At the height of their popularity, it was estimated there were around 20 different picture houses across the Fylde Coast. One of Blackpool’s most well known was the ABC in Church Street. A former theatre, the cinema opened in the early 1980s as the three screen Canon Cinema, later the MGM and finally the ABC Cinema which closed in 1998. And, of course, the Odeon in Dickson Road was one of the resort’s premier choices. These nostalgic pictures look back at Blackpool's cinemas through the decades including those in Fleetwood and St Annes.
In case you missed them: Lost Archives: 23 rarely seen images of Blackpool in the days when Glass Plates Photography captured our town
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1. Lost Cinemas
The Odeon Cinema in Dickson Road pictured on the occasion of it's 21st birthday in 1960 Photo: staff
2. Lost Cinemas
With its blue facade, the ABC in Church Street was a landmark. It became the Syndicate Nightclub but was eventually pulled down Photo: Bill Johnson
3. Lost Cinemas
Rendezvous Cinema was in Bond Street, South Shore. This was 1956 Photo: submit
5. Lost Cinemas
This was the glitzy opening of the movie 'Star of Gigi', starring Leslie Caron at Blackpool's Palladium Cinema in Waterloo Road. Stars of Blackpool summer shows were there and the photo shows crowds waiting outside for a glimpse of them Photo: staff
6. Lost Cinemas
This is a super old picture of Fairyland at the junction of Central Promenade and Chapel Street in 1925. The building with the white facade once housed the Ritz Cinema Photo: Submit