Coliseum Buildings (Gaumont Palace & Odeon, Jokers Corner)

In the 1960's there was a Victor Silvester dance studio located in the room above the main entrance. Previously this space had been a restaurant.

I started to go to the Gaumont on Saturday mornings in about 1964 at the age of 10. We called it the 'Tanner Rush' although I always went in the circle where it was 9d. I had a group of friends there from Wyken, whom I only ever saw at the cinema, although we did sometimes have a wander around town afterwards. I was allowed to go there on my own on the bus, but that was no big deal as I was already getting two buses to and from school every day by then anyway. It is true that kids wouldn't do that now. I went to the Tanner Rush for about 3 or 4 years, and by 1966 I was going straight from the Gaumont to Highfield Road (via the chippy in Paynes Lane) to stand in the Covered End. On match days I would leave home at 9am and not return until about 5.30, having spent about 5/- pocket money. The Gaumont was an extremely well appointed cinema, although as kids we probably didn't appreciate that. The Empire had a Saturday Club as well, but I seem to recall it had a bad reputation for attracting the rougher element and I don't think I ever went. I remember the dance studio being there but the restaurant was before my time.

Just to clarify, the Coliseum is not the same building as the Gaumont cinema. It is the former ballroom and restaurant/shops neo-classical style complex to the east side of the Gaumont which predates the cinema. The two were joined in 1931 and shared the same name for many years but performed very different functions.

Morning Dutchman, When do you think the Coliseum Buildings were built, it was a large project and thought it would have been noted in the newpapers of the time. I have been looking in the local newspaper archive for anything relevant to the entertainment there or interior descriptions but my access online to the local papers ends in 1903 at the moment. I can find loads of information on the other entertainment houses, the Empire, the Opera House etc., but nothing at all pertaining to the Coliseum in the form of planning, vacancies, advertisements or box-office. I should like to know what was on the site prior to the Coliseum being erected. There are census records of Whitefriars Street, which are interesting but of course, they finish at 1911.

Good afternoon Foxcote The north end of Whitefriars Street wasn't driven through until the beginning of the 20th century. Prior to that it had been a footpath with the intriguing name of Bachelors Walk. The site of the Coliseum was originally occupied by outbuildings belonging to a shop fronting on to Jordan Well: Old-Maps.co.uk 1906 I suspect the Coliseum was built some time around 1910 and is shown on this map dated 1914-1918: Old-Maps.co.uk

No wonder I couldn't find anything in the newspapers with my access stopped at 1903. The maps were very helpful and I realise that we should all consult them more instead of being lazy and asking you. I did wonder about Bachelor's Walk and did a bit of sleuthing and it appears that 'Bachelor' is an old term used for 'junior members of a guild' or 'an ecclesiastic of inferior grade, for example a young monk'. So maybe that's a connection with the Friars. Thanks for the help and I shall report back if I find any details of the Coliseum original building when the newspaper site adds more papers after 1903.

No probs The postcode is CV1 5RW if anyone wants to search Old-Maps.co.uk themselves. Sadly the zoom function has long been disabled on that site. I'm fairly confident it has to do with Whitefriars Abbey. You're welcome. I suspect there is a huge .pdf document online somewhere detailing Coventry University's own research into the site but have yet to come across it.

I am off into town soon with camera in hand, so i will update my finding soon. Its so funny that a building that normally you would not give a second glance to has invoked such an interest. Thank you for all your help so far.

A little more info and what has mainly been covered in this topic can be found here. Still going to get some photos of anything left of the ballroom. It is correct that the main building ran out of money, and only had the ballroom completed. It was only after the Gaumont was added in 1931 that it became the Gaumont Palace Ballroom. From what I can make out, the ballroom was on the first floor and ran along Whitefriars St. The main doorway is set on the corner and one went in the door and up a flight of stairs in front. Each side of the main doorway had a sign "DANCE". The other main doorway along Whitefriars St was the main doorway to the front stalls of the cinema. We are getting there.

I think at some point after 1931 the narrow corner entrance to the ballroom was replaced by a much wider one midway down Whitefriars Street. This had the secondary effect of separating the cafes for the ballroom and cinema sections. Please don't accept this 1957 planning application drawing as gospel as finished projects often bore no resemblance to the original plans or were even abandoned entirely: Despite having lived quite close for over seven years I cannot remember any occupants of the Whitefriars Street units except for the ones closest to the corner with Jordan Well. It's a pity Gina Mancini isn't here as she lived directly opposite.

Here is a massive drawing of the ballroom from around 1955. Again, please treat with extreme scepticism as I don't know if the ballroom even existed in 1955. I do know the Locarno crowd frequented the pubs and cafes in the Whitefriars Street area throughout the 1960s which suggests there was still a dance hall there until 1960.

If I am not mistaken which often happens now I am old. In the the early 1960's the Victor Sylvester dance studio was in the ballroom upstairs.I used to go to the Saturday dance which was open to non members.

That was a different ballroom, converted from a former banqueting hall above the cinema foyer.

Hello all. I've been out around this building again today, and what a place it is. The couple that now own the joke shop (Gail and Bill) used to own the corner shop as a newsagents, and can remember the stairs doing a dogleg to the main ballroom upstairs. In fact Gail won a gold in ballroom dancing at the Victor Sylvester dance studio that was in the Gaumont next door. All were very helpful with information given I am a complete stranger, and so was the gentleman (sorry I cannot remember his name) that owns the clothes shop around the other corner. He showed me the upstairs that must have been part of the offices to the ballroom. The room was not so high as you would think. Unless boarding has been put on the roof. The windows had been boarded. Most of the upstairs is part of the uni now, apart from the corner and to the front (Jordan Well), but after asking at the old Odeon if I could have a look around, there was no-one who could help. But thanks all for the information anyway. I do have a lead on a person that does remember the Coliseum well, and ran a shop across the road from it. I will contact him shortly. This pic shows the different floor heights at the rear of the Odeon. Remember the old Coliseum building "first floor" has been re-built after the war.

Wonder if it's the same as I recall inside the Odeon, a large long hall, not sure if it's classed as the foyer, beautiful decor then the doors going off the hall to enter the seating and screen. I recall when I was a kid seeing it grander than the ABC then called the Empire. I recall mum took me to see One Million Years BC with Raquel Welch when it first came out, it was an evening show.