Final curtain for Wellington's Clifton cinema
And just like that, the Clifton is no more.
After just over a week of demolition work the final walls of the art deco Clifton cinema in Wellington have been reduced to rubble.
The cinema first opened its doors on January 18, 1937, for showings of Captain January with Shirley Temple and The Big Noise starring Alastair Sim.
Amid local disquiet and protests, the cinema closed on April 27, 1983.
After being purchased by the Saverite supermarket chain it had a brief revival, showing films in the old circle in 1987, but by December of the following year, it was curtains for the cinema.
By the time the building hosted a laser tag arena and eventually the town's Dunelm, little remained of the original interior.
The furnishing store stayed until 2012 when it upped sticks and moved to a nearby retail park in Telford town centre.
In 2013 a local group named The Clifton Community Arts Centre Ltd was formed, which hoped to secure the historic building for use by the community.
Negotiations to secure the Clifton failed and planning applications and videos posted by 'urban explorers' began to show the poor state of repair that the building had entered.
After over a decade of standing empty, the fading hopes of many in Wellington were finally snubbed out last week when work began to tear down the building.
To me, the emotional demolition of the building tells a bigger story of the thousands of historic buildings across the country that are at risk of demolition or collapse due to the high costs of reviving crumbling properties.
Councils, developers, charities and locals are continually at odds over the value of unlisted yet still locally significant buildings.
Tensions over the ongoing Crooked House saga can't be far from anyone's mind when they watch beloved buildings fall to the ground.
For many, the Clifton sparked memories of favourite films and first dates. Unfortunately for me, I only have memories of kicking my feet as my mum ordered lengths of fabric.
As the final bricks are cleaned up, I'm reminded of the poem The Sack of Bath by Sir John Betjeman who watched the old Southgate in Bath be demolished.
"Goodbye to old Bath," he wrote, "We who loved you are sorry. They've carted you off by developer's lorry."
