London Hayes Mecca Bingo – Uxbridge Road

Hayes is a very good one for a bingo-history fan. Beneath the fairly ordinary Mecca branding was a 1939 cine-variety theatre at 466-468 Uxbridge Road, designed by George Coles, one of the big names in British cinema architecture, and described by Hillingdon Council as the only remaining purpose-built cine-variety theatre in Hayes. Rather than a flamboyant Odeon tower, Coles gave it a handsome classical brick façade with stone dressings, arched windows and engaged Ionic columns. It didn’t last long as a cinema though. Renamed the Essoldo in 1962, it closed as a picture house in 1967 after just 28 years and was converted into a bingo club almost immediately, passing through Essoldo Bingo, Top Rank, Ladbrokes and finally Mecca.

That means the building spent around 56 years as a bingo hall, twice as long as it ever operated as a cinema. It wasn’t a decrepit old picture palace rescued from decline either, it was a relatively young cinema that simply proved more useful as a bingo venue. Photos taken by Historic England in 2001 during its Mecca years show the proscenium, stage and original organ chamber grilles were all still in place, though the decorative plasterwork ceiling had been hidden behind a false one. Hillingdon Council rated it highly enough to add it to the borough’s Local List, calling it a well-maintained local landmark. Despite a local campaign and petition to save it, Mecca closed the doors for good on 26 February 2023, bringing an end to 84 years of continuous entertainment use on the site.

Other Lost Halls In The Area

• London – Acton Gala Bingo – High Street
• London – Acton Mecca Bingo – Old Oak Road
• London – Gala Bingo Harrow – Station Road
• London – Gala Bingo Hounslow – Staines Road
• London – Mecca Bingo Hounslow – London Road