UK’s last cinema carriage restored to screen films again after 37 years

A MOBILE cinema has been saved from crumbling away, with the possibility of showing movies on the move, in the future.

The final curtain nearly fell on a historic mobile cinema in Wiltshire, but it has been saved by a team of dedicated volunteers and the friends of a former British Transport Films employee who owned the carriage.

The carriage cinema can seat up to 25 peopleCredit: Martin Rouse

It was used back in the 80s to screen training films for British Rail staffCredit: Steve FoxonInside, the carriage located at Swindon and Cricklade Railway features new panelling, has been rewired, repainted and a speaker system has been added.

Vintage seats were also salvaged from a cinema in Deptford, London, and placed inside the carriage.

In total, the carriage can seat 25 people and stands stationary – however, in the future film screenings could take place whilst the carriage is on the move.

Originally opened in 1975 by Princess Margaret, the carriage used to be part of a travelling exhibition train that celebrated 150 years of the modern railway.

The cinema coach then went on to screen training films for British Rail staff until 1988.

Following this, it was used as a meeting room in a Bristol depot in 1991.

In the carriage’s final years, the former manager Alan Willmott feared it would be scrapped completely and with it, its intriguing history.

However, in 2019, volunteers moved the cinema carriage to Swindon and Cricklade Railway where, with the help of Alan Willmott’s family friend, Steve Foxon, they started a six-year project to revitalise the carriage.

Steve, now a curator at the British Film Institute, said: “Alan was the closest person I had to a grandfather.

“When he died, he left all the cinema coach’s paperwork to me.

“Much of the restoration work was done by volunteers at the Swindon & Cricklade Railway, and it’s just stunning.

“It looks like it did in the 1980s.”

He added: “Sitting in the carriage absolutely warms my heart and takes me back to my childhood.

“It’s exactly what Alan would have wanted and there isn’t a better way to honour his memory.

“My dad was a close friend of Alan’s and he’s absolutely over the moon.”

Martin Rouse (pictured) led the volunteer renovators and claims the carriage “is almost unique” with “nowhere else offering this facility”Credit: PA

Special screenings were held in the carriage on September 13 and 14 as part of the Railway 200 exhibitionCredit: Steve FoxonSteve’s father, Rob, also helped to fund the project using money that was left to them by Alan, following his death in 2014.

Martin Rouse, who led the volunteer renovators, said: “The coach could’ve been returned to passenger use, but so much history would’ve been lost.

“What we have now is almost unique, nowhere else offers this facility, and it’s great to see what it’s become.”

Special screenings were held in the carriage on September 13 and 14 as part of the Railway 200 exhibition, which documents how railways have enabled mass tourism, amongst other things.

Railway 200’s own exhibition train, Inspiration, is currently on a 60-stop tour of Britain.

The four-coach train features several interactive exhibits on rail development and engineering challenges.

The journey launched back in June and upcoming stops include Glasgow Central Station (October 11-12); Aberdeen station (October 19 -20); Edinburgh Waverley station (October 22-23); Blackpool North station, Lancashire (November 4-7); London Paddington station (December 8-13); Southampton station (December 14-16) and London Victoria station (December 18-20).

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Plus, the historic UK station that used to have trains to the beach is set to reopen after 60 years – with vintage dining carriage plans.

Railway 200’s own exhibition train, Inspiration, is currently on a 60-stop tour of BritainCredit: Railway 200/PA Wire