Can anyone remember the bug Hut

[Albert T Smith 10]

Anyone remember the Bug Hut namely The Vic picture house,cant really remember the suburb it was in but i remember that we spent many a happy hour there for 7d.I fell in love with Roy Rogers there he was my hero.Fish and chips afterwards in the newspaper YUM.

 

After leaving Colley Secondary Modern School on the New Parson Cross I started my Engineering Apprenticeship at Brightside Foundry situated on Eccelsfield Road, Eccelsfield.

 

Sometime in 1954 a fellow apprentice a little older than myself. Don Fillingham, who lived on the Shiregreen Estate, Sheffield. Suggested to the group of apprentice’s that we should all go to see, ‘ The Nudes in Three Dee ‘ that was being shown at the Victoria on Upwell Street, Sheffield one evening. (Three Dee effect happened when you put on glasses one with a yellow lens the other green? it gave a Three Dimensional effect!!)

 

A couple a days later we decided to go and off to the Vic we went to see these woman with no clothes on. For all of us it would be a first time because in the fifties woman normally worn skirts below the knee and if you managed to see a bit of thigh you were extremely lucky!!

 

The Nudes appeared during the interval and all that was to be seen was a woman (Not Valumtuelus!!) stood upon a trolley absolutely rigidly still, because they were not allowed to move in public at this time, and behind her were two men with long poles. To give the Three Dee effect these were used to push the trolley out and pull it back in before the curtain closed. When she was behind the closed curtain, she would then move to another position and repeat the performance. It went on about six times before the second part of the film started.

 

One thing which I vividly remember was that before the Three Dee bit started the usherette coming down the corrider between the rows of seats selling ice cream or soft drinks. When she arrived at the front row!!, where we were sat, she said to Don Fillingham, ‘ **eeding hell, thar’t here again, Thar most have come ever night this week’!! .

 

Don Filligham, lived on one of the Butterwaite's on the Shiregreen Estate. He would be either 72 - 74 now and surely he must be someone's grandfather using the Forum these days!!?? Leslie Calow. Aged about 71yrs, lived near to him on Bellhouse Road, was also another fellow apprentice at Brightside and,' Mucky Vic Goer '. as well as a fellow cyclist in the early Nineteen Fifties.

 

Can anyone else remember the Victoria Palaces’ Nudes in Three Dee. They were probably the first nudes to be publically seen in Sheffield.

[ldgtel 10]

You're right Falls.

 

The cinema on St Phillips Rd was the Weston. I used to go about three times every week and nearly every time I'd come out bitten by fleas. That would be in the early fifties.

 

I often went to the Weston or should it be "ranch House" ar they always had cowboy fils. I don't remember getting bitten but that was one of its other names. A right pick up joint!

[Texas 10]

Reading through these memories again I remembered being in one of the cinemas that could be construed as a 'bug hut', and a usherette walking down the aisles spraying something I can only assume to be 'Dettol'. Just to freshen things up. I suppose it was diluted. Mind you they did allsorts of stuff back then that would've caused a government out cry today. Well perhaps not this government.

[harmston 10]

Victory(bughut) upwell st stood where the motor repair garage now stands just after the double bend left hand side towards the bridge the sweet shop for the bughut is still there

one story i have of this place was that to get in there was about 15 steps up to the door and one night the bouncer always on duty tried to evict some lads out and he was thrown out himself and i believe the story went that he hit every step on the way down

 

Can anyone remember standing out side picture houses asking total stranger to take them in when it was A cat films Iwould not like any of my family doing it today

[Ray Marsden 10]

Hi prioryx,

 

The only 'Bug Hut' I can remember was the picture house on West Bar called the Don, further along towards Owlerton on Shalesmoor was another 'cinema house' called the 'Roscoe' or 'Ranch House' as we called it. Great memories !

 

At that time I used to live at the top end of Woodside Lane, Pitsmoor (40's & 50's) went to Firs Hill and Burngreave schools until the end of '56.

 

Regards, Ray (braindeadtwit) Marsden.

[Choirgirl 10]

Yes Falls I remember the "bug hut" on St Phillips Road, near where I used to live. It always seemed dark in there. What amused me most was what general known as "upstairs". It was little more that a raised box. You seemed to go up six steps and come down eight to your seat. Spent many happy hours in the bug hut with my friends. Happy days::

[MikeX 10]

These emails go back quite a time, but I only just caught them. The Weston Cinema was on the corner of St Phillips Road and Mitchell Street.It was by the side of a tiny pub. in a long terrace of houses fronting onto St Phillips. The interior was as described; most seats at ground level, a small number about 3 feet above. The projection room was above this level, fitted out with Simplex projectors, Western Electric sound system, and Peerless Magnarc lamps. How do I know this? On and off, between 1953 and 1956, I was a projectionist there, but, although it was my 'base', I spent most of the time working around Sheffield as a relief, filling in for days off, holidays and sickness. At the time (according to the Kine Weekly Yearbook for 1952), there were some 52 cinemas in Sheffield, and I worked at one time or another in every last one of 'em. Reference is made elsewhere to the Victory Cinema on Upwell Street, close to the railway bridge. Yes, it did (and still does) flood there in heavy rain, and what always amazed me was that trams managed to pass underneath it, their trolleys pretty well flat to the roof.

My connexion with Sheffield Cinemas ended late in 1959 when I was drafted for National Service in the RAF. My last job was at the newly-opened Odeon Cinema on Flat Street - opening film was 'Reach for the Sky'.

My interest in Cinemas did not end there; during my time in the RAF I spent some time working in Astra Cinemas, then on almost every RAF Station.

Happy days - I sometimes feel real nostalgia even after 50 or 60 years.

Edited September 23, 2012 by MikeX
mis-spelling

[cornishpasty 10]

You're right Falls.

 

The cinema on St Phillips Rd was the Weston. I used to go about three times every week and nearly every time I'd come out bitten by fleas. That would be in the early fifties.

 

we could sneak on for "nowt" through the door down the side street ! i lived on bellefield street just off st phillips road.

[mikebatty 10]

Anyone remember the Bug Hut namely The Vic picture house,cant really remember the suburb it was in but i remember that we spent many a happy hour there for 7d.I fell in love with Roy Rogers there he was my hero.Fish and chips afterwards in the newspaper YUM.

 

I would stand corrected but , the only " Bug Hut " I remember was the Roscoe . It was between St. Philips road and Allen Street . At the junction of Shalesmoor , Imfirmary road and Penistone rod . That too had a very low balcony . We used to go there for the " Tanna " rush on a Saturday . Three Stugers , Roy Rogers , Lone Ranger and the like .

[flyer 10]

The Unity (Top of Wood St)dont think there any bugs mind u could catch something ,1948 use to ride on my 10 speed from Leicester on a sat and back sun saw more sex going on than ive ever seen since, life lesson #1

[Pauline Bell 10]

What about the Tinsley Bug Hut next to Tinsley workingmans club. Tinsley Palace I think was its posh name. 7d downstairs and 10d upstairs. I was an usherette there when I was 18.