Town or city Walthamstow Reference no. 1065590 | Designated 1987 Phone +44 20 8520 8636 | |
 | ||
Former names Walthamstow Granada
Walthamstow EMD
ABC Cinema Address 186 Hoe St, Walthamstow, London E17 4QH, UK Hours Open today · 4–11PMTuesday4–11PMWednesday4–11PMThursday4PM–12AMFriday4PM–2AMSaturday12PM–2AMSunday12–11PMMonday4–11PM Profiles | ||
Mirth, Marvel and Maud (previously known as Granada Cinema, Walthamstow EMD, MGM Cinema and ABC Cinema) is a pub, cinema and cultural centre located in Walthamstow, London. The building is known for having been frequented by Alfred Hitchcock and for being built on a site where films were shown as early as 1896.
Contents
Construction
In 1930 Granada plc built a 2,697 seat cinema, opened as The Granada. The building featured exteriors by Cecil Masey and interior decorations by Theodore Komisarjevsky.
In later years, as a result of changed in the building's ownership, the cinema was known as MGM, ABC, and EMD cinema.
Closure
The cinema closed in 2003 and was purchased by Universal Church of the Kingdom of God (UCKG) with the intention of converting the building into a church. Many members of the local community opposed and campaigned against these plans.
UCKG failed to gain planning permission to convert the building from Waltham Forest Council and later from the then Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, Eric Pickles.
Re-opening
In 2014, UCKG sold the cinema to pub company Antic who re-opened the building as, under the new name of Mirth, Marvel and Maud.
When asked about the new name, Anthony Thomas, the head of Antic said:
We wanted to bring Mirth back to the Foyer, which is in itself a Walthamstow Marvel. My Great Aunt Maud took me to a similar space as a child, hence our chosen name.