High Street, Southend, 1971
Southend High Street following a cloud burst over the town in 1971. Advertising the Southend Standard, the bridge ahead is the location of the Town's railway Station, which stands to the right of the bridge out of view.
The red illuminated 'Caters' sign marks the entrance to the Southend branch of the Cater Brothers supermarket, the store occupying the former lobby and stalls area of the Odeon cinema. The cinema was still operational at this time, but had in 1970 been converted to a 2-screen layout, sacrificing the stalls and stage area for conversion into retail use. The Caters supermarket business was acquired by Debenham's in 1973. Debenhams sold the business and its 24 stores to Cavenham Foods subsidiary Allied Suppliers in 1979. The Caters supermarkets were then integrated into Allied's 'Presto' supermarket chain, the Cater Brothers brand name being dropped.
Returning to the cinema, that had opened in July 1935 as the 'Astoria', a grand venue with a lavish interior. The Astoria featured a deep-set stage behind its screen, seated 2,750 people, and had twelve dressing rooms for performers. In c1940, the Astoria became part of the Odeon Theatres empire.
Over the decades, Southend's Odeon had been host to many world famous acts including Laurel and Hardy on their final tour in 1953, the Beatles in 1963, and the Rolling Stones supported by The Hollies in 1965. Other famous acts included Jazz trumpeter Louis Armstrong, singers Dusty Springfield and Cliff Richard. The last film shown was Star Wars in 1996 after which the cinema was closed. Demolition came in 2004 and today a campus building for the University of Essex stands on the site. A new 8-cinema Odeon complex in the town replaced the original cinema.
The bus partly off picture is Southend Corporation 211, a 1956, Weymann bodied Leyland Royal Tiger. 211 had been purchased from Glasgow Corporation where it had been numbered LS7. Southend acquired five of these buses from Glasgow in 1966 (LS6-8, LS15 & LS1), numbering them 210-214 respectively. All were withdrawn during 1972.
Background information sources courtesy of Essex Live (Odeon). Wiki (Cater Bros history), and Peter Gould's Local Transport History Library (bus history).
Image scanned from the original 35mm slide.
High Street, Southend, 1971
Southend High Street following a cloud burst over the town in 1971. Advertising the Southend Standard, the bridge ahead is the location of the Town's railway Station, which stands to the right of the bridge out of view.
The red illuminated 'Caters' sign marks the entrance to the Southend branch of the Cater Brothers supermarket, the store occupying the former lobby and stalls area of the Odeon cinema. The cinema was still operational at this time, but had in 1970 been converted to a 2-screen layout, sacrificing the stalls and stage area for conversion into retail use. The Caters supermarket business was acquired by Debenham's in 1973. Debenhams sold the business and its 24 stores to Cavenham Foods subsidiary Allied Suppliers in 1979. The Caters supermarkets were then integrated into Allied's 'Presto' supermarket chain, the Cater Brothers brand name being dropped.
Returning to the cinema, that had opened in July 1935 as the 'Astoria', a grand venue with a lavish interior. The Astoria featured a deep-set stage behind its screen, seated 2,750 people, and had twelve dressing rooms for performers. In c1940, the Astoria became part of the Odeon Theatres empire.
Over the decades, Southend's Odeon had been host to many world famous acts including Laurel and Hardy on their final tour in 1953, the Beatles in 1963, and the Rolling Stones supported by The Hollies in 1965. Other famous acts included Jazz trumpeter Louis Armstrong, singers Dusty Springfield and Cliff Richard. The last film shown was Star Wars in 1996 after which the cinema was closed. Demolition came in 2004 and today a campus building for the University of Essex stands on the site. A new 8-cinema Odeon complex in the town replaced the original cinema.
The bus partly off picture is Southend Corporation 211, a 1956, Weymann bodied Leyland Royal Tiger. 211 had been purchased from Glasgow Corporation where it had been numbered LS7. Southend acquired five of these buses from Glasgow in 1966 (LS6-8, LS15 & LS1), numbering them 210-214 respectively. All were withdrawn during 1972.
Background information sources courtesy of Essex Live (Odeon). Wiki (Cater Bros history), and Peter Gould's Local Transport History Library (bus history).
Image scanned from the original 35mm slide.