Colin Crosby Heritage Tours

Working in Leyton

I spent a short time working in Leyton, in that part of Greater London that used to be in Essex.

It was during the spell in the early 70s when I had left the Rank Organisation after nearly seven years. I had spent a few months working in the West End, and although a lot of these experiences stood me in good stead later on, I really didn't enjoy much of it.

A cinema operator named Sidney Shurman approached me and told me that he was about to take over the Odeon Cinema Highgate, which was actually at Archway. He said he would be delighted to have an experienced manager such as myself to run it, and the upshot was that I joined him.

In the meantime, there was no manager at another of his cinemas, the former Odeon at Leyton, which was now known as the Curzon, so I became its manager on a temporary basis.

However, the deal to take over the Archway cinema fell through, which left me running the business at Leyton.

A little disillusioned, I again started looking for something else, and joined another independent company at Kings Cross.

If anybody reading this has any connection with Leyton (Born? Lived? Worked? Ancestors? Relatives?), I would be very pleased to hear from them.