# Aylesbury ODEON 2016 Update Art Deco Special, Dec 16/Jan 17



## Landie_Man (Jan 7, 2017)

*As the old thread is locked I started a new report. Feel free to unlock and I will copy this one in!*

*December 2016/Jan 2017 Update!*

I vowed to not return to this place having done it to death in my early and even later urbex years. But I received a message about showing a fellow explorer around the place; so I went back with my camera to photograph what was left.

I'm glad we did this, because the contractors who had stripped out the site had left some pretty amazing Original Art Deco Features (in places)

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We walked through the totally stripped out screens, which looked exactly as I envisaged them, not quite so interesting, so we went into the foyer.

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*For Comparison, here is a 2009 Photo of the foyer:*
https://c7.staticflickr.com/1/500/32018573662_cfa1b4e4dc_b.jpg

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WOW! The original double staircase was exposed for the first time in at least 30-40 years, having had one side boxed in by the Heath Robinson Kiosk, and at closer inspection, the original ODEON floor was still intact!

Hidden beneath a cheap, nasty carpet for decades was this absolute beauty of a floor. I returned ten days or so later equipped with cleaning products and a friend of mine and we set about preparing the wonderful floor, which took some graft I can tell you, we didn’t manage to do the whole floor, and what we did took all morning!

Makes you wonder what they were thinking, sticking blue carpets over the top. If you look at the centre of the floor, you will see that the sort of, pinstripe effect curves around. This was where it went around a long lost Box Office which was in the middle of the foyer from the 1930s till the 1970s/1980s.

As a result, there was lots of carpet glue on the floor which didn’t come off, but a few days, some masks and the right equipment would sort this right out

The cinema is earmarked for demolition sometime this year. Perhaps the discovery of the floor will de-rail this? We can only hope….

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Thank You Everyone, More At:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/landie_man/albums/72157677409628490


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## smiler (Jan 7, 2017)

Gotta admire your efforts to get a pic Landie, fair play you did show how much was lost to cheap tarting up of cinemas etc. Proper Job, Thanks


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## Landie_Man (Jan 7, 2017)

smiler said:


> Gotta admire your efforts to get a pic Landie, fair play you did show how much was lost to cheap tarting up of cinemas etc. Proper Job, Thanks



Thanks Mate, very nice to read comments like this one , such a shame the floor will be lost for good if its not saved


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## Brewtal (Jan 7, 2017)

Yeah fair play mate! I've cleared lots of earth away to see ornate tiles before but bugger all compared to that effort! Your hard work is greatly appreciated, thanks for that one. Panoramic is a beaut as well.


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## The Wombat (Jan 7, 2017)

Awesome mate!
well done


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## odeon master (Jan 7, 2017)

great to see the odeon floor, the old art deco odeon in burton on trent had a simelar floor in the foyer, its all done in terazzo, colourd marble chippings in concrete mix. Likeing the art deco boxed in ceiling lights, these would have had opel white glass panes in them and were back lit.

THE ODEON MAN


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## Landie_Man (Jan 7, 2017)

odeon master said:


> great to see the odeon floor, the old art deco odeon in burton on trent had a simelar floor in the foyer, its all done in terazzo, colourd marble chippings in concrete mix. Likeing the art deco boxed in ceiling lights, these would have had opel white glass panes in them and were back lit.
> 
> THE ODEON MAN



Thanks Mate, I was hoping you'd see this. I've a feeling its going to all be skipped :\. We spent about 3 hours and even snuck in and out to the supermarket for cleaning products to get it to this level. After 40 years under a carpet it was filthy


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## DirtyJigsaw (Jan 8, 2017)

That's a fantastic floor right there and well done for cleaning it up mate. Top work


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## odeon master (Jan 8, 2017)

lol, yes ive done simelar things when the burton odeon was derelict for photos, oddly, the burton cinema had the same blue 80's carpet and the pale green paint on the doors and railings, so must have been a nationwide spec late 80's.


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## Landie_Man (Jan 8, 2017)

odeon master said:


> lol, yes ive done simelar things when the burton odeon was derelict for photos, oddly, the burton cinema had the same blue 80's carpet and the pale green paint on the doors and railings, so must have been a nationwide spec late 80's.



I just wish something could be done. Maybe English Heritage didn't know this floor was here, afterall it was under a carpet!


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## odeon master (Jan 9, 2017)

Landie_Man said:


> I just wish something could be done. Maybe English Heritage didn't know this floor was here, afterall it was under a carpet!



Is the building grade 2 listed ? if not, try and contact english heritage, they listed the burton one after much wrangling, not that it means much as the Indian family who eventually bought it turned it into an restraunt and function venue, ruined it as far as being a cinema goes, they did keep the plasterwork intact though


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## UrbanX (Jan 10, 2017)

Nice one, it just gets better, as do the pics! 
Thanks for sharing mate!


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## Landie_Man (Jan 13, 2017)

Not listed mate. They said it was. Not original enough. 

Lee, thanks  it is a gift this keeps giving, this one.


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## J_a_t_33 (Jan 13, 2017)

Great work man!


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## prettyvacant71 (Mar 3, 2017)

What a wonder idea and a great show of determination to reveal the hidden beauty, amazin


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