With the talk of a new cinema being mentioned as one of the possibilities in plans being discussed for redeveloping Newton Abbot, I thought I would look back to a fondly remembered building in the town, the former Odeon cinema.

The picture above – passed to me by Mid-Devon Advertiser reader Graham Lucas, from Kingsteignton – no doubt will set the cogwheels turning in the memories of several readers.

The Newton Abbot Odeon opened on February 17, 1936, with a showing of Greta Garbo in Anna Karenina.

The cinema was run as part of Oscar Deutsch’s chain, Odeon Theatres Ltd. The word Odeon originated from the Ancient Greek word Oideion which meant ‘singing place’.

During the 1930s, the Odeon chain became a household name and their cinemas were characterised by their Art Deco style of architecture and fittings.

It had seating for almost a thousand people, 708 in the stalls and 250 in the circle. This large capacity saw the venue used not just to show films but by local schools which hired it for events such as prize-givings, as it was one of the few places where the whole school could gather under one roof.

Deutsch sold the chain to media mogul J Arthur Rank and the cinema was run by the Rank organisation until its closure in the 1970s.

For many years it put on special showings on Saturday mornings for children where they could watch films such as Woody Woodpecker and Bugs Bunny. A club was run which issued a special members’ badge and used to send members a birthday card. Before the films were shown the birthday boys and girls were invited up on to the stage for the audience to sing Happy Birthday to them.

After it closed it was converted into a car showroom before being demolished in 1983.

For more information on the history of Kingsteignton visit www.kings steigntonhistorysociety.com.

If anybody has any pictures they would like to share please phone me on 01626 356317 after 7pm or email [email protected].