Can anybody tell me what the Maplins store was originally ... it looks too modern to have been a shop!

Can anybody tell me what the Maplins store was originally ... it looks too modern to have been a shop!

Before it was Maplin Electronics, it wasn't there (it was a purpose build for Maplin Electronics:thumbsup:).

Before it was Maplins Electronics, it was a mini 1950s style Holiday camp!

Boom Boom! Er, I mean... Hi De Hi!

*gets coat*

Thanks SCCSUX ... any idea when it opened and what was there before it?

Was a car garage before Maplin, before the garage it used to be a cinema but was knocked down and had the garage built on it. The shop have slide open main windows and if you look at the carpark you can see were the pumps used to be.

There was a cinema opposite the Barracks at one point called The Phoenix

The cinema was named after the owners of the Cinema. It showed movies such as Blackboard Jungle, and Jerry Lee Lewis movies. This cinema was just one of many in the Hillsborough/Wadsley Bridge area and believe it or not there was a policeman who (as part of his regular duties) used to visit them all looking for underage cinema goers !

On one occasion him and his sergeant visited Hillsboro' park cinema.The film that was on was "Nudes of the World " an X rated film.Inside the cinema they found a young lad who was 15 years old watching the film.

After interviewing him ,the manager and the cashier the final result was the cashier got fined in court 7/6d (371/2 p) and a warning.

The petrol station (where Maplins is now) replaced the Phoenix cinema, which must have closed in the 1960s.

Before it was Maplins Electronics, it was a mini 1950s style Holiday camp!

Boom Boom! Er, I mean... Hi De Hi!

*gets coat*

Could you just keep your coat on permanently when making jokes on the forum. It would save loads of time in you leaving the thread.

This is obviously not the maplins Iam thinking of .Where is it?

This is obviously not the maplins Iam thinking of .Where is it?

The Maplins referred to in this thread is on Langsett Rd opposite
Hillsborough Barracks.

As stated above. There was a petrol station there before Maplins

The Phoenix cinema closed in the late 60s
Remember it well for the double seats, that were always in
demand for courting couples. It was a theatre in the 1920s

This is obviously not the maplins Iam thinking of .Where is it?

There are only two in Sheffield, one opposite the Peace Gardens and the Hillsborough one which is opposite Morrisons top deck car park, and yes it was a petrol station before Maplins opened.

Must type quicker :hihi::hihi::hihi:

Thanks SCCSUX ... any idea when it opened and what was there before it?

It opened in 1991, I remember that because Meadowhall opened the year before.

http://www.maplin.co.uk/Stores.aspx?QueryZenStoreID=14&DOY=search

Yes, I remember it being a petrol station. Then the Mobil petrol station was on the opposite side where the bus terminus is now. :)

My Grandad used to take my Mum to the cinema there in the 50s to watch cowboy films :hihi:

There used to be a cinema on Proctor Place too.

I remember the garage, but not the cinema. (not that I'm disputing the cinema was there of course).
I remember the cinema on proctor place...went there to watch "The Young Ones"....or was it "Summer Holiday". One of 'em anyway, lol. (it was a long time ago)

Wasn't it a Mazda Garage before Maplins!!!!!

I well remember the Phoenix cinema. It had quite a small balcony and a low ceiling. If you sat near the back of the balcony you could reach up and make shadows with your hands on the screen. If you sat on the front row of the balcony you could drop chewing gum, fag ends etc. on to the people below. :hihi:.:hihi: The Phoenix closed in 1960.

It opened in 1991, I remember that because Meadowhall opened the year before.

I applied for a job when it opened. I remember arguing with the interviewer during my interview for not showing my working out when doing a VIR calculation in the application test.

I asked him how many times a customer asked to see such a thing, then walked out saying I didn't need the job that badly.

Oh how times have changed - I went in last month asking for cable ties. The girl (yes, a girl - she wasn't even geeky) just looked at me blankly. :rolleyes:

I applied for a job when it opened. I remember arguing with the interviewer during my interview for not showing my working out when doing a VIR calculation in the application test.

I asked him how many times a customer asked to see such a thing, then walked out saying I didn't need the job that badly.

Oh how times have changed - I went in last month asking for cable ties. The girl (yes, a girl - she wasn't even geeky) just looked at me blankly. :rolleyes:

That's true, if you you don't supply a Maplin code they don't have a clue.

