Since 1983 Droitwich folk have had to travel out of town to see the latest films. That’s the year The Winter Gardens closed.

Built in 1933 adjacent to the St Andrew’s Brine Baths, the Winter Gardens originally hosted dances and big bands and the BBC were regularly visitors. In the early 1970s Status Quo and Fleetwood Mac performed there. Come the mid-70s seats were screwed into the floor and it became a cinema.

This writer visited several times and remembers seeing a note on the entrance doors warning that films would not be shown unless at least six tickets were sold. So cheers would often greet the second or third car to pull into the car park.

Not surprisingly, the cinema closed shortly after, in 1983. It  was demolished and replaced by BMI The Droitwich Spa Hospital. All that remains of the Winter Gardens is the boundary wall, minus its original chains.

Do you have any memories of the Winter Gardens?