The end of 2 eras?

There’s 2 local institutions that sadly seem to be going to dissappear, both having existed in their present form for as long as I can remember;

First is the cafe in the High St, Walsall Wood. It looks like the combined competition from other shops, and probably the decision to get shot of the lorry park have seen it off after at least 35 years, maybe more.

Then there’s the Avion Cinema, although it’s been a bingo hall since 1967, so I’ve alway known it as that.

It’s a lovely Art Deco building:
Avion Cinema
(image from Walsall Council’s site)

and it appears on a page of locally listed buildings, but doesn’t seem to appear in the list. Anyway, as it’s now empty it will probably mysteriously catch fire and then have to be demolished in a very convenient turn of events for the owners, and the borough will have lost even more of it’s architectural heritage.

6 Responses to “The end of 2 eras?”

  1. BrownhillsBob Says:

    I wonder how many empty shops we’ll end up with in the Wood High Street before Mike ‘Burger Boy’ Flower and his mates realise what a bollock they’ve dropped? I suppose he’ll be off climbing the council career ladder by then… but we will have some public art to be thankful for. Like the Murphy’s, I’m not bitter.

    The Avion leaves me in a bit of a quandary, I’m afraid… like McWarreners and several other local buildings under threat, but I’m too tactful to mention, I think it’s hideous. Yes, it should be preserved, and it’ll probably end up a Wetherspoons, they like old cinemas…

    Preservation means preserving what’s important, not just what’s aesthetically appealing, but I reserve the right to find it a f’ugly as I choose…

    Best wishes

    Bob

  2. stymaster Says:

    I *love* the Avion, but I’m somewhat of a sucker for Art Deco.

    You make a valid point about preservation *even if* you don’t like it. It seems there’s not much left by Roland Satchwell (the architect).

    Wetherspoons? Could be worse, considering the shite pub in Aldridge town centre. Could be better too, but that’s probably the best possibility :-(.

    Apparently the lorry park closing was what was voted for. I wonder if the results were properly counted and could be obtained under a FOI request….

    BTW, do you know how long the Cafe has been there? I’m not far short of 40, and I can’t remember it not being there. A colleague used to be a truck driver many yers ago, and knew of it.

  3. George Roper Says:

    I watched dozens of black and white war films at the Avion.
    Many a time my mates and I traversed Rommel held North Africa on our way home, or flew home in a Mosquito.

  4. stymaster Says:

    @george

    Hello Stranger!

    How’s things? Drop me a mail if you don’t wish to post here.

  5. Cllr Mike Flower Says:

    The lorry park is still there at the moment and it is still subject to the planning process. Therefore I don’t think the cafe can be blamed on the change of use because it hasn’t actually changed yet – the status quo remains. We relocated the library to the High Street and one benefit of that should be to increase footfall in the area. Perhaps it is down to competition?

  6. stymaster Says:

    @ Mike,

    Some of it is certainly down to competition: there are 2 shops selling sandwiches in the High St that have certainly made things harder for the cafe. In fact, that’s one of the things I say up there ^^^^^^.

    However, talking to the proprietors a short while ago, they were extremely unhappy about the lorry park plans- the straw that broke the camel’s back perhaps? You may remember me mentioning a petition in the cafe against the proposals.

    Regarding the Library and increased footfall: The Library is great. It really is- no sarcasm intended on that subject. It’s a great bonus to the community and the building was an obvious and sensible choice, and functions well. The staff are a credit to it as well.

    Pity it only opens 3 days a week really. I recently spent a few weeks off sick, and went to visit the library several times. As it’s nearby, and I tended to pass most days,I didn’t bother checking the opening times, but it was shut a depressing amount of the time.