Its hard to believe that back in the day, over a 12 year period, people had a choice of no less than seven cinemas on ‘Planet Tooting’! Now they have to make the trek to Wandsworth or Wimbledon to see something on the big screen. You could actually stretch it to nine if you included a couple of smaller shortly-lived venues but that wouldn’t make as good a title for this Walk… As its population exploded in the first decades of the twentieth century, extensive house building, a tram connection, followed by the Northern Line underground extension, saw a pool of residents hungry for entertainment. Incredibly the first purpose-built cinema in the UK is believed to have been constructed here. The King’s Hall dates from 1909. There’s nothing left of it now but a green plaque opposite The Trafalgar pub marks the spot. Hot on its heels came the Electroscope, the Central Hall, Broadway Palace and Astoria. It was twenty years before these relatively small venues were dwarfed, first by Sidney Bernstein’s mighty Granada Theatre, then the gigantic Mayfair on Upper Tooting Road. Before long three million people were trooping into the Granada in a single year. We’ll be joined on this Walk by Morris Hardcastle of the Cinema Theatre Association and Fred Tubiermont will be providing an evocative soundtrack to enhance your cinematic experience!

By the mid-50s the effect of television was driving audience numbers down. Bingo saved the day in at least two cases but only four of ‘The Magnificent Seven’ stumbled into the seventies, the last showing its final film in 1983. Unbelievably there were a few other small picture houses but they didn’t last so long. What is undeniable is that for 12 years, between 1932 and 1944, there were seven cinemas within a half mile radius of Tooting Broadway!

Although there is now no trace of four of them, their presence is still detectable. The other three live on, thriving in a new guise; one of the most popular bingo halls in the country, Tooting Islamic Centre Mosque and school (with a pub in the basement) and a South Asian restaurant banqueting suite. Each has a tale to tell and there is no better place to do it than ‘on location’ as we take a trip around ‘The Vegas of South London’ to visit the site of each and every one.

A Wandsworth resident for over 30 years, Geoff Simmons runs a community history project in south west London called Summerstown182 alongside his job as a graphic designer. This involves Guided Walks and Talks, working with schools and putting up plaques. Over the last ten years a trail of these have emerged along the Wandle Valley, shining a light on some of the lesser-known history in this area. Have a look on Geoff’s blog for more details or follow @summerstown182 on Instagram or Twitter.