On Tuesday we were delighted to hand over the floor to Bob McDermott- one of our group’s members- who talked us through his memories of cinema and film in Manchester. His story began at the very beginning, with his father, a projectionist, hastily ending a showing to attend Bob’s birth- and being sacked for good measure!
Journeying up from his old haunts in Withington into central Manchester, we stopped at each former cinema of note along the way. The discussion was complemented by old photographs, virtual tours around the areas on Google Street View, and videos of the cinemas in their glory days. It was wonderful to hear everyone joining in with their own recollections, demonstrating how much of an impression the cinema made on people’s lives.
We look forward to hearing the second part of Bob’s talk on the ‘Theatres of Manchester’ later this year, and we hope you can come along too!