Cine City, manchester

I was reading through the excellent blog by Laura Skilbeck(http://lauraskilbeck.blogspot.com/ well worth a look) when I stumbled across the sad news that the derelict Cine City cinema had been knocked down to make flats. It opened in 1912 as the Scala, only the third cinema to open in Britain. Can you imagine how electrifying it would have been to be taken to see you first film there, the air still rich with the smell of sticky wet paint?
I knew nothing of its history before looking it up today to be honest. I havnt been near there since 2003. To me it was a really cool looking building that I looked at from the top deck of the bus, on the way to visit a friend in Didsbury.

But I was fascinated with this building. It looked cool enough to be on a record sleeve. I even went on a mission to take some photographs of it(arty black and white jobs, you know the drill), a plan scuppered by a pair of 'gentleman-of-the-street' sitting on the steps drinking what suspiciously looked like a bottle of port,who kept asking strange questions about my trousers, and became enraged when I got my camera out, mistakenly thinking I was photographing them.

Whats really interesting to me, is that I dug up some pics someone had taken after breaking in the place. Initially, I was pissed of as I thought it would be shots of chavy ‘erberts pissing up walls etc. but actually, they are hero historians. Without them, I would have no idea what the inside of the building would of looked like. it’s a funny old world isn’t it? Now, pass the popcorn.

here are links to,what i think, are fascinating pictures.

http://www.28dayslater.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=28157
http://www.28dayslater.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=21211