On the way back from Powis Castle we decided to take a quick look at Welshpool – the signposts to the castle had led us to bypass the town centre on the way there.

I spotted this building on Berriew Road and of course had to stop for photographs.

What a stunner. It absolutely screams Deco. The curves, the banding.

It’s the former Pola Cinema, now a beauty and fitness spa.

Its windows are also a delight:-

I found these images of the cinema’s past incarnations on the internet at cinema treasures.

As a town, Oswestry in Shropshire, England, may have seen better days. A lot of the buildings in the town centre looked tired.

The former Regal Cinema certainly has the deco look, though it’s now what looks like a hairdresser’s plus a Factory Shop. The original glazing would have looked better but the replacement windows are adequate:-

Reverse view. The canopy and roofline above are good features:-

Could this once have been a Woolworths? It’s now a Poundland anyway. And a Pep & Co:-

Frontal view:-

The Sports Direct has also seen better days:-

British Heart Foundation:-

This is now a B&M Bargains but may once have been a Woolworths. It has that look:-

Eden Rural Power:-

Reverse view. Art Deco rule of three in upper front and lower side windows:-

Doors on the Alhambra Cinema:-

Seen in an antique shop/yard. An old advert for Critall Windows, which were the height of Art Deco style. (The link contains all my mentions of Critall Windows):-

Art Deco Building, Peterhead. Now home to Superdrug:-

Art Deco Former Pub, Peterhead. Next to former Regal/Kingsway cinema, Marischal Street:-

Once the Drummer’s Bar, now unoccupied:-

The Regal/Kingsway Cinema, Marischal Street, opened 1939, stopped showing films before 1970.

High Art Deco stepping and verticals. Rule of three in separate verticals:-

I found several Art Deco buildings in Peterhead including two former cinemas in the style.

This one was the Playhouse (opened in 1931, finally closed 1999) in Queen Street:-

(Stitch of two photos to get it all in. It’s not really curved.):-

This photo is taken from the Scottish cinemas website

These photos were shot from one or other of the two bus tours we took in Liverpool.

This looks like a former Burton’s* but may not be. It’s certainly Art Deco:-

A former Woolworths is to its left (right as you look at it.)

Former Woolworths closer view:-

*Edited to add:- I looked at this again and realised it was more like an old cinema so I researched old Liverpool cinemas and discovered it was the ABC Lime Street, see here.

Rochdale in Lancashire, a few miles north of Manchester, isn’t quite the grim post-industrial town I had half-expected. Its town centre is in fact fairly well appointed and its Town Hall a marvel I shall come to later.

But what I was most looking forward to seeing (having glimpsed it in the background to a photograph of a family member) was the former Regal Cinema – an imposing Art Deco building now housing a Wetherspoons called The Regal Moon. Note the rounded wall, the horizontal rule of three in the central windows and the vertical one in the flanking blocks:-

Frontage. There’s even rule of three in the white columns surrounding the central windows and in the detailing above the lower central windows plus a beautiful roundedness to the four white pillars and their peaks:-

Opposite view. Note the lack of symmetry in the right-angled corner as compared to the curved one on the far side. The stepped upper levels descending towards the rear mirror the other side though:-

Some pictures of the cinema in its days as a picture house are here.

The ultra-modern clean lines of Sneek’s cinema argue against it being Art Deco:-

Yet despite its rather austere look there’s a definite deco feel to this. It might just be the flagpole but there is “rule of three” in the windows:-

On the wall of the cafe at The Birks Cinema, Aberfeldy:-

I like the rustling comment.

The other notice is less unusual:-

Pedant’s corner:- I note independant above (independent.)