Kings Hall Cinema, Southall, London - September 2017
Interesting one this one! I'd wanted to do this for a while and had been planning to in the coming weeks but had been put off with the idea of its "unique access" which requires some planning in terms of times of entry!
Situated on a very busy road with lots of passersby and businesses open till the very wee hours, there is a very small window to get inside as the Night Shift commute changes to the Early and Day Shift Commute.
When we arrived it was around midnight and the streets were busy. We were in London so went for a little drive for an hour or so before returning.
Visited with a non-member back in September;when inside we had a little lie down in a dark corner for an hour or so to allow the sun to rise just a little bit, and spent about 2 hours light painting the rooms which were boarded and anything which the abundance of daylight wouldn't help.
It's a very interesting building with lots to shoot photos of and with my "loaded" parking meter fast running out, we didn't have as much time inside as we would have liked.
The air inside is terrible (understandably) and the damp has caused the parquet floors inside much of the building to bow upwards, making an interesting effect!
We started shooting inside the main hall at around 6am and spent some time chilling here and getting photos as the sun came up, but we only had till 8am on the car park. The street was already very busy down below by 6am and the main hall had a hue of red from some of the shops signage.
When it did become time to leave, we had to jump into a street full of commuters. We were not getting out without being seen. It was 7:45am and the bus stops had queues of people at them. As I was leaving I did attempt to not be seen, but a middle aged chap turned round and looked right at me. I wished him a good morning, jumped down and walked off to get my externals. He certainly looked slightly bewildered.
The cinema come Methodists Church is located in Southall, Middlesex, in the west of Greater London. The King’s Hall was constructed in 1916; designed by architect Sir Alfred Gelder of Hull.
The site has a 3-storey red brick and stone facade. It was originally operated by the Uxbridge and Southall Wesleyan Mission and was soon playing religious films. By 1926, Kings Hall was operating as a regular cinema; but was however still managed by the Methodist church.
The Cinema was closed in 1937. It then converted back to its original Methodist Church use, and today is the King’s Hall Methodist Church.
Some interesting and otherwise controversial quotes taken from comments when closure was announced.
The church vacated the site in 2012.
More Info at:
http://cinematreasures.org/theaters/31352
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More At:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/landie_man/albums/72157688232708403
Interesting one this one! I'd wanted to do this for a while and had been planning to in the coming weeks but had been put off with the idea of its "unique access" which requires some planning in terms of times of entry!
Situated on a very busy road with lots of passersby and businesses open till the very wee hours, there is a very small window to get inside as the Night Shift commute changes to the Early and Day Shift Commute.
When we arrived it was around midnight and the streets were busy. We were in London so went for a little drive for an hour or so before returning.
Visited with a non-member back in September;when inside we had a little lie down in a dark corner for an hour or so to allow the sun to rise just a little bit, and spent about 2 hours light painting the rooms which were boarded and anything which the abundance of daylight wouldn't help.
It's a very interesting building with lots to shoot photos of and with my "loaded" parking meter fast running out, we didn't have as much time inside as we would have liked.
The air inside is terrible (understandably) and the damp has caused the parquet floors inside much of the building to bow upwards, making an interesting effect!
We started shooting inside the main hall at around 6am and spent some time chilling here and getting photos as the sun came up, but we only had till 8am on the car park. The street was already very busy down below by 6am and the main hall had a hue of red from some of the shops signage.
When it did become time to leave, we had to jump into a street full of commuters. We were not getting out without being seen. It was 7:45am and the bus stops had queues of people at them. As I was leaving I did attempt to not be seen, but a middle aged chap turned round and looked right at me. I wished him a good morning, jumped down and walked off to get my externals. He certainly looked slightly bewildered.
The cinema come Methodists Church is located in Southall, Middlesex, in the west of Greater London. The King’s Hall was constructed in 1916; designed by architect Sir Alfred Gelder of Hull.
The site has a 3-storey red brick and stone facade. It was originally operated by the Uxbridge and Southall Wesleyan Mission and was soon playing religious films. By 1926, Kings Hall was operating as a regular cinema; but was however still managed by the Methodist church.
The Cinema was closed in 1937. It then converted back to its original Methodist Church use, and today is the King’s Hall Methodist Church.
Some interesting and otherwise controversial quotes taken from comments when closure was announced.
The church vacated the site in 2012.
More Info at:
http://cinematreasures.org/theaters/31352
#1
#2
#3
#4
#5
#6
#7
#8
#9
#10
#11
#12
#13
#14
#15
More At:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/landie_man/albums/72157688232708403