The Windsor opened in 1937,
adjacent to the site of the earlier Empire cinema. Developed by showman
Mickey Burns, the unique design had a brick exterior with a gatehouse
in a vaguely Moorish style.
The auditorium sat 1,300, with a small balcony. It was accessed through
a long foyer, with a row of Ionic columns running down the centre.
The foyer and auditorium interior were decorated with panels and fittings from the ex-Cunard liner
The Mauretania.
Closed as a cinema from the 1960s, it was used as bingo for a while,
before sitting empty. The building was demolished in 1987, by which
time the panelling and fittings appear to have been carefully
stripped, though where they ended up is unknown.
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Burns' own house was decorated in a similar style, and survives to this day.
Picture to the left of the house courtesy of Alison Thewliss. |