Well well, dispite Rooks trying to muscle in and fool you that shes not a total tour whore nowerdays i think i still need to put a few photos up and explain what the deal is with this place.
This is the first Birmingham cinema ive had much luck with. A few do exist, athough nothing perticualy stands out as having awsome potential or being worth serious effot. There seems to be two distinct types in the city, you have a few smaller derelict affairs, the kind of joints that are pretty much breeze blocked up to roof level and as far as anyone knows annoying sparse inside. Then you have the other type, the Gala's! These are modern bingo conversions that might as well have closed last week. Usualy covered in CCTV and alarm boxes yet stupidly unsecure. Guess which type keep popping up on the urbex radar!
The Kingsway was pretty much what i was expecting, a proper nice building, well preserved too, probably as it was converted after bingo people realised that cinemas were attulay quite nice inside to start with and false ceilings dont really add much to their atmosphere! I was hoping for some hidden epic but after checking everywhere, roof space to basement, all i could find was a few old seats. The projection room being located, slightly unusualy, under the circle had been reused as a store room. Never mind tho, the dome is nice!
much love
This is the first Birmingham cinema ive had much luck with. A few do exist, athough nothing perticualy stands out as having awsome potential or being worth serious effot. There seems to be two distinct types in the city, you have a few smaller derelict affairs, the kind of joints that are pretty much breeze blocked up to roof level and as far as anyone knows annoying sparse inside. Then you have the other type, the Gala's! These are modern bingo conversions that might as well have closed last week. Usualy covered in CCTV and alarm boxes yet stupidly unsecure. Guess which type keep popping up on the urbex radar!
The Kingsway was pretty much what i was expecting, a proper nice building, well preserved too, probably as it was converted after bingo people realised that cinemas were attulay quite nice inside to start with and false ceilings dont really add much to their atmosphere! I was hoping for some hidden epic but after checking everywhere, roof space to basement, all i could find was a few old seats. The projection room being located, slightly unusualy, under the circle had been reused as a store room. Never mind tho, the dome is nice!
The Kingsway Cinema opened on 2nd March 1925 with Clara Bow in "Down to the Sea in Ships". Seating was provided in stalls and circle.
Towards the end of its cinematic life it was taken over by the Essoldo circuit. It closed on 3rd May 1980 with John Huston in "The Bermuda Triangle" and the documentary feature "Encounter with Disaster".
It was converted into a bingo club
much love