Mansfield Road Shops
In 1926 coal production at the newly established Blidworth Colliery stalled due to geological problems. As a result the houses in the colliery village were boarded-up.
It wasn’t until 1931-32 that the pit began to produce coal efficiently. As production grew, so did confidence in the village and families began moving into the houses.
Throughout the 1930’s, local businesses, service, leisure and entertainment venues began to flourish, the focus shifting away from the old village at the top of Main Road to the array of modern shop-fronts located on Mansfield Road. Blidworth became almost self-sufficient with it’s abundance of shops.
The vintage photo above depicts villagers waiting for a coach to arrive for a day trip to the east coast. Behind them, the fish and chip shop (left) later became a drapery store and then the CO-OP funeral parlour. The main CO-OP store (centre) served the village for around eighty years but was originally located in the old village.
A rare photograph of local shopkeeper and philanthropist Robert Jones (right) at a prize giving event.
Shop proprietors in the village were well known characters. Robert Jones owned a decorating store. Originally a miner from the Welsh valleys. Jones moved to Blidworth and set up his store after being blacklisted from working in the pits of his native Wales due to his political views.
Establishing a decorating store was a master stroke as all of the new houses of the model village needed wallpaper and paint. Almost every house in the village used materials sourced from ‘Bob Joneses’. Jones was a benevolent philanthropist who supported the community and donated to good causes.
The local infant and junior schools built as part of the colliery village were both named after him (Robert Jones Infant School and Robert Jones Junior School) until they were amalgamated in 2007 and renamed Blidworth Oaks.
Walking up Mansfield Road towards the mining memorials at the bottom of Belle View Lane we pass the former site of Milward’s Shoe Repairers, (now Blidworth DIY) Nettleship’s garage, Smithy’s Club and then the former site of the Scala Cinema which is now occupied by two modern residential properties.
Blidworth Scala Cinema
The Scala Cinema opened on December 24th 1935. During its heyday, between 1940-1950, people would travel from Mansfield and Sutton in Ashfield to visit the Scala to see the latest Hollywood blockbusters featuring the big film star names of the day.
The cinema was always very well managed and screenings were even arranged around the various shift patterns of the colliery. One highlight of the week was the very popular Uncle Bill’s Children’s Show on Saturday mornings.
Blidworth Scala (and Rainworth Regent) Cinema programme from 1957 features Robin Hood.
Men of Sherwood Forest (1957) film poster.
After nationalisation of the coal industry in 1947, feature films were accompanied by newsreels produced by the NCB Film Unit. Mining Review (1947–1983) was a flagship monthly newsreel series distributed to cinemas, screening updates on coal production, new technology, coal community events, and news from across the mining industry. Today the Mining Review archive is managed by the British Film Institute (BFI) and forms an important record of working class life and mining culture in Post-war Britain. Selected newsreels are available to view on the BFI website.
Title sequence of the Mining Review newsreel produced by the NCB Film Unit.
With the popularity of television in the 1950’s and 60’s the film industry suffered greatly and many regional cinemas closed, including Blidworth Scala. In the mid 60’s, the first few rows of cinema seats were removed and the floor was raised and levelled. These alterations enabled a dancing area to be created and several people from the village have mentioned that jiving marathons took place with live bands playing. Gaming machines were also installed at the front of the building and even professional wrestling matches were held there.
In the late-1960’s the Scala Cinema was repurposed as the Silver Line Bingo and Social Club.
In the late 1960’s the building was used as a Silverline Bingo and Social Club with some degree of success until larger companies offered better facilities and larger prizes in neighbouring towns and villages. Rainworth’s Regent cinema which closed its doors in 1958, later reopened as a snooker club with some success providing a model for the Scala. It was decided to try something similar with the Scala and after some internal alterations and an extension built to the front it duly reopened its doors once again as a snooker hall and social club. However, the building finally fell into disrepair and was eventually demolished.
View of the snooker club interior (1991). The stage and cinema screen can still be seen in the background.