The History
How it looked back then
Streatham Megabowl sits to the right nowadays
The Explore
Arty shot of the night
The Stage
Strippers billboard
One for the ladies
Backstage
Bits of the PA system amongst rubble on the dancefloor
Extremely grainy shot of the stage from the balcony
The sorry state of affairs, if only we'd got there 2 weeks earlier....this gives you an idea how big the place is at least
Plaster decorations ripped off the walls
Stairs leading up to the balcony, most rooms up there appeared to have been stripped already with asbestos removed
Looking towards the balcony from the top of the stairs
One of the countless murals dotted around
The bar
Looking across from one balcony to another with large leather seating downstairs
Cage fighting poster
Hand written bubbly menu, perhaps from an illegal boxing match....?
More murals
Carpets with Caesars logo
Balconies
Compliments slips in one of the offices that hadn't been stripped yet but were trashed
Found this sign amongst the rubble 'Smile you're going on stage'
Thanks for looking, you can see more shots from Caesars on their still functioning website here http://www.darkforce.com/caesars/
RIP Caesars
Caesars started life as the first purpose built Ballroom in England opening in 1928 as 'The Locarno Ballroom'. It was one of the premiere London nightspots of the time, with Glenn Miller, Laurel & Hardy, Audrey Hepburn, and Charlie Chaplin among the top names to grace its stage.
How it looked back then
Streatham Megabowl sits to the right nowadays
In 1969 it became the 'Cat’s Whiskers Club' with a revolving stage where bands such as The Rolling Stones, The Small Faces & Rod Stewart performed. Miss World and Come Dancing (now Strictly) started their legacies there and it became a regular haunt for people in the London underworld such as The Krays. It went on to become 'The Studio' in 1984, 'The Ritzy' in 1990 and eventually 'Ceasars Night Club' in 1995 owned by Fred Batt. The new owner started the first lap dancing club for women in there, it also became a boxing venue and held the first ever pro female boxing match. In recent years cage fighting took place in there and since it's closure there are rumours that illegal boxing matches went on there.
It made several TV appearances, most notably in Guy Ritchie's movie Snatch for Brad Pitt's boxing scenes. Most Haunted filmed there in 2009 where they attempted to investigate the ghost of Ruth Ellis, the last female to be hung in the UK who is said to have worked in the club in 1948. The episode can be viewed here > https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uwslEY1LFkA and although it's a load of nonsense there is some half decent footage of what the club looked like in it's former glory right at the beginning.
In 2010 the club ran into financial difficulties and had to close it's doors for the last time. It was bought by developers who failed to do anything with it and was sold on again in the last 12 months to commercial property developers London Square along with the Megabowl next door. The existing buildings are to be demolished except for the historic facade of the Megabowl and the new site will include 243 new homes, children’s play space, retail space on ground level, plus a community and theatre space. Demolition is fully under way now.
Fred Batt with the dancers
It made several TV appearances, most notably in Guy Ritchie's movie Snatch for Brad Pitt's boxing scenes. Most Haunted filmed there in 2009 where they attempted to investigate the ghost of Ruth Ellis, the last female to be hung in the UK who is said to have worked in the club in 1948. The episode can be viewed here > https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uwslEY1LFkA and although it's a load of nonsense there is some half decent footage of what the club looked like in it's former glory right at the beginning.
In 2010 the club ran into financial difficulties and had to close it's doors for the last time. It was bought by developers who failed to do anything with it and was sold on again in the last 12 months to commercial property developers London Square along with the Megabowl next door. The existing buildings are to be demolished except for the historic facade of the Megabowl and the new site will include 243 new homes, children’s play space, retail space on ground level, plus a community and theatre space. Demolition is fully under way now.
The Explore
I've been trying to access this place for the last year or so, the closest I got was inside the roof but there was no way inside the building from there. Every other access point was locked up and I had pretty much given up until I heard that the demolition team had turned up. I made a trip with extreme_ironing and we found a way in but unfortunately we were a little too late as much of the interior had been ripped to shreds already, gutted (literally). Anyhow it was still great to see the inside of the place and there was enough of it left to imagine what it would have been like. The ballroom is enormous and with it being in pitch darkness it was difficult to photograph well, especially with the batteries dying in my torch. Anyway I did what I could and hopefully enough for you to imagine the place before it is gone forever. The Roman murals covering the walls would've been enough to make even Del Boy blush, they were tacky as hell but kind of cool. Anyway onto my pics, hope you enjoy 
Arty shot of the night
The Stage
Strippers billboard
One for the ladies
Backstage
Bits of the PA system amongst rubble on the dancefloor
Extremely grainy shot of the stage from the balcony
The sorry state of affairs, if only we'd got there 2 weeks earlier....this gives you an idea how big the place is at least
Plaster decorations ripped off the walls
Stairs leading up to the balcony, most rooms up there appeared to have been stripped already with asbestos removed
Looking towards the balcony from the top of the stairs
One of the countless murals dotted around
The bar
Looking across from one balcony to another with large leather seating downstairs
Cage fighting poster
Hand written bubbly menu, perhaps from an illegal boxing match....?
More murals
Carpets with Caesars logo
Balconies
Compliments slips in one of the offices that hadn't been stripped yet but were trashed
Found this sign amongst the rubble 'Smile you're going on stage'
Thanks for looking, you can see more shots from Caesars on their still functioning website here http://www.darkforce.com/caesars/
RIP Caesars
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Bit sorry I had to leave early after seeing these. Nice one.
