The Odeon is not just worth saving because we want a proper cinema...but also because it is on the site of maybe the first cinema (as we know them) in the country..the Alpha Picture Palace built by Arthur Melbourne Cooper, local cinema pioneer , in 1908. More about him in the future.

He also had his Alpha Studios just over the road. In 1996 the BFI put this notice on the side of Telford Court to mark the place. If you're anything like me you've probably walked past it '0000's of times without noticing it.... so here it is...