Regal Cinema
The land on which the cinema is built is shown to be a blacksmith’s yard on the 1911 Tax Map.
Th ‘undeveloped site can be seen on the left-hand side of this postcard from early in the 20th century.
The Regal Cinema was built by Joseph Spivey to replace ‘The Picture House’ in the Market Hall. It was constructed by the local firm of A Kelsey & Son
The opening ceremony was performed by Hollywood actor Jack Evans on September 6th 1937 and the first film was “Gold Diggers of 1937”.
The cinema closed in 1970 to a packed house of “Bambi”.
It was opened as The Regal Motor Museum 10 April 1971 displaying a large number of cars and motor cycles.
After a couple of years, a larger workshop was needed for the garage business and the cinema building became a car workshop.
The workshop closed in 1986 and was empty for a year or so when it was sold to J & R Massarella who opened it as a Woods Foodmarket, who then sold out to Healds Day and Night which became One Stop and finally Tesco in 2005
Leigh’s wife Nancy worked there when it opened as a Food Store and for most of the time served as manageress staying there until retirement in 2010 ending the Spivey’s 83 years connection with the building. During that time daughter, Zoe was also Assistant Manager for a couple of years thus becoming the 4th generation working there.
Thanks to Leigh Spivey for help with this article.
Dear Angus, I’ve often browsed the Crowle Community Forum and want to congratulate you on this beautiful collection of archive material. I was born at 19 High Street in the late fifties and our neighbour over the garden wall was the beautiful Regal cinema. I was doing research for a low-relief N scale model of the Regal as it was just before 1970. The Forum’s article and photos were invaluable but I cannot find a colour photo of the Regal anywhere. I wondered if anyone who knew it could remember what colour scheme the fascade had in the 1960s. I am pretty sure the “Regal” signage was the standard deep red, but was the render white, pale blue or another colour, and were the horizontal stripes blue or red? Thanks for the nostalgia. I hope to share a few memories on a later occasion.
Hi Nigel,
Thanks for your kind comments. The model sounds interesting you must share pictures of it when finished. I’m afraid I don’t know what the colour scheme was but will pass your comments onto Leigh Spivey, who I am sure will be able to help.
We’re visited today (from our home in the west country) as my mother in law was always talking proudly about this lovely cinema. She was at that first performance in 1937!
The projection room photograph shows me with Dick Spivey taken around 1953 at the Regal Cinema Dunscroft
Hi Gordon, I think Leigh said it was you and he thought the photo was at Dunscroft but said the two projection rooms were very similar.