Cinema has been a regular feature of life in Wymondham since 1917 when silent films were shown in the old Public Hall in Town Green. The Picture Theatre, as it was known then, was the town’s sole cinema until 1936 when the Regal came on the scene. The new single screen cinema was erected on a green field site in Friarscroft Lane by Douglas Bostock, from the well-known family of East Anglian cinema operators and showmen.
The Regal opened its doors on 18 March 1937 with ‘Swing Time’ starring Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers. The Regal served the town well for more than five decades, finally closing its doors on 28 June 1993 with a showing of ‘The Bodyguard’ with Kevin Costner and Whitney Houston.
The Regal was then taken over by The Ex-Services Club and films continued to be shown there once a month. So it’s clear there is a strong cinema tradition in Wymondham.
Fast forward to the present. Cinema as entertainment and art form has evolved dramatically over the intervening 40 or so years beginning with the multiplex in the 80s followed by 1930s cinemas being subdivided into smaller cellular auditoria and recently the birth of the neighbourhood boutique cinema. These changes developed in response to evolving technology and to counter the dominance of Television. Boutique digital cinemas now compete through the use of big screens, bright pictures, good sight lines, superior sound, comfortable spacious luxury seating and an all-round elevated experience from start to finish.
There is good news for residents in Wymondham and its surrounding villages. A local company, Filmhaus (Cinemas) Ltd, is planning to bring the big screen experience back to Wymondham in the first half of 2024.
Filmhaus was formed in 2015 and in November 2019 obtained planning consents to convert the Grade 2 Listed The Old Goods Shed near the railway station into a 2 screen digital cinema with a café/bar and meeting room for community use and hire. COVID-19 unfortunately intervened and set the project back 3 years.
The visuals give a flavour of what the cinema might look like. The two digital screens will enable the cinema to showcase the latest film releases. Film programming will be a mixture of commercial releases as well as events cinema titles including live opera and music (including encores) and non-fiction films to cater for all sections of the community, young and old. The cinema will provide employment opportunities for young people to become involved in the cinema exhibition industry and learn new skills. Food and beverage for the café/bar will, where possible, be sourced from local suppliers and providers. An exciting café menu will be crafted by our chefs to offer simple, nutritious and delicious food, cake and drinks for all palates.
The owners of Filmhaus intend to make this neighbourhood cinema a centre for entertainment, enjoyment and learning for all.
Filmhaus are pleased to announce that Mustard Studio, a London-based creative cinema consultancy specialising in marketing and branding, are working with Wymondham to make the project a huge success.
The meeting room, as mentioned, will be made available for subsidised community use as well as for local artists to have an outlet to display their artworks.
So watch this space!
Opportunities for local investors to come on board and invest in this Filmhaus project are still available. Those investing in a personal capacity may access attractive tax-free benefits via the SEIS (Seed Enterprise Initiative Scheme) vehicle, approved in principle by HMRC. Corporates can also invest in Filmhaus but the SEIS vehicle is not available for use in that case.
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Filmhaus are currently investigating other future cinema sites. If you are interested in investing in these projects do let us know or, alternatively, if you are aware of any good cinema site we should look at, we will be pleased to hear from you via email: enquiries_filmhaus@yahoo.com.
