This is more or less how I first glimpsed it. It’s in North Street, just off the main shopping street, which is now pedestrianised.

This is the front view.

I’m not sure if it’s still a snooker club. The damaged sign and general dilapidation argue against it.

The stained glass (what survives of it) is nice. And the detailing above them.

This is the view from the west.

We strolled along the road (St Aldate’s?) which led to Christ Church College and I pointed out the Cornish Pasty Company’s outlet. Pasties being in the news the good lady said, “Do you fancy a pasty, then?” I assented and we bought pasties for the first time since we were in Cornwall nearly 20 years ago. She had a pork and apple and I chose lamb with mint. Very nice they were too. A bit pricey mind. I wouldn’t want one for lunch every day.

Here’s another Art Deco building I found.

Then there was this blocky Odeon Cinema.

Its brick built nature reminded me of the former Embassy Cinema in Braintree.

The window above the entrance is striking. The frieze above that seems to have lost its surrounding (and Fanatical its F.)

Down the lane past the entrance was a square with a market. In one corner was the deco-ish Old Fire Station.

The picture is from the Scottish Cinemas website.

This building’s main claim to fame is that the Beatles once played there. I think it was when they were just on the cusp of fame. I wasn’t around at the time. (Not in Fife anyway.)

Like many cinemas it failed to survive the changing times and is now demolished.

Shame it’s gone, though.

The above image is from Scotland’s Places where there are four more pictures of the former cinema.

I just missed photographing this one for myself. By the time I started blogging it had been demolished. It’s a pity they couldn’t find a way to retain the facade.

A photo of the cinema in its heyday (taken from Burntisland.Net) is below.

Also in that Burntisland.Net link is a photo of the single remaining stained glass window which was removed before demolition plus two pictures relating to its post-cinema use.

More photos can be seen on the Scottish Cinemas website, including 65 of the interior prior to demolition.

A few years there was a proposal to fill the gap with a shop and flats. I’ve not been to Burntisland recently so don’t know if anything came of it.

When in St Andrews we don’t usually stray much beyond South Street and the bit of Market Street that has the most shops. Last time but one though we wandered down North Street and I noticed that the cinema, which is adapted from an old building, actually has a Deco style extension in behind it.

Lured by the promise of a book sale we also ventured into the part of Market Street that leads towards the Bus Station and came upon this combination of buildings, something to do with the University now – the Careers Office? – which has a deco style facade. The photo is a stitch of two.

Judging by the pictures on Google Maps it seems to have been refurbished recently.

I took these a month or so ago.

This is the former Gaumont (later Odeon, Classic and De Luxe) Cinema, Mill Street, Alloa.
According to the Scottish cinemas website it was the last Gaumont to be built pre-war, and the only purpose built Gaumont in Scotland.

Below is a photo of the upper level of a building on Primrose Street, now sadly unoccupied.

At the junction of Shillinghill and Mill Street you can see this:-

Perhaps not really deco but the bits that resemble chimneys have the look.

As part of my quest to photograph old Woolworths premises here is the Alloa variety. It’s right next to the former cinema and has been taken over by Poundland. Not deco, it looks of 1960s or 70s vintage to me.

A couple more pictures of these buildings are on my flickr site.

This was on a wet day last summer. I’ve only just got round to tidying it up for showing.

The cinema was once a Mecca then a Vogue but was more lately the location for Allied Vehicles. It looks shut now though.

Its history is on the Scottish cinemas website.

When in Glasgow’s west end during the summer (see my Kibble Palace post) I took the opportunity to photograph the local cinema, as was, The Salon. It’s a nice building.

I went there quite a few times when I was a student. Gone With The Wind is one I remember particularly well. The good lady hadn’t seen it and so I took her. She wasn’t all that impressed by the film partly due to the bum numbing experience but also the fact that the story and acting weren’t of the best. She wouldn’t have been disposed to like it anyway, though, given that the book was my mother’s favourite and my mother hadn’t ever taken to her. Never did: even after we were married. Strange woman, my mother. (I can get away with that since she died a long time ago. So it goes.) But I have to agree; it’s not a great film, perhaps not even a good one.

This is the cinema entrance on Vinicombe Street as it looks now.

The side alley was cluttered with bins and such on the day.

The other side presents to much better effect.

There seems to be a sort of church architecture to the rear of this as you go down Cranworth Street. You can see it to the left above and to the right below.

This is the view of the building from Cresswell Street.

Photos of the cinema now and in its heyday can be seen on the Scottish cinemas website.

After Corbridge we headed back up the East coast and took a look in at Alnwick.

The first thing that strikes you on the way in from the south is a huge memorial surmounted by a lion with a long straight tail. Just below, at the road junction, is the war memorial.

A crop showing the war memorial is left. I much prefer these dignified ones to those with angels all over them. Once again many more names from The Great War than from WW2.

The photo (right) is of the tower on the hill crest.

This was apparently erected by grateful tenants after The Duke of Northumberland reduced their rents.

That, on seeing how much they could afford by way of a monument to him, he immediately put up the rents again is seemingly only a rumour. We walked up to it and it is undeniably impressive. Here’s the inscription:-

The base also has lions; at its four corners.

The two memorials are across the road from what used to be Alnwick railway station. The building now houses what claims to be “Britain’s biggest second hand bookshop” Barter Books.

It’s packed with books, to be sure.

In keeping with its setting in the old station there are train sets running around above your head in the middle part of the shop. You can see the “Keep Calm And Carry On” poster from World War 2 in the next photo. I think this is the shop where it was rediscovered.

Had it claimed to be Britain’s most expensive second hand bookshop I’d have been more sure of its right to the title. Old 1960s paperbacks were priced well over £2 and I didn’t see any hardbacks below £9.60. They did have a computerised “search the stock” service if you were looking for a particular book though.

There’s a lovely old entrance arch to the main part of the town just like in York etc.

And what do you know? Just behind where I took the above photo lies an Art Deco cinema.

It’s complete with glass bricks! (See close up of the nicely rounded entranceway: right.)

The cinema also doubles as a theatre. The forthcoming productions were advertised on the windows further along past the entrance.

The bulbous bit halfway along the building – just where the van is parked in the photo – has a nice deco frieze running along it.

Since I posted about Kinghorn this week it seemed like a good idea to punt this building up the Fife’s Art Deco Heritage list a bit because the former cinema at Kinghorn has Art Deco features.

The towery bits are hexagonal and have deco steps at the top. The fenestration is modern and “eyes poked out” to my mind.

It’s a pity about the lamp-post in this second photo but it does show off the balcony better.

The cinema is of course no longer showing films. It’s a pub/function place known as “The Carousel” now.