Video gallery

Big Blue Fence - ‘Gone with the Wind?’

The lost cinemas of Waltham Forest. In the days before Walthamstow, Leyton, Leytonstone, and Chingford became the borough of Waltham Forest, cinema-going was popular, cheap and a way of life. At its peak, in the 1940's and 50's, Waltham Forest had at least 19 cinemas. Now it has none. In this recording made at the Good Life Club and Afro-Caribbean Elders Association in Walthamstow, local people talk about their visits to the cinema, life in the 50's, 60's and 70's and what we have lost with the demise of cinemas in the borough. Recorded and edited by Penny Cliff in December 2009 as part of the Big Blue Fence Project in Waltham Forest.