DID you know that the former American president Theodore Roosevelt stayed in Waterloo as a child? Or that Waterloo held the largest public library together with Crosby Civic Hall?
These are a number of revelations we have found out as the Champion delves into Crosby and Waterloo's past each week with help from Sefton Waterloo Inclusive Social History group and other local experts.
Nowadays with the internet, Crosby's teenagers have access to films at their fingertips but around seventy years ago - just before the Second World War, life was a much different story.
On a chilly morning on September 2 1939 residents crowded Crosby Road North wondering what the strange moving pictures shown behind the four walls of the new Odeon cinema would look like.
The children mainly went to the Saturday afternoon matinees where they were shown several short films like Laurel and Hardy or Charlie Chase.
“There was always a full-length Cowboys and Indians film plus a serial which would have a cliffhanger ending to ensure that you would be back next week,” one resident said.
“There were no cinema clubs back then, you just paid your money and took a seat. The film would last around two hours. It was always rowdy before the lights went out, but when they did everything went quiet.
People were all enthralled with the film! Usherettes would rush up and down the isles if we were noisy and tell us all to be quiet.
"The uniformed commissionaire would remind us that the badly-behaved would not be allowed in next time. No doubt it entered our minds that he wouldn't remember us!"
The cinema's name changed several times between 1943 and 1996 from Odeon Classic to Cannon and Apollo before finally re-opening as the Plaza.
Some years after the end of the Second World War televisions started to become more affordable and cinemas struggled to maintain their grip on reeling in a full audience.
The Queen's Cinema in South Road closed in 1959 with the running of the old black and white film 'I only asked' with Bernard Brislow on 22nd August.
The Wintergardens on Church Road closed in 1965 with the showing of 'The train' starring Bert Lancaster. But the Plaza Community Trust opened in 1997 and through the hard work of residents Janet Dunn and Jean Plant they managed to produce a new social venue for everyone.
The successful revival of the Plaza Cinema was a breath of fresh air for the local community as children from generations down the line now follow in their grandparents footsteps.
If you think you can contribute to the Waterloo and Crosby Chronicles contact The Champion on 01704 392407.
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