It irritates me that Tim says the reason he goes for old theatres is to rescue them and that it reminds him of his childhood, yet his pub chain takes over the building and then lets the "back rooms" rot. they kit it out ONCE! Then it all rots till they abandon it. I worked for spoons and thought I had the pleasure of meeting tim till I realised the true motive, cheap building or rent and lots and lots of profit, and putting local businesses out of business shameful!
@@ConfidentialMeerkat I wont set foot in a spoons ever again after the way he treate the staff during lockdown ect! and i agree with what you say about him taking old cinmas/ theatres over in some they have just used the stalls area and blocked off the cirlcle and main prosenum arch ect and left it to rot! BUt in others they have done a sympathetic rebiuld ...three come to mind St georges hall in Bristol that they closed (and the blocked off area had the cirlcle and stage left to rot) , the van dyke forum in bristol ....cant even tell when you go in it used to be a cinema aprt from the outside! and then you have the moon under water in manchester that has retained much of its interior , (mind you thats prob because its down as manchesters oldest cinema apparently so they had to preserve as much as they could ect! 😉😉
We have been in quite a few of these, I remember one in Glasgow quite fondly and one in London, too, one of them had an old projector modified and cleaned in display when you walked in.
Best British Urbex channel on RUclips. You show care and respect. No obnoxious idiots. Beautiful camera work and attention to details. I feel your passion for the architecture and history in the buildings you visit.Thank you 😊
I watched this video and instantly realised I've been here lots of times! I used to go here with friends to play bingo years ago... its the Mecca Bingo in Southport Merseyside. It was a magnificent building, had no idea it had closed :(
Great film. So sad to see such a beautiful building abandoned. I imagine all the ghosts of people who once had fun times there. It's a sign of the times sadly. So much of our City centres have never recovered from being closed. Hopefully the place will once again ring with the sounds of people having fun. All that detail has been saved , should be a listed building.
TBH most theatres or cinemas that got converted to bingo (before cinema chains trippled thier old venues) in the uk Kept a LOT of the art deco / orginal decoration! BUt now since the 90s /2000s when bingo hall chains started to build new modern bingo halls a LOT of the old places have closed and been left to rot sadly! (some even being used as cannabis farms in the past as there are no windows ect so perfect to hide from prying eyes!)
Another cinema, which ended up as a bingo hall..like many did from the late 60s..still intact, in many ways, there is always the chance it could be brought back to it`s original use as a cinema, or maybe it was also a theatre as well during its lifetime..The Plaza in Stockport suffered the fate, and around 1998 a group of people got together, to form a charitable trust, approached the council, and the venue was saved, and re-opened as a theatre in 2000, now 24 yrs later it is still functioning as one of the few Art-Deco super cinema/theatres in the country, complete with Compton organ, which has remained in situ since 1932, and is played often.and the venue shows films and has live shows throughout the year..playing host to many well known comedians, and stars who return when on tour..and to anyone who watches Talking Pictures channel, the organ you see in between programmes is the Plaza in Stockport, and the 1932 organ.,
We had three similar in Chester. The Gaumont, ABC, and Odeon where I saw Towering Inferno in the 70's. Odeon since converted into a venue called Storyhouse. Just out of interests who owns the building and pays the electric bills.
Actually, It was a Stelmar Followspot, not a Brenograph Effects Projector, we had four of the Stelmar Followspots at the London Palladium, an amazing piece of engineering for it's time.
Lots of them are still open. Pretty sure at least 3 bingo hills within an hour of me are old theatres. I’m cool with it though,better then letting them decay
Honestly seeing any venue in this state breaks my heart. But this one seems like a reasonable savlage given that so little has gone south. I hope she is grade listed and the proposals work out for her. To see so much of the original features still in tact was incredible, especially given that most conversions arent sympathetic to archetecture or history.
that is an original projector room, it is not converted but it is complete with stations for the projectors, the lamphouses are still present, the rectifiers for the projector lamps, film rewinders and boxes for the reels that place is a cinema.
A long time ago, Southport was the UK’s most visited seaside town. It had over 30 railway stations. Blackpool soon overtook it though and it continued to do better in the motorist era as you have a proper motorway going to it unlike Southport which has to be reached via crowded A roads
WoW to inside and out, what a building, it should be forced to be grade 1 or 2 minimum and a no withered spoons either clause. Never been to this town but what a brilliant area. Thanks Ubandoned peeps
I've explored quite a few cinemas and I've never seen the bio cabin located in the roof like that. It is usually located at the back of the dress circle/ lounge.
