2.4.1987 copyright Steve Sainsbury
This is the Palladium Cinema which I think closed shortly before this picture was taken. Littlehampton had three cinemas at one time, the Regent opposite the station, which closed in 1960, the Odeon (later Classic), which closed as a cinema in 1974 and the Palladium, closure date of which I haven't been able to track down.
I missed the Regent by a few years but the Odeon became a regular haunt, firstly for Saturday morning pictures in the 60s (6d downstairs, 9d upstairs) and then for more grown up films. Saturday morning pics was a great institution, a cheap way of getting the kids out of the house (not that we were often in it) for a few hours on a Saturday. I remember my dad getting about seven kids in his Standard 8 one morning when it was raining, including two in the boot!
I even played a gig at the Odeon one Christmas, at a kids' party which included the (painfully thin) manager coming on dressed as Santa!
When the Classic (as it then was) closed we were left with the Palladium, really the smallest and least attractive of our cinemas. We tended to go every Sunday evening to round off the weekend, followed by a quick pint in the Globe opposite the bus station. All three have now gone.
