon, then the Classic and then back to the Embassy again! Later it was a bingo club and finally a snooker club. I don't think it's being used for anything at the moment, but at least it's still there.

[grandarog]

I cant remember the Name of the Cinema between Gardiner Street ,Gillingham Tech School and the High Street .We all played hooky one afternoon to see Bill Hayley's Rock around the Clock, Film. One of the teachers came in to extract us but there were so many of us he gave up.

[castle261]

I attended my Saturday morning pictures, first at the Invicta, commonly called the ` Bug Hutch `.
Then when the Ritz opened, I joined the Ritz Club. They were the good days, of open fields,
freedom to roam far and wide. not many cars. Horse and cart, the transport for bread vans
and milk carts. You took your jug to the milkman, who dipped a metal jug into the milk churn, to
fill your jug up.

[shoot999]

In the late forties the organist at the Majestic was Clem Waghorn; and some will remember him as 'Uncle Clem'  if they attended the Saturday morning club there.

[MartinR]

Slightly fuller biog which mentions the Majestic at https://genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/2a2fce67592a4301a54ee67f619ef913

[Diapason]

Yes! It definitely was George Blackmore who also had connections with Rochester Cathedral.
https://stainer.co.uk/composer/george-blackmore/

[castle261]

The Majestic had a part time organist, when he was on leave from the R.A.F. who lived in Luton Road.
I cant recall his name -- it could have been George Blackmore.

[pr1uk]

The cinema was riddled with damp, and not unusual to see the rats scurrying by!
It closed at the beginning of the 60s, and during demolition in 62 it caught fire.
I believe its a car park now?

Oh yes the place was a real dump but it was real cinema and at only 9d (got it right today Smiffy) that was 6d less then the posh cinemas on offer. Also in those days there was only radio indoors so the big picture was a luxury, I remember once looking around and there was a lot of men with ladies who seemed to have dropped something as they were bending over to pick something up. Well at least their head was disappearing and I also wondered why they never stayed to watch the main film, oh the age of innocence.


I agree with Smiffy it would be better to have each cinema in there own thread

[stuartwaters]

I think it might be better to keep each cinema in its own thread to make it easier for searching - perhaps we should have one for the Majestic/Gaumont?

I agree Smiffy, I think it best of each cinema has its own thread. I've lost track of which cinema is which in this thread.

[shoot999]

During the 50s the Empire foyer was used by us waifs and strays for shelter from the rain. I do remember the pictures on display of the 'girls' were strangely fascinating; but at that age I didn't know why.   Iv'e been told  nan used to take us kids there each year to the pantomime; but the only thing I can recall were the bright red opera glasses; and having to put a penny in the slot to use them. Designed by the same guy who did the London Palladium is was very ornate; but even in the fifties it had seen better days. The cinema was riddled with damp, and not unusual to see the rats scurrying by!
It closed at the beginning of the 60s, and during demolition in 62 it caught fire.
I believe its a car park now?

[Diapason]

I remember the Ritz and the Regent being built in the 1938 era. The Ritz had a very plush carpet,
your feet really sunk in to it. + the Organ + the ice cream girls. I thought the Ritz was tops,
then the Majestic, then the Regent, the Palace seating was very far from the screen. the other
small cinema`s, the Invicta, the Grand, the National, the Odeon were ok, but when you think we
had all those cinema`s in Medway ---------- we were spoilt for choice.

https://www.cinema-organs.org.uk/venues/the-buttermarket-theatre/

[Lyn L]

Smiffy. 
The cafe was  tucked back a bit from the main road, more or less parallel to where the pub building finishes , there's a road there now called Hawkwood Close. That's really about where the cafe was and if I remember rightly there was a hairdressers next door to it. Long time ago . Oh and I only ever went to the Empire once, to see a pantomime, I was about 11 yr and don't remember it too well.

[smiler]

 Now you're talking about the Empire Theatre castle 261

[castle261]

Now the Empire, had all the shows that London had -- later.  Max Miller, Two Ton Tessie, etc.
The one I remember the most was KORINGA, a girl that wrestled with big snakes, crocodiles.
If you put   koringa    in with your cursor, there is a short film of her act.


P.S. not foregetting ---- JANE.


I believe the cinema next to the Empire was the  ` Picture House `.