by
Bryan
I have just come upon your site and found it most interesting. I am recently retired spending most of my working life working through the grades of the projectionist in cinemas mostly in Coventry between 1955 / 1988.
Any Coventry projectionist that is still around that I may have worked with then please do get in touch by email bobbychild1@yahoo.co.uk
My name is Bryan McMahon and I started work as a tranee projectionist at the Odeon Cinema (Scala) in Far Gosford Street in Coventry in September 1955 aged 15. Chief Projectionist at the time was Roland Green and Second was Jack Morgan. Margret Cox joined as Third member. Relief Chief was Flossy Barton who insisted to be addressed as Miss Barton by junior members. I also remember Douglas Pell who I worked with for a period at the Regal on the Foleshill road which closed in 1960. He was a Second Projectionist at the Gaumont in Jourden Well when I first met him in 1955. Other cinemas I worked in were the Savoy on the Radford road which closed mid 60s I moved over to THE ABC (Empire) in Heartford Street (City Centre) where I joined the lads in the projection room as co 2nd. The Chief Projectionist was Ken Cooper, Senior Second was Reg MacDonald, Co Second, Brian Williams and Carl Chenny (fourth). I remained at this cinema until it closed in 1971 for rebuilding due to the area being modernised.
For about a year before closure there was only the Chief and I left and we used to rely on a relief chief from out of town to give us days off. When the new cinema opened in 1973 I again took up a post there as senior second and my new Chief came from the ABC Bristol Road in Birmingham Bill Pearson by name and what a nice chap he was. Quiet but so understanding of the world about him. We both saw out the entire (shortish) life of the new ABC in Hertford Precinct from 1973 until it closed in May 1988.
I moved South after closure my last as a projectionist and am now fully retired. It was fun while it lasted and of course I have my memories some good some bad which would take too long to relate here. Other projectionist at the new ABC were Marie Royle who sadly died recently and Darran Bevan who worked his way uo from being an ABC Saturday morning miner. He is still hard at it I understand working his guts off looking after upteen screens in a multiplex somewhere. I also briefly worked at the Warwick Cinema Accocks Green in Birmingham and at the ABC (Savoy) in Leicester while the ABC in Coventry was beinig rebuilt 1971/73 So during my time behind the beam I moved about due mostly to cinema closures.
Anyway if any of the above projectionist are still around then drop me line.
Bryan