Colin Crosby Heritage Tours

Working in Clacton

The pleasant Essex seaside resort of Clacton is one of the many places where I worked briefly during my career in cinema management.

It was during the early 1970s, when I was General Manager of the Classic Twin Cinemas at Westcliff.

My Area Manager, an old friend named Roger Gutteridge, rang me one day to say that he had a problem. An All Night Show (always quite a rarity) had been arranged for the coming Friday night, and the manager himself was not there - to be honest, I forget why. Could I join him and help to run it?

Well yes, I was pleased to help. So, leaving my own assistant in charge at Westcliff, I met Roger and a young trainee manager at Clacton and together we sorted it out.

It wasn`t a very long visit to Clacton, but at least we ensured that the local people enjoyed their special film show.