Cinemas and Theatres of Peterborough

Even in my lifetime Peterborough cinemas have changed a lot. I remember going to the Odeon as a child and even in my teens, in fact I remember going to the Odeon to watch E.T. and Bambi! The last movie I watched there would have been Arachnophobia in 1990. The Odeon opened it's doors to the public in 1937, two months before the Embassy on the same road opened. The Odeon had a very successful run for over 50 years, the last movie was shown in 1991. Local entrepreneur, Peter Boizot MBE purchased the building and four years later reopened it with a new name, The Broadway Theatre.

The Odeon, the year it opened - 1937.

The Odeon cinema, Broadway. Exact date of photo unknown, although the presence of the Mk2 Ford Cortina would suggest that it could be late 1960s or early 1970s.

A birdseye view of how the building looks today. Notice how the developers kept the building looking close to how it looked originally.

An early photo of the Embassy, date unknown but could be 1937 as it looks like there's a few construction materials lying around. I'm not old enough to remember the Embassy cinema, I only remember it by the name of the Canon. The Canon had something the newer Showcase Cinema doesn't, a bar! The Embassy was also known as the ABC before it became the Canon.

A view of the Embassy cinema on the right hand side of this photograph, dated 1940, also on Broadway. The building is now a bar/nightclub.

Birdseye view of how the building looks today.

The following four photographs were sent to us by Matthew Lloyd of www.arthurlloyd.co.uk

There is a rather interesting page on Matthew Lloyd's website dedicated to the Hippodrome and The Embassy, definately worth a visit.

The above photograph, taken sometime during the 1920s, is quite a treat as I doubt there are many photographs of the Theatre Royal in existence. The Theatre Royal was built during the Victorian era, 1878, although it's original name was 'The Grand'. Later on it became 'Theatre Royal' and before it's demise it was called 'Theatre Royal and Empire'. The building eventually made way for Sheltons which opened in 1960.

A programme from the Theatre Royal and Empire dated September, 1956. This little gem recently came up on eBay, so we just had to buy it!

Inside view of the same programme.

Flyer from the Theatre Royal and Empire, dated 1956. A year later, the theatre closed it's doors for ever.

Thanks to two of our visitors, Marion Brown and Alan Cunnington we have a little bit more information about old cinemas in the Peterborough area:

At some point there was a cinema on Occupation Road, the building still stands, the name is unknown but further information would be appreciated. There was also a cinema known as 'The Princess' which stood on Lincoln Road/corner of Northfield Road. A Mr. Ernie Hills was the manager at 'The Princess' before he moved to (possibly) 'The Embassy'. Mr. Hills used to have a plaque on a wall in his flat that said 'This is a place of entertainment but not for the staff.'. The plaque came from either 'The Princess' or 'The Embassy'.

There was also a small cinema in Palmerston Road, Woodston known as the 'Savoy'. The 'Savoy' had double seats on the back row and I suspect many couple made good use of them! The Savoy was also unique in the fact that when you walked in the screen was behind you.

The building that housed the 'Savoy' cinema, photographed in 1996.

Information regarding two more cinemas has been passed on to us. There was the City Picture house in Bridge Street and the Broadway located somewhere along Broadway where 'Rock Around The Clock' was first shown in Peterborough. The Broadway later became a bingo hall. Further information is required about these tweo cinemas, if you know anything about them, please contact us using the 'Contact Us' link from the menu at the top of the page.