1930s · The Odeon

Grandmother Edith, usherette

told by Angela Cotgrave · Granddaughter of an Odeon usherette

Art Deco detail of the frontage Edith would have known. Photograph: Andy Mabbett, July 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Her grandmother Edith worked as an usherette in the cinema’s early days, and lived on Brockwell Road.

Gathered by the Voices of Kingstanding project and the Birmingham History Forum, and shared with thanks.

Share this memory

Related memories

The Mecca bingo hall in the former Odeon, 2009. Photograph: Derek Bennett (CC BY-SA 2.0)

Martin Brookes · 1970s · The Odeon

The bingo years

Remembers the building becoming a bingo hall around 1973 and running until 1999; his grandparents Annie and Edward Raven of Esher Road went regularly.

Read the full memory

The Odeon at Kingstanding Circle. Photograph: Andy Mabbett, July 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Terry Jay · 1960s · The Odeon

A lifetime in one building

Went as a child with his sisters, buying sweets from Mores sweet shop beforehand — and later worked in the very same building as a bingo caller in 1966.

Read the full memory

The Odeon’s three-fin tower and curved returns. Photograph: Tony Hisgett, 2010 (CC BY 2.0)

Richard Wall · 1940s · The Odeon

Singing along with the bouncing ball, 1944

Attended the matinees in 1944, singing along to lyrics projected with a bouncing ball, children tipping up the seats during the action scenes.

Read the full memory

Have a memory of your own?

Share it with the Kingstanding archive.

Share your memory