There is an Iceland supermarket that lies hidden in Corstorphine, unless walking down the Manse Road, you would never have known it was there.
But the history of the site where Iceland stands is relatively unknown to those of a certain era.
The site has a unique and colourful history with it being home to Corstorphine’s very own cinema - The Astoria.
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According to the Corstorphine Astoria Centre, a small group of businessmen, led by FR Graham-Yooll, hired the renowned architect T Bowhill Gibson - who had built five cinemas in Edinburgh - to design the new cinema in Corstorphine in 1929.
It is understood that the first manager of the business was Arthur Albion. He had managed several cinemas in Edinburgh prior to this to great success.
Cinematreasures.org, says that the cinema, which was situated at the north end of Manse Road, opened on a Wednesday, January 1 1930, with an organ solo played by Mr Lyndon Laird that was followed by the film “Fox Movietone Follies of 1929” starring John Breeden.
Joanne Torrance, who grew up in the Carrick Knowe area of Edinburgh, shared her memories of visiting the Astoria in the 1960’s as a child..
She said: “The first memories of the Astoria was of going to the Saturday matinee with my chums and sisters. It was madness, full of kids screaming and shouting, having the time of their lives.
“My lifelong love of cinema began in the Astoria and it has never left me to this day. I don't remember exactly what age I was when I first visited but I was definitely young and at Carrick Knowe primary school.
“The interior in my memory was red and gold, and there were huge drapes with the seats covered in a rough red material. There was a small sweetie kiosk in the foyer where you could buy sweeties and there was boxes of chocolates with padded lids for the well off. “Although we usually visited Mrs Scobbie sweetie shop on the way to the cinema opposite the Old Parish Church on our way.
“I always felt sorry for the usherettes going around with their torches flashing them into the rows of seats looking for the culprits - they were very strict.
“But when the lights dimmed a silence descended across the cinema and we all became engrossed. Every Saturday someone would throw a stink bomb, it was awful but we all laughed anyway.
“I was strange back in those days, as we all packed away to the cinema on our own, no adults with us. Sadly the kids nowadays aren't allowed to walk to school on their own.
“My parents worked in Nigeria and when they came home to Scotland on leave my father and I visited the Astoria most weeks. My father loved the cinema and I remember him taking me to see One million years BC. I remember it as if it was yesterday. I saw so many films at the Astoria from cowboys to Walt Disney.
“I am the youngest of four girls and my sister's are much older than me. My sister Maureen wanted to see this film at the Astoria on once occasion and asked me to go with her. She lied to our mum as the film was an 18 and well this film was very explicit. Tt was 1971 so I was 13 at the time and I was sick in a bag and suffered shock as a result. My sister made me promise never to tell mum and said she would buy me a fish supper on the way home. So the deal was done....lips sealed! After all, it was Tarry’s chip shop just down the road.
“The Astoria was a massive part of the community in my eyes. And it saddens me that the cinema closed. If only the community had been able to buy it and run it as a community owned cinema like The Birks Cinema in Aberfeldy, which I attend regularly. I think Corstorphine would benefit from its own cinema today.
“My grandfather was a photographer and he was one of the first to try to open a talking cinema in leith Edinburgh. So maybe this is where my passion for cinema and photography comes from.
“I am 66 and I love film and my trips to the cinema, there is nothing better in my opinion when the lights go down and the music starts and you disappear into a work of adventure in another world. Although the glamour of the cinema nowadays is sadly gone - I miss the velvet drapes and organist playing with no large tubs of popcorn or people staring at phones in sight.
“That being said, it is still the most wonderful experience you can have, to be transported to distant lands, to be taken away from our own everyday lives.
“If I had the money I would love to open my own cinema but this sadly won't happen.
I think of the Astoria often and I am sure it played a big part in my love of film and the cinema experience.”
The auditorium for the cinema had 1,369 seats, with 946 of them in the stalls and a further 423 in the balcony.
Below the screen lay a stage about 15 feet deep with small dressing rooms on either side for the singers and performers that would often perform before or between movies.
In 1963, J.B. Milne Theatres took over the venue but when Milne died the cinema fell into the hands of Kingsway Entertainments before closing in 1974.
The building was then demolished in 1976 with the site now home to Iceland supermarket.
Dorothy Maitland, who lives in Corstorphine but grew up in Drumbrae Park, has said that she also holds fond memories of visiting the cinema as a child in the late 1960’s.
She said: “It was a great time. You would go to Murrayfield ice rink in the morning and then to the Astoria in the afternoon. My pals - Sheila Milne, Ann Dunbar, Patricia Edwardson and Donna Mills - and I went every Saturday afternoon. Two films for something like 1/3d (8pence).
“Saturday matinees were a full house and then the usherette came round between the two films with ice cream. If you made too much noise during the film, not that I did, you promptly got the torch shone in your face and told to be quiet or get out. We would often buy extra sweets with our bus fares and walk back up the hill.
“It was just somewhere we went as kids and then as I got a bit older I would go into town on a Saturday afternoon and the ‘pictures’ was for night time.
“A lot of the films were Cowboys and Indians but I can’t recall the names. My Mum and Dad took me there to see The first Beatles film, A Hard Day’s Night, when it was released. I must have been nine or ten at the time.”
Do you have any photographs of old memories that you would like to share with Edinburgh Live? If so, please contact: Jacob.Farr@reachplc.com