Another great vlog guys, U people are Awsome, Lads please come to India🇮🇳 I will show u really big abandoned places. Specialy a Graveyard of Officers from east India Company that was built in 1849
8:38 Your double projectors were the minimum required of course for films longer than what fits on a standard reel. If you know about the phantom black dot flasher ... please skip to the end... whose briefs appearance in each and every single movie ever shown on literally each and every silver screen on earth no matter where it may be, with not a flicker of concern to be seen from the flea pit, the sticky floored right on up to the most imperially monolithic Empire on a Saturday night with you and your gal done up to the nines. Flight of fancy there sorry just building the picture. Anyway what follows will be one of those once witnessed, never missed again annoyances. In the last couple of minutes of the first film reel in the top right corner of the screened image there's a short formation of blink and you'll miss 'em black ink spots over time ending with a bigger jet black disc. This is every projectionist's nightmare because it means press play on the next reel's projector NOW! That's why there's always two projectors: to ensure a seamless showing of a film.
Umm yes, I waxed lyrical so much that I sent myself to sleep as well as anyone else reading it. My point was meant to be about the two projectors and the couple of follow spots you reckon are former projectors too. That rang the Five Minute to curtain up bell in my head. I'm sure that I experienced film screenings with multiple projectors beaming their images onto the big screen at the same time. Intended to be transcendental, trippy, totally immersive I must impress (Failing repeatedly so far -Ed.) upon anyone still awake that i) Big screens hadn't all been so hastily hanged, drawn and quartered yet & ii) This had nothing to do with the physical necessity of the mechanics of showing a 3D movie i.e. a separate R,G&B feed. No it was art apparently. My point at last: Any older buggers recognise what I'm on about coz this stupid bugger's not got a Danny. Finis
Why was change over every projectionists knight mare? Was never mine nor other projectionists whom I know & have met during my forty years as a projectionist
I believe the building is going to be restored, and converted into a hotel and event space (saving the auditorium yay), if this is the place I think it is :/
Weatherspoons when they inevitably purchase & convert the building:
"The projection booth will be the perfectly inconvenient room for the toilets"
If it saves beautiful buildings from destruction I'm all for it. 👍
It irritates me that Tim says the reason he goes for old theatres is to rescue them and that it reminds him of his childhood, yet his pub chain takes over the building and then lets the "back rooms" rot. they kit it out ONCE! Then it all rots till they abandon it. I worked for spoons and thought I had the pleasure of meeting tim till I realised the true motive, cheap building or rent and lots and lots of profit, and putting local businesses out of business shameful!
@@ConfidentialMeerkat I wont set foot in a spoons ever again after the way he treate the staff during lockdown ect! and i agree with what you say about him taking old cinmas/ theatres over in some they have just used the stalls area and blocked off the cirlcle and main prosenum arch ect and left it to rot! BUt in others they have done a sympathetic rebiuld ...three come to mind St georges hall in Bristol that they closed (and the blocked off area had the cirlcle and stage left to rot) , the van dyke forum in bristol ....cant even tell when you go in it used to be a cinema aprt from the outside! and then you have the moon under water in manchester that has retained much of its interior , (mind you thats prob because its down as manchesters oldest cinema apparently so they had to preserve as much as they could ect! 😉😉
We have been in quite a few of these, I remember one in Glasgow quite fondly and one in London, too, one of them had an old projector modified and cleaned in display when you walked in.
@@dizzydevil547what did spoons do then
Best British Urbex channel on RUclips. You show care and respect. No obnoxious idiots. Beautiful camera work and attention to details. I feel your passion for the architecture and history in the buildings you visit.Thank you 😊
Really appreciate this!
Fantastic explore! This place is pristine. Hopefully it will be preserved! 😁
Fingers crossed!
Lost count of the times I said "f**king hell" while watching this. What an amazing place and such a shame to see it abandoned. Very sad.
We were the same! …
I watched this video and instantly realised I've been here lots of times! I used to go here with friends to play bingo years ago... its the Mecca Bingo in Southport Merseyside. It was a magnificent building, had no idea it had closed :(
Great film. So sad to see such a beautiful building abandoned. I imagine all the ghosts of people who once had fun times there.
It's a sign of the times sadly. So much of our City centres have never recovered from being closed.
Hopefully the place will once again ring with the sounds of people having fun. All that detail has been saved , should be a listed building.
Glad you enjoyed it. It is very fitting of many town centres in the UK at the moment, losing their leisure sites for accommodation and office space.
Cheers @@Urbandoned look forward to the next.
Great video lads and loved that since its modernisation for bingo that some of the Art Deco features were kept.
TBH most theatres or cinemas that got converted to bingo (before cinema chains trippled thier old venues) in the uk Kept a LOT of the art deco / orginal decoration! BUt now since the 90s /2000s when bingo hall chains started to build new modern bingo halls a LOT of the old places have closed and been left to rot sadly! (some even being used as cannabis farms in the past as there are no windows ect so perfect to hide from prying eyes!)
