Majestic Cinema

A Memory of Mitcham.

Glad someone remembers the Majestic Cinema at Fair Green. We lived in Norbury, just over the border in Croydon, but my Dad was a Cinema Manager with the ABC chain, and regularly did relief stints at the Majestic when the regular Manager was away. The cinema had a Hammond organ, and Dad remembers allowing the late Roy Budd, then a teenager, to practice on it regular - Roy later became a successful jazz musician and composer of TV and film music. My link with the Majestic is that for a time in the late 50's/early 60's I was a member of the 20th. Mitcham Sea Scouts, based in a school near Wide Way, and every year all the Scout groups used to hold their St. George's Day parade in the Majestic, and we would then march back across Mitcham Common with flags flying. Although living in Croydon, we were actually closer to Mitcham than Croydon ( Pollards Hill was actually on the border, I think ) and as some of my school friends lived in Mitcham, I remember idyllic summer days playing and riding our bikes on the common - and Mitcham Fair was the event of the year ! I remember the ABC Minors - I was one, but I went to the ABC Rex Cinema, in Norbury ( closed in 1962 ) as that was where Dad was normally based and I got in free ! Also remember the Granadiers - only from Norbury, they attended the Granada, Thornton Heath, not Tooting - but wasn't the Granada, Tooting famed for its live concerts and organ recitals on the BBC radio ? Correct me if I am wrong ! Where there any other cinemas in Mitcham other than the Majestic - I don't remember, but I do remember there was something of a fuss in the local press when it closed : as it happens, I think it closed at around the same time as the Rex, Norbury - both cinemas became Bingo Halls before finally succumbing to their eventual fate. Be pleased to hear from anyone who may remember my old man - LEN MARSH - from the time when he was one of the Managers at the Majestic. Can anyone tell me what the Majestic became ? I also remember the regular traffic congestion at Fair Green, even in those days - I frequently rode my bike from my home in Norbury to Mitcham to see friends or go to Scouts. If my memory serves me correctly, a Trolley Bus route went through Fair Green - 630, 654 ? From Dad's point of view, the Majestic was a problem for him because he had no car ( not many people did in those days ! ) and to get to work at the cinema, he had a long walk down our road to Wide Way to catch the 130 bus to Fair Green ( or was it the 130 might have been the 119, I cannot remember ! ) - not too bad on a nice sunny day, but not so funny in the wet, nor when he was coming home late at night and faced with a long walk, up hill, to Norbury after getting off the bus at Rowan Road ! I think I was the only kid in my class at Norbury Manor School whose dad worked unusual hours, and weekends - when I said my Dad came home at midnight some nights, my Teacher cuffed me for impertinence ! Any memories of the Majestic or my Dad, please let me have them. COLIN MARSH - 07979 718765