• Welcome to this forum . We are a worldwide group with a common interest in Birmingham and its history. While here, please follow a few simple rules. We ask that you respect other members, thank those who have helped you and please keep your contributions on-topic with the thread.

    We do hope you enjoy your visit. BHF Admin Team

Weoley Cinema

Yes, it was my local fleapit in the 50's I went with the school in 1953 to see the conquest of Everest, makes me laugh now but some of the X certificate films we saw then are now shown on afternoon TV! mostly Dracula & other 'horror' films but as we were underage we used to try & talk with a deep voice & say we were 16 altho we were only 13.
 
hiya Izzy You Must have Been A local then I loved the saturday matinnes when I came out my Dad used to take me over the road to the cali pub for a lemonade and a packet of crisps .
 
Barns Hill Weoley Castle

Opened 1st Aug 1936 Closed early 1960s & Demolished:)

No more info
 
otherhalf said:
yes I know alf but it was the way it went that was sad same as a lot of buildings nowadays I guess :(
Click to expand...

Nobody predicted that cinemas would ever be popular again after the arrival of TV & pulled them down or made bingo halls:cry: & yet we are now seeing new cinemas springing up & the film industry is once again thriving:D
 
hi postie good to see that picture brings back a few memories ,in its day it was typical of local fleapits , however it did have a character of its own and like a lot of people i spent many a happy hour or two in there thank you .
 
Here is another equally bad photograph, the Weoley Cinema was obviously a cinema that wasn't photographed often.

Phil
 
hi pmc that photograph must be just after the weoley was built the ground at the front of it is now barnes hill but back then it was a country lane the road used to be cobbled if i remember correctly and the buses that ran up and down were the 20a & 20b that was early 50s when we moved there
 
My mother was the projector operator or some years until it closed down.The last film that was shown was The Magnificent Seven.The manager was a man called Mr Barnet,the assistant projectionist was Lennie Hill.I remember going up the back entrance stairs,through the projection room and down onto the balcony to watch the films [free of charge].When I was 5 years old [1950] I ran away from school [St Michaels at the top of Jiggins Lane] and ended up at the "flea pit" where Mrs Hazelwood ,the usherette,told my mother who let me watch the afternoon performance ,took me home,and marched me back to school the next day.
 
Great story Chrisdfacer. I often wished I knew someone who had a job
at a cinema so that I could get in free at times. Mr. Riago, the Manager in the l940's and l950's at The Plaza, Stockland Green lived down the road from me
He never seemed to recognize me when I turned up at the Plaza!
 
Getting into the Cinema free was something we did on a regular basis till we got caught:) we lived by the weoley and on a saturday morning when the kids were going in I could sneak in through the side door exit:) I used to look out my bedroom window to see if the coast was clear run downstairs into the back garden and over the fence over the bit of waste ground jump down onto the cinema ground and down the stairs and sneak in through through the exit door which someone usually:) left open:D
 
I was a regular on Saturday mornings for the kids club. And also as I grew older into my teens. For some reason it was known as 'The Wob'
 
Hi, I remember the Wob fleapit very well.The manager was a Mr Barnet [1950 1960] and my mother used to work there as a projectionist working alongside a Lenny Hill.I used to get in by my mom opening the side door and going up and through the "box" [projection room] and the down onto the balcony.Other than that Mrs Woodhouse would let me in without paying.There was an open balcony on the front of the cinema where the projectionists could get a breath of fresh air until there was a reel change.The last film shown before it was closed down was The Magnificent Seven which had just been released.If you looked up at the ceiling you could see burn marks from the incendiaries dropped during the war which had never been repainted.
 
I'm a little late in coming across the mention of Weoley Castle Cinema. Does the Forum remove photos after a certain length of time as I cannot find the 2 that were posted, or am I just dim? As stated, it wasn't photographed very often.
Regards Maureen
 
Maureen
Earlier on this year there was a revamp of the software that runs the forum , and a lot of photos were lost (nothing to do with those who run the forum, just the computer "experts " that supply the software - we are not the only forum to have been tearing our hair out). Possibly the people who posted them would repost if asked.
 
Having been to a wedding at the Weoley Castle working mans club last week,I was suprised to find that the cinema had gone also the "Cali",very sad:(...wont they leave us nothing?.:rolleyes:
 
known to me and my mates as the "WOB", crept in the side door which never shut up tight to see (15 onlys) films like Dracula, and the L shaped Room,
local and not far from the chippy, shut when I was young though, never went to the Saturday minors though, always The Royalty harborne, or The Oak at Selly Oak.
paul
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top