Memories shared of Art Deco cinema frozen in time

Locals described the former Central Cinema as "tatty and unloved"

People have shared their "lovely memories" of a disused Art Deco cinema with an ornate crumbling façade that is earmarked for redevelopment.

Central Cinema on Hobson Street, Cambridge opened in 1921 on the site of a garage and was rebuilt nine years later.

Plans to demolish the building to make way for retail, office and community spaces are now waiting for approval.

Paul Dean, from Cambridge, said he went to the cinema in the 1940s and 50s and remembered "if you cuddled and kissed with girlfriends the usherette Mrs Birch used to come and shout at you to 'behave or get out'."

'People came from miles'

The cinema became a bingo club in 1972 at a reported cost of £10,000.

Mel Stearn, from Cambridge, said she had "lots of lovely memories" of working at the bingo hall, where her parents and brother also worked.

"My mum and dad met there."

Roy Ethridge said he watched a lot of films in the Central, later taking his mum there to play bingo. "People came from miles away to play bingo," he said.

The bingo hall closed in 2009 and the building has been empty since.

The building that later became the cinema was used by the Cambridge Automobile Company in the early 1900s

The window for the Cambridge Automobile Company in 1913

Census records show the cinema building was a residential home in the late 1800s before being taken over by the Cambridge Automobile Company.

When it became Central Cinema, it became popular popular with residents and students.

In 1930, a newspaper report said a group of rowdy undergraduates surged into the cinema "like an avalanche" on one evening.

The cinema manager said: "Such a thing has never occurred before; the undergraduates were undoubtedly the cause, they think they can do as they like."

Central Cinema first opened in 1921 using the former car showroom and garage

Central Cinema was rebuilt in 1930 both outside and inside, with bright mauves, oranges and blues, with a sky-effect ceiling in the theatre.

The building was clad with bright white "faience" - a type of enamel earthenware - and glazed brick in an Egyptian Art Deco style with designs resembling wings and flowers.

A Cambridge News report of the grand opening said "throngs of people" came to watch Harold Lloyd’s Welcome Danger. "Many were unsuccessful," it said.

The cinema was severely fire-damaged in 1940, which made local headlines once again. A report said the roof collapsed in a "shower of sparks", but it was rebuilt.

Central Cinema on Hobson Street in 1960s Cambridge, about 20 years after the fire

The cinema closed and was converted into a bingo hall in 1972

Bingo players enjoyed competitions, winning prizes like this whisky at a Burns Night bingo night

Hobson Street in the early 1900s, with Market Square on the other side of number 21

Nowadays the building's façade is cracked and rusty and its doors boarded up.

The recent planning application has received many comments from people interested in the building.

One person said the old cinema was a "now sadly tatty and unloved building."

They said: "This is an Art Deco building. In its prime it would have been magnificent and with care and attention could be again."

The application was validated on 25 April and is now waiting for a decision from Greater Cambridge Shared Planning.