Sheffield Retro: 29 evocative photos bring back memories of iconic Gaumont and Odeon cinema site

For years, the Barker’s Pool site once home to the Gaumont, Odeon and Regent cinemas was among the best places in Sheffield to go to see the best films.

And our picture gallery below shows why.

As first the Regent, then the Gaumount, and eventually the Odeon, the famous site on Barker’s Pool was one of the city’s favourite cinemas.

The building site looks very different today, with work to tranform it nearing its conclusion. But some will remember how they queued to see Star Wars there only to get turned away because the film was already a sell out.

Originally built in the 1920s as the Regent, the site was later changed to the Gaumount. But by the 1980s, it had been transformed into a mirrored frontage, but still operating as a cinema under the name of the Odeon.

We have put together a gallery showing how the site has changed over the years, with pictures taken both of the building’s frontage, and inside, from the foyers and the auditorium, where we saw some great films over the years.

Now the building is being transformed again – with a new frontage having just been fitted complete with ‘green’ walls.

Our pictures take you all the way back from the present day, looking back over the decades.

Some of them are taken from our archives, while others are courtesy of Picture Sheffield.