Hi All,
A little bit of info on the BEAUFORT CINEMA
The Beaufort Cinema one the architectural gems now long gone it was a known as a "Jacobethan Mansion as the design was a mixture of both Jacobean and Tudor design, the balcony lounge stained glass windows depicted all the Kings & Queens of England and I believe when demolition took place they were taken out and bought by an American, the marvelous solid oak staircase with its lions I think went to a house in wales, as it was all peg and mortise jointed so it took apart easily. The Beaufort when it was built was originally outside the Birmingham boundry, it came under Meriden council and as a consequence it was granted a Sunday licence when all of the cinemas in Birmingham only opened Monday to Saturday. The organ was broadcast by the BBC and because it was such a success it closed very shortly after opening to be extended, so as to increase the capacity, you can see this if you look at the exit halfway down the stalls it seems superfluous after the alterations. Originally it had 2 generators, one called Harry and The other called Len, after the names of Harry & Len Morris who were the main directors of the bulding firm Morris & Jacombes the company that owned the Beaufort. The generators were in a separate building some yards to the rear so that the cinema could generate its own electricity supply before it was connected to the Birmingham main supply when the bounderies were changed and it came under Birmingham council. The projection room was under balcony at the rear of the stalls, and all the oak doors had the linen fold panelling design with the tudor rose at the top corners of the architrave of the opening, the tudor rose was also carried through to the terrazo flooring of the entrance steps and the foyer floor, as you can see from the pics the pay desk was all ornamental to match and it it was a free standing one in the middle of the foyer with the kiosk tucked away under the staircase overhang, as when it opened cinemas didn't have kiosks, you got your goodies from the shop next door before you went in. I remember my Father telling me about when he was young and he went to the Beaufort on his motor bike which he had modified by taking the baffles out of the silencer to make it sound more sporty, when he came out he started up and a policeman leapt out of the shadows and said " That isn't how that was turned out of the factory" and promptly nicked him for having an inefficient silencer, that made it a dear night out.I did a lot of my courting there as it was between where I lived in Sheldon and where the girlfriend lived in Pype Hayes, the Father of June my girlfriend was strict on her being in by 10-30pm, so one night when we came out of the cinema at about 10-20pm it was a case of jump on my Lambretta and a quick dash to get her home on time, this one night there had been some rain during the evening and as I raced down Hodge Hill Road towards the island at the Hunters Moon I went through a deep puddle which drowned the engine, so out came the spanners to get the float chamber off the carburettor and empty the water out, tempus fugit as they say and June was dancing from one foot to another saying my Dad will kill me if I'm late, and sure enough when we rolled up at
10-40pm there he was standing on the step with a face as long as a gas mans mac, needless to say he was not impressed and didn't want to hear any excuses, but we all got over it in the fullness of time.
Regards Chris B