Amazing building!
Another cinema, which ended up as a bingo hall..like many did from the late 60s..still intact, in many ways, there is always the chance it could be brought back to it`s original use as a cinema, or maybe it was also a theatre as well during its lifetime..The Plaza in Stockport suffered the fate, and around 1998 a group of people got together, to form a charitable trust, approached the council, and the venue was saved, and re-opened as a theatre in 2000, now 24 yrs later it is still functioning as one of the few Art-Deco super cinema/theatres in the country, complete with Compton organ, which has remained in situ since 1932, and is played often.and the venue shows films and has live shows throughout the year..playing host to many well known comedians, and stars who return when on tour..and to anyone who watches Talking Pictures channel, the organ you see in between programmes is the Plaza in Stockport, and the 1932 organ.,
We had three similar in Chester. The Gaumont, ABC, and Odeon where I saw Towering Inferno in the 70's. Odeon since converted into a venue called Storyhouse. Just out of interests who owns the building and pays the electric bills.
What you called a spotlight in the projection room was actually a Brenograph used to project slides and coloured effects.
Actually, It was a Stelmar Followspot, not a Brenograph Effects Projector, we had four of the Stelmar Followspots at the London Palladium, an amazing piece of engineering for it's time.
Incredible explore this lads. So annoying that we lose this history so easily. Keep doing what you’re doing, it’s vital documentation.
Completely agree, thanks for understanding
Thanks for sharing this beautiful building. Obviously has a grand history. We can only hope this gorgeous place can see life and laughter again.
Yes, I think it deserves it, but whether it happens is another question
I hope it's kept and reused without too much modernisation what a beauty that is.
your work is a look back at social history and building design that might or will be lost , keep the good work going
Will do!
Epic explore super building which could be refurbished easily into a public useful place 😊
Wow, beautiful retro vibes. Thanks for sharing
Wow! Amazing explore. The place is in such fantastic condition. Big thumbs up 😊👍.
Thanks :)
It’s good that you caught this early and in a good condition. I dread to think of it decaying away over years or demolished. Great video.
I haven’t seen it for a good while, but I don’t think much has happened, so seeing it now would be rather saddening I would imagine
Hi guys! Brilliant explore. So much to see. Hope plans to reuse and reopen go ahead!
Stunning building and great explore - hopefully the theatre is a listed building external and internet- it should be protected.
Amazing place guys . Great content very informative and interesting
Best explorer channel on YT
England must have went mental for bingo at one stage as there is loads of these old theatre conversions dotted about everywhere
Lots of them are still open. Pretty sure at least 3 bingo hills within an hour of me are old theatres. I’m cool with it though,better then letting them decay
Bingo saved a lot of these old theatres from demolition
Honestly seeing any venue in this state breaks my heart. But this one seems like a reasonable savlage given that so little has gone south. I hope she is grade listed and the proposals work out for her. To see so much of the original features still in tact was incredible, especially given that most conversions arent sympathetic to archetecture or history.
Really enjoyed this video. Intelligently done. Was it not possible to visit back stage and the dressing rooms? That would have been very interesting.
Best visual you have done so far 🎉🎉🎉
Cheers!
Great video guys and the Art Deco details are absolutely beautiful
It was great that they were still intact
Let me guess Garrick Theatre Southport Great building in its day lets hope the fact its Grade 2 Listed manages to save it Great vid as always
that is an original projector room, it is not converted but it is complete with stations for the projectors, the lamphouses are still present, the rectifiers for the projector lamps, film rewinders and boxes for the reels that place is a cinema.
A long time ago, Southport was the UK’s most visited seaside town. It had over 30 railway stations. Blackpool soon overtook it though and it continued to do better in the motorist era as you have a proper motorway going to it unlike Southport which has to be reached via crowded A roads
AWH what a shame
Brilliant as always guys
The auditorium really reminds me of Troxy in London!
A great video showing some hidden beauties
I’m glad you kept the location secret! For obvious reasons 👍 MINT👌
class shit as always lads🔥
First film shown there when it converted? Love Me Tender starring Elvis the Pelvis Presley!
Loved this explore ! Eerie how all the lights are still on. Wonder what will become of this structure? Hopefully not flats !
It seems very likely sadly
WoW to inside and out, what a building, it should be forced to be grade 1 or 2 minimum and a no withered spoons either clause. Never been to this town but what a brilliant area.
Thanks Ubandoned peeps
not surprised it was like that only a month after it closed. What does it look like NOW in Mid 24?
You should explore the central hall in Birmingham. It’s a beautiful old building derelict and rotting away. So sad.
