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Tudor Cinema, Kings Heath

Alf said:
Judy

I believe the B&W photo was to early before ABC took it on and the Colour one was then a Mecca Bingo and ABC could have sold it on.:)

I also notice the photo you and Colin posted is in my Book as the Tudor Haunch Lane Yardley:)

This is the only Cinema in Kings Heath was the Kingsway High Street closed 1980 I knew and the last time I went was 1970s to see Lady Sings the Blues Diana Ross

There was one other called the Kings Heath Picture House Institute Road which opened 1911 changed to the Cosy 1914 closed in1915
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I believe our office number 25 was the cinema called the Cosy.
Has anybody got any fither information please
 
Gosh! the photo of the old Tudor certainly brings back memories, I was about 5 years oldwhen my brother first took me there.We lived in Cleeve
Road Yardley Wood about ten minutes walk away, that would be 1935.
If there was a "A" film on we used to wait outside and ask someone to "Tek us" in. They used to change the film twice a week, and a differant one on Sundays, Oh the carefree days of youth, we were all so very innocent in those days werent we? Sometimes we would go to the Robin
Hood on Stratford Road but that was further to walk. A lot of people used to get
mixed up with Yardley and Yardley Wood but they are nowhere near each
other really. bye Bernard67 Arnold :cool:
 
I believe our office number 25 was the cinema called the Cosy.
Has anybody got any fither information please
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I have only seen references to the Kings Heath Picture House aka Cosy, Institute Road with no further details, however one does refer to
films were being shown in The Institute, until the Ideal Cinema opened by the Hare and Hounds pub just before the war
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.

I'm not sure if the numbering in Institute Road has changed, but in 1948 (the earliest Kelly Directory I have) no. 25 was West Midlands Gas Board (Birmingham District) office, perhaps someone with access to an earlier Kelly may be able to help us both.

Colin
 
Charleswall1899,
Hi, didn't see the connection with your user name and your company, until I looked it up. I wonder how far your company records go back, I believe my father worked for you pre 1930, he may even have completed his apprenticeship with you.

Colin
 
Do you know anything about the Cosy Cinema as i think this is now our office.
 
Hello again, as I said on a previous post I lived in Yardley Wood from 1932 until I went into the army in 1948, I cant ever remember a Cosy, we
used to go into Kings Heath, I seem to remember Institute Road, is it off
the High Street? I know we used to go into Woolies there, no ! cant place
Cosy anywhere, Bernard
 
I think this photo is of what was once the Kings Heath Cinema in Institute Rd. I think it comes from a book about Birmingham Cinemas by Victor Price only I no longer have the book so I can't tell you any more about it.

Phil
 

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Great photo Phil, thats the first time I've seen a picture of the cinema, and it confirms that Charles office was the Kings Heath Electric Picture House.

Colin
 
A lot of debate as to the exact whereabouts of this cinema - not really in Kings Heath - as most people tend to think of that as where the shops are on and around the alcester Road (High Street).
1950s map
1621503377224.png
site today
1621503470202.png
 
Jayell said:
Now, now boys!! Be nice;) Guess you were both right, and so was I:D

Thanks to you both for your input into my question. I think I will have to get the Victor J Price book on Birmingham Cinemas as it sounds as though there would a lot in there of interest Phil.

And Alf, what is the book that you refer to, as that sounds good as well?
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When I was evacuated to Billesley in '44 during the flying bomb era we used to play on the common and often went to the cinema which I think was called The Tudor.
 
THE TUDOR CINEMA, Located in Haunch Lane Yardley Wood area in the south of Birmingham. The Tudor Cinema Theatre was opened on 30th March 1929. It was designed by architect Harold Seymour Scott, and was built by W.T. Whittall & Sons Ltd. The exterior of the building was in a Jacobean style, while the interior continued the Tudor theme. Seating in the auditorium was in stalls and circle levels.

The Tudor Cinema Theatre was taken over by the Associated British Cinemas(ABC) chain in 1934. It was closed on 17th March 1962 with Charlie Drake in “Petticoat Pirates” and the documentary “Drums for a Queen”.

