Weybridge: Queen's Parade & Weybridge Hall

Image: © Nigel Cox Taken: 23 Oct 2011

Queen's Parade was built as a row of shops, with residential accommodation above, on Church Street, in 1899 in the grounds of the demolished Minorca House, hence the name of the street on the left, Minorca Road. There is a photograph of the block in the Frith collection, taken in 1903 shortly after it was completed, here http://www.francisfrith.com/weybridge/photos/church-street-1903_49903/ In 1920 the near corner unit was converted to use as a cinema, the Weybridge Kinema Theatre, with the auditorium just visible on the left down Minorca Street. This later became the County Cinema in the 1930s until its closure in the 1950s. A more distant shot in the Frith collection, dating from around 1955, shows the building as the County Cinema here http://www.francisfrith.com/weybridge/photos/church-street-c1955_w74037/ The old cinema was then purchased by Walton and Weybridge Urban District Council (W&WUDC) and converted for use as a community centre known as the Weybridge Hall. Local reports suggest that in 2011 it was under threat of closure by the successors to W&WUDC, Elmbridge Borough Council, but local support has kept it open. Colin's Image shows the building in the opposite direction in 2008. Church Street in the foreground is the A317.

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