Most readers will know The Regal in Kings Square as a Wetherspoons pub with its trademark cheap drinks and low-priced meals. Its use today follows a more interesting history as a cinema and theatre. Indeed, there are still nods to its former use today – look for a King Kong figure attacking aeroplanes, with a New York skyline as a backdrop, and a pair of Oscar statuettes either side of the rear staircase.

It is an attractive building, with a bath stone façade and an interior of sweeping curves – and what used to be a magnificent foyer. Construction started in 1939 but was interrupted by the outbreak of war, with The Regal not opening until March 1956.

Performers included Tommy Steele, Roy Orbison, and the Four Tops

During its time as one of the city’s premier entertainment venues, its performers included big names from the world of music such as Tommy Steele, Petula Clark, Jerry Lee Lewis, Cliff Richard and The Shadows, Roy Orbison, and the Four Tops. Most famously, a young group called The Beatles were third on the bill in March 1963 as a support act to Chris Montez and Tommy Roe.

Comedians including Norman Wisdom, Morecambe and Wise, and Tony Hancock also took to the stage there, as well as Danny La Rue appearing in his first professional pantomime! Incredibly, the main auditorium seated over 1,000 people, with another 460 in the stalls. Oh for a venue that size in Gloucester today!

I remember, as a youngster, watching films in what became the ABC and then the Cannon cinema before it closed in 1990 and moved out of town to the Peel Centre (and again to Gloucester Quays as it is today). Wetherspoons brought back the name of The Regal when it opened in 1996.

Two books have been written on the subject

Such is the rich history of performances at The Regal that not just one, but two books have been written on the subject, entitled ‘Now and Forever’, volumes 1 and 2, by local cinema enthusiast Ross Campbell and are available from the Gloucester Family History Society (website www.gfhs.org.uk).