It was converted into the independent Tudor Bingo Club and later became a Mecca Bingo Club. The building was demolished in July 1990. A block of flats known as Home Meadow Court was built on the site.Tudor ABC.jpgtudor colour.jpg
 
pjmburns said:
The Tudor would have backed on to Billesley Common. There is still a pathway which comes off the common nearby.
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At one time I lived with my mom and dad and gran in the prefabs near the Tudor (Marked red on the map) We moved out around 1952 but gran lived there for many years after. I recall a time in the early 50's when there was a freezing winter and fuel was difficult to obtain. Dad, his brother and I went to visit gran and I was told to follow dad and his brother. Dad had a shovel and his brother had a sack. We walked round and entered Billesley common by the pathway mentioned by pjmburns, and then we all clambered over the fence at the rear of the Tudor and found ourselves near a big pile of coke used to fire the cinema boilers. Dad and his brother filled the sack quickly and and swiftly backtracked into the common, me with shovel the two men carrying the sack of coke. Across the common to the wire fence surrounding gran's garden and whilst I held the bottom of the fence up, the men, with the shovel and sack of coke shuffled under quickly followed by myself and then the stolen fuel was dumped into the coal shed and gran had her winter fuel.
I wouldn't dream of considering such a thing now but at the time I was only about 5 or 6 and as far as I know it was dad's only venture into crime:eek:
Tudor Cinema and prefab_LI (2).jpg
 
jmadone said:
At one time I lived with my mom and dad and gran in the prefabs near the Tudor (Marked red on the map) We moved out around 1952 but gran lived there for many years after. I recall a time in the early 50's when there was a freezing winter and fuel was difficult to obtain. Dad, his brother and I went to visit gran and I was told to follow dad and his brother. Dad had a shovel and his brother had a sack. We walked round and entered Billesley common by the pathway mentioned by pjmburns, and then we all clambered over the fence at the rear of the Tudor and found ourselves near a big pile of coke used to fire the cinema boilers. Dad and his brother filled the sack quickly and and swiftly backtracked into the common, me with shovel the two men carrying the sack of coke. Across the common to the wire fence surrounding gran's garden and whilst I held the bottom of the fence up, the men, with the shovel and sack of coke shuffled under quickly followed by myself and then the stolen fuel was dumped into the coal shed and gran had her winter fuel.
I wouldn't dream of considering such a thing now but at the time I was only about 5 or 6 and as far as I know it was dad's only venture into crime:eek:
View attachment 159802
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Hope Gran got the coke to ignite, usually coke supplied for commercial use takes forever to ignite with wood and paper as it it is blast fed in commercial boilers.
 
Chris B said:
THE TUDOR CINEMA, Located in Haunch Lane Yardley Wood area in the south of Birmingham. The Tudor Cinema Theatre was opened on 30th March 1929. It was designed by architect Harold Seymour Scott, and was built by W.T. Whittall & Sons Ltd. The exterior of the building was in a Jacobean style, while the interior continued the Tudor theme. Seating in the auditorium was in stalls and circle levels.

The Tudor Cinema Theatre was taken over by the Associated British Cinemas(ABC) chain in 1934. It was closed on 17th March 1962 with Charlie Drake in “Petticoat Pirates” and the documentary “Drums for a Queen”.

It was converted into the independent Tudor Bingo Club and later became a Mecca Bingo Club. The building was demolished in July 1990. A block of flats known as Home Meadow Court was built on the site.View attachment 159729View attachment 159730
Click to expand...
 
In the 1950s I went to the Tudor with my mother and aunty. My aunty lived my grandmother in Brentford road just round the corner from the cinema. Yet another bit of history demolished!
 
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Vivienne14 said:
The cinema using Birmingham produced sound equipment. Viv.

View attachment 157268
View attachment 157269
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The claims for this very early sound equipment were rather exaggerated, but back then you could get away with it. People would still have been amazed as the talking picture show had arrived and did away with the man and his piano.

It's basically a record player attempting to keep track of the mouth movements of the actors shown on the film which was doomed to failure. Sound/picture synchronisation was a problem that went on for years even with the arrival of the sound stripe directly on the film the lip synch would not match more often than not.
 
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