# Odeon Cinema, Harlow, Essex - August 2018



## PerryGoesPlaces (Aug 21, 2018)

After exploring this place with @Smiffyboi last summer. You can find his post here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-JUIuaSp8bY&t=42s We had this sudden urge to wan't to explore it again. However, the only entrance to the building had been boarded up since last Summer and as I live 5 minutes away from the building I would always do a weekly check to see if an entrance has been opened up. But with surprise a few weeks ago when I was checking the building out I found a way in! I instantly went and grabbed my camera and went inside to explore.
***NOTE: Since exploring this place a few weeks back there is no entrance inside of the building as every possible access has been boarded up***​
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The Explore:​*
Other than it smelling of death from the large amount of dead pigeons scattered around the building, most notably the projector room being the worst of them all... it was a pretty easy explore. The layout of the cinema rooms is quite strange as the seating doesn't go up but is flat, the cup holders being in front of you instead of to your side is very different to today's cinemas. The explore started off in the project rooms where the originally entrance used to be, the projectors are still in tact with the power still working. The stairs then lead you to the lobby where you would buy your tickets and popcorn, I was most fascinated by the cheap prices! £3.99 for a small popcorn and small drink! You wouldn't find those prices in a cinema now days. There was wage slips left on the floor from when £2.95 was the minimum wage and farewell cards from employees just left laying there! 
Natural decay and vandalism has pretty much left the place in a state with the main cinema room curtains being torn apart and made into what looks like hammocks, the right and left cinema rooms have a horrific smell with the chairs being ripped apart. However, from my amazement the right cinema rooms curtains still open and close so that was exciting to see!​


*History:*

This was the first new cinema to be built for Rank after the war (others were completions of pre-war schemes) and it opened on February 1, 1960 with "Follow A Star".

It was designed by T. P. Bennett & Son and had 1,244 seats on a single floor in the stadium plan, with a stepped raised section at the rear instead of the normal overhanging balcony. The projection suite was suspended above the raised section of seating and had an almost level throw to the large screen.

In June 1987, it closed for tripling and the raised section at the rear was converted into two smaller cinemas whilst the front retained the original box and screen.

The Odeon was refurbished in 2001 and rebranded with the new Odeon style. This was despite the competition from a six-screen multiplex which opened back in 1990. Its future looked hopeful, however it was closed in August 2005. It was purchased days after closing by a local businessman, and the building still sits empty and unused in 2015.
*(Source: Odeon Harlow in Harlow, GB - Cinema Treasures)*

*Here are some photos I got of the explore: (Sorry for bad quality)*​




























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*I also uploaded a video of my explore, so feel free to check it out *

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## krela (Aug 22, 2018)

Great stuff, thank you Perry.


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## HughieD (Aug 22, 2018)

Yeah...good stuff PGP. And nothing wrong with those pics.


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## PerryGoesPlaces (Aug 23, 2018)

krela said:


> Great stuff, thank you Perry.



Was worried it was a terrible first post :/


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## PerryGoesPlaces (Aug 23, 2018)

HughieD said:


> Yeah...good stuff PGP. And nothing wrong with those pics.



Some were taken on my phone that's why, the first time I went in with my DSLR I didn't get many shots due to the horrific smell and how for some reasons I instantly got a sore throat from being in there.


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## HughieD (Aug 23, 2018)

PerryGoesPlaces said:


> Some were taken on my phone that's why, the first time I went in with my DSLR I didn't get many shots due to the horrific smell and how for some reasons I instantly got a sore throat from being in there.



That doesn't sound good! I've now found that in lower light situations I can get as good if not better pix with the phone on my camera than with my DSLR!


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## Sam Haltin (Aug 23, 2018)

Most of these explorers wear a mask when pigeon poo is present. But nothing wrong with the photos.


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## rockfordstone (Aug 24, 2018)

great stuff. i would have gone here in my youth


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## PerryGoesPlaces (Aug 25, 2018)

rockfordstone said:


> great stuff. i would have gone here in my youth



I bet it was amazing back in the 90's!


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## PerryGoesPlaces (Aug 25, 2018)

Hugh Jorgan said:


> Most of these explorers wear a mask when pigeon poo is present. But nothing wrong with the photos.



I do have a mask but just forgot to bring it. I had a similar situation where I had forgot my mask and the building we explored had 5-6 inches of pigeon poo in every single room! I was ill for about 3 weeks...


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