VIR the Ohms Law calculation, haven't used that for many a year.

I remember the cinema on proctor place...went there to watch "The Young Ones"....or was it "Summer Holiday". One of 'em anyway, lol. (it was a long time ago)

It was indeed a long time ago - the "Kinema" closed in 1966. If you were crafty you could get in free for the "second house", sneaking in through the exit as people were coming out. That's how I managed to see the spoof western "Sheriff of Fractured Jaw" (Kenneth More, Jayne Mansfield - very funny) half a dozen times in the same week in 1958. Mrs Barrow's chip shop in Middlewood Road did a roaring trade as people left the Kinema - fish & chips (wrapped in the Daily Herald, or last night's Star if you were lucky) cost 11 old pence...

I think before it was a cinema it was a theatre,maybe someone older than me could verify this.

I applied for a job when it opened. I remember arguing with the interviewer during my interview for not showing my working out when doing a VIR calculation in the application test.

I asked him how many times a customer asked to see such a thing, then walked out saying I didn't need the job that badly.

Oh how times have changed - I went in last month asking for cable ties. The girl (yes, a girl - she wasn't even geeky) just looked at me blankly. :rolleyes:

THE GIRL (aged in mid 30's) has not worked there since end of july. So carnt have been last month. So you must have been to the city centre store.

That's true, if you you don't supply a Maplin code they don't have a clue.

VIR the Ohms Law calculation, haven't used that for many a year.

Giving them a code helps them find it quicker, or you could explain what you want better.

I think before it was a cinema it was a theatre,maybe someone older than me could verify this.

Despite being the proud owner of a bus pass I'm not old enough to remember the Phoenix as a theatre, but this web page indicates that it was opened in 1911 as both a cinema and theatre, then in 1925 it became almost purely a theatre, and from 1933 a cinema only: http://www.sheffieldhistory.co.uk/forums/lofiversion/index.php/t186.html

Thank you Hillsbro you have come up trumps again,
I only know about it being a theatre because an old relative used to perform there.

Wasn't it a Mazda Garage before Maplins!!!!!

yes it was definately a mazda dealers in the 80's. it is the same building,they totaly gutted it when making it into maplins.:thumbsup:

Back in the late 50's early 60's I went to the pheonix every saturday night second house.
It was the only time my mother could get away from the family business. We had the same seats booked every week.
Family legend has it that my dad won a talent contest there as a child/youth while it was a theatre. having won the midweek heat he expected to get some cash for the final but only got a medal.

Brilliant information ... thanks everybody for your contributions ... I'll look for the sliding doors and the petrol pumps

That's true, if you you don't supply a Maplin code they don't have a clue.

VIR the Ohms Law calculation, haven't used that for many a year.

Never could figure out Ohms law, is it the one where 'if a man swims along a wire'?

Only law I learned very quickly was 'sods law':hihi:

Only law I learned very quickly was 'sods law':hihi:

Sod's Law: "if a thing can happen, it probably will. The higher the inconvenience potential, the greater the probability".;)

The site where Maplins stand was originally built as a variety theatre where all the top music hall stars of the day performed and the large houses below was were most of them stayed.The person who built it was a man called Mr Phenix, no this is not missed spelt he named it Pheonix. when the audiences dropped it became a cinema and it closed in the sixties.It then became a garage owned by Mr Walker of Langsett Ave and was run by my friend Ralph.After many years Warings the builders of Hawksley Ave used it for there business.It then became a car dealership owned by Gregory and Dench. After a while it closed and re opened as another petrol station and M O T centre owned by a guy called Richard again it closed and metormophised as Maplins.So there you are in a nutshell.Ok You asked for it!!!!!!!!!

I remember the Phoenix Cinema. It was only a small place but comfortable.

By the end of the film the place became quite warm and cosy and you felt as if you wanted to stay.

The manager had two secret weapons to empty the place.

One was to open all the side doors which allowed the ever seemingly cold wind, to blow through the place.

The other was to play the 'Goo-ing Hoom' music, stirring numbers such as the 'Radetksy March' was played loudly.

This was psychological as it was amazing how people seemed to clear the cinema quickly, almost marching outside.

All their previous thoughts of being cosy and reluctant to move disappeared instantly.

PopT