Going to the cinema for the first time is a captivating experience for a lot of children. The memory of our first trip to the cinema is something that usually stays with us for a long time and often we don’t grow out of that desire to go and sit in a dark movie theatre and watch films come to life before our eyes.

For one OAP Cyril Barbier, from Sutton Coldfield, UK, that visit meant more than most. He was so enthralled by the Odeon Cinema, in New Street, Birmingham after his first visit that he spent 28 years building a working scale model of the place.

Barbier’s 8ft by 4ft model is incredibly detailed, has working lights and can show films on its 15 –inch screen via the means of a hidden DVD player.
It has 2,600 seats, a foyer, a restaurant, a box office, toilets with handcrafted washbasins, a heating and cooling system, a spiral metal staircase, a proscenium arch cove and a rising organ. Wow, it sounds better than some of the actual cinemas that I have visited!! Continue Reading

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