Friday 16 January 2009

THE GAUMONT - COWGATE

One of the things I liked about going to the Gaumont was the bus stopped right outside the foyer. You can see the bus stop in the picture...dead handy when it rained.
I'm sure this was the cinema we used to go to in the 1960's on Saturday mornings for the kids club. They would show movies made by the Childrens Film Foundation, run weekly episodes of Flash Gordon, chuck in some cartoons and so on. It did get a bit rowdy at times, probably because there were no parents around, so there would be a lot of booing at the baddies, cheering at the goodies and singing along to the tunes....oh yeah, not forgetting the peanut fights!
Typical 60's films I saw there were The Beatles movies, James Bond, Disney and such like, then in the 70's it was blockbusters such as Star Wars.
The Gaumont then became the Odeon in 1974.
Photo by DC Thomson. Tints by GG

6 comments:

  1. My Saturday morning treat, in on the bus from Fintry and either 6d stalls or 9d balcony seats. Great films too, usually a Laurel & Hardy before the main feature. Great days indeed

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  2. Part of the Saturday morning at the Gaumont routine that I remember was a side-trip to the joke shop in St Andrew Street. I cannot recall if this was during a break in the cinema programme (probably not) or at the end of the show, before getting the bus home.

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  3. Great memories of the 'Saturday Club'. Me and my mates Fae Lochee used to get hot dogs and cover them in Tom sauce before going to the balcony, waiting till the lights went out, then dripping the tom sauce over the balcony onto the people below. Very childish now but thought it was fun at the time.

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  4. I clearly remember the Gaumount for Saturday morning shows....in fact it was the first time l went anywhere with a "girlfriend" at seven or eight it was a big deal. Hope Sandra from Fintry Primary remembers it....x

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  5. I went to the Gaumont Saturday club when I was seven in the 60's but between the stink bombs from the trick shop near the bus station, people chucking more than peanuts, and the claustrophobic, crowded intensity of kids getting packed in to the auditorium, I didn't want to go there but my folks expected it. Instead, I'd nip off at the bus stop, go to the museum and look at all the paintings for a couple of hours before meeting my pals for the bus home. I didn't like to lie to my dad though, but he'd ask regularly, 'Did you enjoy the pictues?' I could answer, 'Yes, they were beautiful.'
    Then one surprising Saturday, he asked, 'What was the picture this morning?' I told him it was about a wee girl who liked putting her doll's socks on a cat. So he followed up, 'What was that one called?' I said I thought it was called 'Millais'. His facial expression was bemused, and slightly curious. Then my mum interrupted him and that was an end to it. I don't think he ever worked out that the 'pictures' he asked about and the 'pictures' I spoke of were never the same thing, but I never told any lies!

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