First a quick introduction to the place known as Crystal Palace, in South London:
Crystal Palace is a residential area in South London, named from the former local landmark, The Crystal Palace, which occupied the area from 1854 to 1936. The area is located approximately 8 miles south east of central London and straddles five boroughs.
It includes one of the highest pointsin London, over 360 feet above sea level. This gives great views of London, including St Paul’s Cathedral and more recently, the impressive new London Shard building at London Bridge. It has a very large TV aerial there, which some visitors to the nearby language school mistake for a copy of the Eiffel Tower!
The Crystal Palace was a massive cast-iron and plate-glass building originally erected in Hyde Park, central London, to house the Great Exhibition of 1851 where more than 14,000 exhibitors from around the world gathered to display the latest technology from the industrial revolution. It was, at the time, the building with the largest amount of the new invention cast plate glass, and because it let in so much natural light during the day, was heralded as “The Crystal Palace”. It was moved to Upper Norwood/Sydenham Hill and enlarged.
It was destroyed in a fire in 1936, which could be seen all across London and seven other counties. 
Controversy still rages in some quarters as to whether it was a classic “insurance job” because it had fallen into the doldrums, or whether it was a genuine accident. The latter seems to have been more likely as there had been recent fairly succesful attempts to revive the building’s fortunes, and it was once more attracting people to the area.
In 1927 a motor racing circuit brought a lot of visitors and racing competitions to Crystal Palace Park. Its heyday was in the 1950s and 1960s, before it became too small for the increasingly powerful cars.
My Father took me there to see Graham Hill, later Formula One World Champion, and Mike Hailwood. There were also many other races I saw there, featuring Mini Coopers, Wolsleys, Ford Mexicos, and occasionally old Alfa Romeos, Lagondas, Maseratis, Ferraris and Cooper-Bristols. Here is some footage from 1964 showing the new Ford Cortina Mark 1′s racing.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bWp-0TuY4Sk&feature=player_embedded
The local FootbalClub, Crystal Palace, has had mixed fortunes over the years- but is fondly remembered by Eric Cantona, the enigmatic Manchester United soccer star: He claims that his infamous kung fu-style kick on a Crystal Palace fan was the best memory of his career! The Frenchman was banned in 1995 after launching himself into the crowd with a kick at Palace fan Matthew Simmons after being sent off.
The Park has played host to many open air music extravaganzas, and The Sex Pistols, Santana and Pink Floyd, have all played there. I recall seeing Pink Floyd in 1971, who used some kind of inflatable Octopuson the small lake in front of the stage, long before their inflatable pig was launched into the sky above Battersea Power Station!
Some 9 years after the Floyd concert, in 1980, Crystal Palace was blessed with a festival that included the great Bob Marley and the Wailers:
And so on to Bingo
The building that was to become a Bingo Hall for Crystal Palace started life as the Rialto Cinema at 25 Church Road.
The Rialto Cinema was opened on 6th October 1928 with Dolores Del Rio in “Ramona”, and with film stars Anna May Wong & John Stuart in attendance. It was built by an Australian, A.C. Matthews, who was also the architect. It boasted a cafe, but had a very small stage. Two years later he also built and designed the adjacent Albany Cinema (later taken over by Granada Theatres and re-named Century Cinema).
The Rialto Cinema followed the same path, later being operated by Excelsior Cinemas and then Medway Cinemas, it was taken over by the Granada Theatres Ltd. chain in March 1949.
They employed noted cinema architect George Coles to modernise the building and it was re-named Granada Theatre from 11th September 1950. Known as the Granada Crystal Palace from 12th February 1961, it began part time bingo sessions in 1967, but went back to full time cinema use until finally closing on 26th May 1968 with Marlon Brando in “Reflections in a Golden Eye” and Patrick O’Neil in “Assignment to Kill”.
It was converted into a Granada Bingo Club from 27th June 1968. It was taken over by Gala Bingo in May 1991, and they operated it until closure around April/May 2009.
Before we return to revisit the glory days of Bingo at Crystal palace, it must be mentioned that the premises have been purchased by KICC, a Pentecostal church, but who have failed to persuade the local council from changing the use from a place of entertainment to a place of worship. There has been a very strong campaign to try to return the use of the building to a cinema, and there have been many fund-raising and awareness-raising events to campaign for this. Here is a picture of what the premises may look like if converted to a cinema:
And here’s a bunch of local people outside the place before it was re-decorated by the KICC, protesting that the building should be a cinema
The Church have now finished renovations- see the pictures below- but they can’t open the premises as a place of worship… a stalemate!
A number of local people have shared their memories of the building as both a cinema and a Bingo Hall. Many remember the very plush interior, and the fact that from the upper gallery, you had a good sea of target heads below in the stalls for throwing popcorn at on a Saturday morning!
On the Bingo front, it was noted that you had to shout pretty loudly from the back of the Circle to make sure you got your “House!” heard and paid down on the stage! Again many commented on the great interior- and here are some pictures of what it was like, and a video:
More memories of Bingo here to follow…
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