We did it in 2018. It’s not the best video however, so maybe we will go again at some point. It has changed for the worse, though, since we visited
So easy to convert back into a concert venue, with so many tribute acts etc I’m sure it would be financially viable 🤔
I've explored quite a few cinemas and I've never seen the bio cabin located in the roof like that. It is usually located at the back of the dress circle/ lounge.
Yes, it’s brilliantly unique
Love
Surprised the power is still on. Someone must still be paying the bill.
That looks so much like the Apollo Victoria that it's actually a bit disconcerting.
It's in Southport.
Another great vlog guys, U people are Awsome, Lads please come to India🇮🇳 I will show u really big abandoned places. Specialy a Graveyard of Officers from east India Company that was built in 1849
How come all the lights are on? 😮
Who's paying for the leccy??
Temple to a better world of distraction, thank you.
Yes Those Boxes would have been used for bingo this is why the table is in there
I wonder how much of the fly system and rigging is still in place above that false ceiling on the stage.
At the time we visited, it probably was all there, but I doubt it is anymore. Anything that could be sold will have been
Are the lights always on? Or did you guys turned on every light?
Always on! Well, we didn’t turn them on anyway
Good enough for me! Love ya@@Urbandoned
Doe's not really look abandoned. Nice and clean. Electric still on.?
Damn...projectors crafted in London. They're probably not worth a great deal, but they're very cool!
They had two projectors so they could swap reels
Another super video guys. Are all the lights on permanently or do you switch them on for filming ?
They were already on in here!
Did you have to turn on the buildings power or was it on when you entered?
It needs turning into Xanadu
great as a cinema but wasted as a boring bingo hall
How do you get there???
8:38 Your double projectors were the minimum required of course for films longer than what fits on a standard reel.
If you know about the phantom black dot flasher
... please skip to the end...
whose briefs appearance in each and every single movie ever shown on literally each and every silver screen on earth no matter where it may be, with not a flicker of concern to be seen from the flea pit, the sticky floored right on up to the most imperially monolithic Empire on a Saturday night with you and your gal done up to the nines.
Flight of fancy there sorry just building the picture.
Anyway what follows will be one of those once witnessed, never missed again annoyances.
In the last couple of minutes of the first film reel in the top right corner of the screened image there's a short formation of blink and you'll miss 'em black ink spots over time ending with a bigger jet black disc. This is every projectionist's nightmare because it means press play on the next reel's projector NOW!
That's why there's always two projectors: to ensure a seamless showing of a film.
Umm yes, I waxed lyrical so much that I sent myself to sleep as well as anyone else reading it.
My point was meant to be about the two projectors and the couple of follow spots you reckon are former projectors too.
That rang the Five Minute to curtain up bell in my head.
I'm sure that I experienced film screenings with multiple projectors beaming their images onto the big screen at the same time. Intended to be transcendental, trippy, totally immersive I must impress (Failing repeatedly so far -Ed.) upon anyone still awake that
i) Big screens hadn't all been so hastily hanged, drawn and quartered yet &
ii) This had nothing to do with the physical necessity of the mechanics of showing a 3D movie i.e. a separate R,G&B feed.
No it was art apparently.
My point at last:
Any older buggers recognise what I'm on about coz this stupid bugger's not got a Danny.
Finis
Why was change over every projectionists knight mare? Was never mine nor other projectionists whom I know & have met during my forty years as a projectionist
@@michaelbiggs7286 I stand corrected. Practise makes perfect! Thanks .
I call foul on this one!!..... ALL the lights still on, security systems working...... This one was a set up and planned with the owners.
You’ve got us there!
Looks like either Buzz bingo or Gala
Edit its Mecca
Preservation order???
I thought this was a Mecca Club the carpet give it away for me
It is
12:31- Martini anyone?
Great video, but no need to blur things out
Secret location.
I believe the building is going to be restored, and converted into a hotel and event space (saving the auditorium yay), if this is the place I think it is :/
Leeds?
@@360FovGoing by a comment from someone who says they recognise this blushing as somewhere they’ve been, apparently it’s in Southport, Merseyside.
@@360FovSouthport
Where is this?
How sad. No Weyherdpoons please.
Amazing…any reason why you haven’t said where exactly it’s located?
I looked up the projector and there's a lot of mention of Leeds
@@360FovSouthport.
Just like the one by me that closed down. Now a spoons.
Mecca bingo hall
abandoned Theatre,Any one want to watch a Movie,It be free after been closed down
Gooid explore
what's the point "documenting" a place and blurring out half of it ?
Abandoned ?? NOT!! it's in transition - between owners .. Why call it Abandoned .. Click bate af !! Unsubbed ..
Whatever it's future is a great video. I just created a new account to give back your lost sub. 😁
Byeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!
Yea it is actually research
This isn't an airport, you don't have to announce your departure. 🥱
Technically everything is either owned or between owners😂