January-2015-1

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The Doorway manThe Tuesday following August Bankholiday weekend I’d started a newjob with a local electrical firm at theCannon Cinema. As a child, this placehad given me the movie bug. I washooked then and I still am.The building, built in 1937 hadentertained the locals until its closurein 2004. Now after a decade, two locallads had acquired the building.Wearing my boiler suit, head torch and a dust mask I was told to go to the third floor andstrip out the old cables.Once up the stairs, there were a couple of windows covered in decade’s worth of cobwebsand giving a view over Freeman Street. I pondered how the view had changed over seventy years.I imagined the old tramway system and the street bustling with shoppers, a far cry from the presentday. Suddenly, I was distracted by a mechanical noise emanating from an adjacent room. Buthow could this be when all of the power had been off since the basement flooded? I needed toinvestigate and so wandered through an old workshop strewn with electric cables half ripped out,old film reels and cases before passing through a door into Projector Room 3. I knew this as it saidso on the door. Looking around I suddenly felt a shudder as though somebody had passed throughme.Located in front of the projection window was the projector, left to rot. It was heart-breakingto see. I went to touch it as you would a sick animal, in order to comfort it.In the corner of my eye, I noticed a flickering light bouncing off the projection window glass.Peering through, into Screen 3, I was startled to see an old black and white movie being screened!I turned to face the projector to locate the off switch only to find it wasn’t even on. Howcould it be, the building was powerless! Unnerved I decided to leave, but as I headed toward thedoor something fell to the floor. Shining the torch, I spotted a name badge belonging to a formerstaff member. It displayed the name ‘John’. I wondered what his job was.Turning toward the door I was confronted by a short man, balding on top of his head andwearing a faded suede jacket. I saw his name badge - John!Startled I asked, ‘Who are you?’‘I work here, well, on the doors actually’ he replied.My torch flickered. Without a trace John vanished. I left the room to see where he’dgone, but to no avail. Continuing down the corridor I passed through another doorway only tofind myself in the auditorium for Screen 2. Thinking it best, I proceeded down the stairs towardthe public exit, knowing that route better than the last. Peering back, as you do when you thinkyou are being followed, I again saw John, now in the doorway at the top of the stairs. I decided toquick-step it toward the main foyer. Once in the corridor I could make out the foyer at the end. Nowjogging towards it I was stopped in my tracks by the eerie sight of John walking past the doorway.I decided to use the emergency exit instead and burst through the fire doors, back into daylight atlightning speed. I looked back and saw John standing there, smiling at me. As he shut the doors hesaid, ‘Do come again sir.’When I had calmed down a little, I found myself talking to one of the electrical contractorswho was preparing the installation of a new electricity feed to the building. I told him about thestrange happenings I had experienced earlier that day, about John, and then showed him thebadge. He told me that the man who used to usher the door and count the crowds in was calledJohn. He described John in detail. We were talking about the same man. He told me how John had14By Craig McArthur
died in the early 1990s from a heart attack, andthat the local paper did a story about the man whohad worked in the cinema for nearly 30 years.Later that day I assisted the contractorwith the lifting of a paving slab so he could thendig a trench for the new cable. Leaning theslab against the wall we were baffled by writingengraved on the underside of the slab. It read,‘Here lies George Mistaken 1873-1914’.Confused, we stood discussing thispaving slab and its wording, and soon we wereinterrupted by an elderly passer-by. She explainedto us that all the slabs which were laid downFreeman Street were part of a council budget cut.These paving slabs were once located at AinslieStreet Cemetery but they’d been removed in1952 when it had closed. Well, the hairs on theback of my neck were standing on end by nowat the thought of an entire street consisting ofheadstones.Eventually, we went back to working onthe cable trench lifting several more slabs andreading the names inscribed. The last slab at theentrance to the Cannon Cinema bore the nameJohn. He had come home.sanitary work - blockage removal - building services - central heating - air conditioningwater - gas - electrical - solar hot water systemsKESYPLUMBINGInstallation & repairs tosanitary, gas, central heating.Air conditioning & solar hotwater systems.Offi cial gas & water installerscovering from Alicante toBenidorm & surrounding areas.All small building services.All kinds of electrical work.We can also deal with all kindsof drain blockages.Mob: 652 857 108Tel: 965 632 242kesyfontaneria@gmail.comFood Served Daily965 698 082Monday – Saturday 09:30 – 16:00Sunday 09:30 – 14:00What’s OnLive Sport / Football DailyTuesdays Darts 20:00Wednesday Bingo - eyes down 20:00Thursdays Quiz 19:30Friday Fish and Chips 17:00 – 20:00(Please Pre-Book)Music Quiz 1 st Saturday Every MonthAvd Pais Valencia Busot 0311115
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January-2015-1

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