The Old Tudor Cinema

Moving pictures came to Bourne in 1929 when the Tudor Cinema was opened in North Street, showing silent films with a piano accompaniment until the talkies arrived in 1931.

In the post-war years when the cinema was competing with larger and more modern auditoriums in nearby towns, particularly Peterborough, film performances alternated with bingo and as television became more popular, they were eventually abandoned altogether because of declining audiences.

The cinema with its distinctive A-shaped gable is still a feature of the town centre but today it is home to a Chinese restaurant, dishing up portions of chop suey and fried rice instead of a feast of Clark Gable and Jean Harlow.

A detailed history of the Tudor Cinema is included in A Portrait of Bourne

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