The former Chief Projectionist at London's Leicester Square cinema is restoring the old projection equipment from Oakham.

Ian Kingdon, a former London Projectionist and Cinema Engineer who now lives in Berkshire, has got his hands on the old projection equipment from Oakham County Cinema, and is restoring it - a passion of the movie and film enthusiast.

The Regent Cinema in Oakham was opened in 1939 and was re-named County Cinema in 1943. By 1954, it had been taken over by the Nottingham based Eskay Group, which was headed by Herbert Elton.

After CinemaScope was installed in approximately 1955, it was listed with a 31 feet wide proscenium.

In October 1987 it was taken over by new owners, but was closed in July 1988 and, despite a local petition gaining over 4,000 signatures, it was demolished in 1989.

While the cinema is long gone, Mr Kingdon has acquired the old projection equipment, and is restoring it to its former glory.

Share you memories of Oakham's cinema by emailing [email protected]. Image credit: Ian Kingdon.

Ian Kingdon, 43, spent 21 years working as a projectionist, and has decided to restore old equipment since many cinemas are now going digital.

He believes that the machine saved from Oakham was the only one used from the day the cinema opened until it closed in 1988.

Ian explained: "I recently acquired the original projection equipment from the county cinema Oakham and now restoring it to be able to show films again. It is actually the machine that showed all of the films at the cinema, from day one. It is my favourite."

He continued: "I spent at least 21 years working as a Projectionist or Chief Projectionist at many cinemas in the south, and I was introduced to 35mm projection by a old family member, Jim Carter, who was a cinema engineer for many years from the 50s until 2003 when he retired. He showed the basics when he got me a job as part time projectionist in the Riverside Studios in Hammersmith, London, which was a small preview screen for cast and crew of TV movies and series before they aired on TV.

"I moved to the Prince Charles Cinema in Leicester Square as Senior Projectionist, then on to the West End Odeon. I worked in many theatres, but also had a hand in the closing of a few, which is when I began collecting and selling projectors, films and trailers, and basically maintaining and selling equipment to collectors, who were as sad as me that 35mm projection was a dying art."

Now, Mr Kingdon is tackling a project much closer to home for Rutland residents.

Oakham County Cinema is long gone, but the projection equipment is getting a new lease of life. Image credit: Ian Kingdon.

He explained: "I came across this projector in poor condition in a damp old garage. I saw it advertised in a Facebook group, so I contacted the owner who's father passed away. He was going to open his own cinema and use the protector, but never got round to it. I spoke with the family and organised to collect it from Stamford, near Oakham.

"What drew me to it is how original it was. I had been after a standard simplex for a long time, and I felt the it needed to be saved as standard Simplex are rare machines, as they brought out a Super Simplex soon after.

"As per the serial number on the machine, the projector was fitted with a long arm on the front in the 50s for cinema scope, and note the added gold lense sticking out and that was made by Kalee and called a varamorph lense.

"Well, I put a post in the Facebook group before I picked it up, and was sent the pictures of the projector in use."

Ian has kindly included that photo:

Do you know the name of the projectionist? Image credit: Ian Kingdon.

He added: "Unfortunately I don't know the name of the gent standing next to the machine, but it seems that he was the Chief Projectionist at the cinema until closure, and the family I got it from basically rescued it for their own private cinema but never managed to get round to it."

This is where Ian comes in, who plans to restore the machine to good, useable condition - although he doesn't plan to make the machine "perfect" as his is passionate about keeping the history and character of the projector intact.

He said: "I will show a few films in my garden in the summer inside a custom shed. I won't sell it as I think it will deserve to go to a museum as they are a rare machine now, from the art deco days."

Ian is particularly passionate about restoring old cinema equipment, being a distant relative of Cary Grant - his mother being Elise Kingdon.

Ian smiled: "In our family tree, maybe that's where the passion for cinema comes from - who knows, maybe it's in the blood!

Very kindly, Ian has said that he is more than happy for any Rutland locals to pop to Reading, Berkshire, to see the machine, and that he is "always happy to hear any stories of people who went to that cinema. I would like to learn more about Rutland and its history and people, so please get in touch."

If you would like to contact Ian, email Oakham Nub News on [email protected], and we can pass your details along to the passionate former Projectionist, Engineer, Historicist and film enthusiast. Alternatively, get in touch if you have any memories to share of the old cinema.

Ian concluded: "I was lucky I got to witness real cinema, but unlucky to see it die too and turn into digital, but welcome all memories of the golden age of cinema."