#041

Available NOW on Amazon - Ilford Retro Vol.1 From Gants Hill Odeon to The Plough and Plessey, all 52 episodes with photos of old and new! https://tinyurl.com/IlfordRetro

This episode compares a photo of the Odeon from February 2002, six weeks prior to its closure. That month, films being shown included Shallow Hal, Monsters Inc, Vanilla Sky, From Hell and two box office smashes which were still showing after release in 2001. They were Harry Potter and The Philosopher's Stone and Lord Of The Rings: The Fellowship Of The Ring.

Releases just before the Odeon's closure on 2nd April 2002 included Ali G Indahouse, Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius, Ice Age and The Royal Tenenbaums.

The art deco building lay derelict for several months but was demolished within a year. Inevitably the land was used to build high rise apartments which developer Taylor Wimpey had to repair within 4 years of the building completing. The remedial works themselves took nearly 4 years, one of the problems being the pooling of water on the flat roofs leading to ingress into the dwellings. Just to the right of the present day image is a crane at the site of the former pub The Valentine on Perth Road. The pub was demolished in 2020 to make way for - a block of flats.

Sources:
Odeon history: http://cinematreasures.org/theaters/1...
http://edithsstreets.blogspot.com/201...
https://www.ilfordrecorder.co.uk/news...
https://hidden-london.com/gazetteer/g...
Ilford's entertainment venue history: Entertaining Ilford by Vivyan Ellacot
Film release dates: https://www.filmdates.co.uk/films/yea...
Apartment block repairs: https://www.ilfordrecorder.co.uk/news...
https://www.ilfordrecorder.co.uk/news...
https://www.ilfordrecorder.co.uk/news...