This is an unmissable local landmark, still known to many locals as ‘The Regent’ from its days as the town’s leading cinema. The Regent Cinema opened on 6 October 1930. The auditorium was decorated in a ‘modern French’ style, with seating for 650 in the stalls and 500 in the circle. Renamed the Essoldo, in 1961, it was converted into a bingo hall four years later. Part of the old building reopened as The Regent in 1988 and as the Cineplex in 2004.

A plaque documenting the history of The Regent

The plaque reads: This Wetherspoon free house is the former Regent cinema, which opened on 6 October 1930 and was converted into a bingo hall in the mid-1960s. The ‘modern French’-style auditorium seated 650 in the stalls and 500 in the circle. The Regent was designed by Alfred J Graves, who designed several other eye-catching cinemas in the area. The entrance to the former Regent stands on the site of the once well-known Wightman’s butcher shop.

These premises were refurbished by J D Wetherspoon in January 2013.

An original seat plan for the Regent cinema

A photograph showing the balcony, known as the circle, which could seat up to 500 people during its days as the town’s leading cinema

A copy of the contract that allowed the Regent to screen The Dam Busters

A photograph of the staff of the Regent cinema, 1934

A copy of the contract that allowed the Regent to screen Moulin Rouge and The Stranger Left No Card

A photograph of the Regent cinema, 1933

A photograph showing the interior of the Regent in 1986, after its transformation from a cinema into a bingo hall named The Essoldo

An original poster for Madame Lupino’s dance classes held at the Regent

External photograph of the building – main entrance