Monthly Archives: December 2009

Overlooking the busy roundabout, the delicate golden friezes and the dull wall are the remnants of the days when cinema was mass-entertainment and when double-bills were the rule. This is what’s left of the Gaumont Palace on Loampit Vale, previously one of the largest cinemas in the UK with its 3,300 seats and which was destroyed in 1991. Now, Lewisham, with its 250,000 inhabitants, is one of only two boroughs in London without a cinema screen (the other being Waltham Forest). In our first post about the history of cinemas in Lewisham, John Scott, now 73, shares with us his memories as cinema manager. Continue reading →