There were once seven cinemas in Tooting – Geoff's informative and entertaining Walk takes you round the locations and tells their stories!
Between 1932 and 1944, the area contained seven cinemas within a half-mile radius of Tooting Broadway. The walk covers venues including the King's Hall (believed to be the UK's first purpose-built cinema from 1909), the Electroscope, Central Hall, Broadway Palace, Astoria, Granada Theatre, and the Mayfair.
The guide explains how television's rise in the 1950s caused audience decline, though some venues survived by converting to bingo halls. Today, three former cinemas continue as a bingo hall, Tooting Islamic Centre Mosque and school (with a pub in the basement) and a South Asian restaurant banqueting suite.
The walk draws on research from Lynda Cazeaux and features musical accompaniment from 'Call Me Fred'.