Date of closure: August 2023
Address (for reference only):
Buzz Bingo (Lost Halls)
3 Bath Road
Slough
SL1 3US
Slough’s Buzz Bingo occupied a genuinely impressive old entertainment palace, the former Adelphi Theatre, and its bingo life ran for a full 50 years. The building opened in February 1930, designed by E. Norman Bailey, with an original capacity of 2,042 seats across stalls and balcony, plus a full stage, café, ballroom and Christie theatre organ. Its stage list reads like a who’s who of popular music, having hosted The Beatles, Roy Orbison, Little Richard, Chuck Berry and The Rolling Stones. Ownership passed through several hands over the decades, from Southan Morris and Union Cinemas to ABC, before Granada acquired the lease in 1953 and eventually bought the site outright. The cinema finally closed on 21 January 1973, and rather than let such a large building sit empty, Granada converted it almost immediately, reopening as a Granada Bingo Club on 18 May 1973.
From there the ownership followed a clean line, becoming Gala Bingo in 1991 and Buzz Bingo in 2018, with the old theatre’s basic bones surviving throughout despite decades of alteration. By its final years it offered the standard modern package of 90-ball and electronic bingo, a gaming area, bar and diner, hearing loop and around 120 parking spaces, while occasionally hosting live music events that echoed its original purpose. Its Christie organ didn’t survive intact, though parts of it were later incorporated into an organ at a church in Ipswich. Buzz announced in March 2023 that Slough was among nine clubs closing due to post-pandemic trading pressures, with bingo finally ceasing there in August 2023. The building is still standing, and a proposal to convert it into a banqueting and function venue was submitted but ultimately rejected by Slough Council over concerns about scale, noise and parking, leaving this 2,000-seat 1930s theatre in limbo, its future still very much undecided.
Other Lost Halls In The Area
It’s rare that we get to see a collection of bingo hall photos taken by the same person, and this one cover pretty much every area and detail of the club. The pictures below show a lot of detail of the club’s original interior design that was inherited from the Adelphi Theatre which opened in 1930, and was eventually taken over by Granada Bingo in 1973.
As you can see from the images below the venue has been well looked after and hasn’t changed too much although the carpet is obviously a modern addition. Much of the freezework remains as do original fittings. The stage and proscenium appear to be intact which is great, as some theatres and cinemas went through complete refurbishment when converted to bingo use, destroying their original character in the process.
Our thanks to Charles S.P.Jenkins for allowing us to publish a vast set of quality photographs. Charles has a couple of websites that are not restricted to bingo. He has collected some amazing photographs and stories that tell a lot about London’s history, and we recommend you have a look at his websites which although not bingo focussed are nevertheless extremely interesting.
East End Memories is a fairly big and interesting site that covers a lot of history and culture, focussing a lot on the way war shaped the lives of the area’s residents. He also has his own Facebook page – Stories Of London where you can leave a message, and another website Stories Of London. He has also published stories which can be purchased via Amazon UK, or Amazon US. He has also written an account of the club for our site, which can be read here.
If you’d like to share your pictures of the club, please send us an email and we’ll arrange to add them.
I remember this building well as a cinema and also as a ‘rock concert venue’ – saw many singers there.