Part 4 of the history of cinemas and entertainment in Laindon.
Before the Picture Theatre opened, local memories record film shows being presented in the building later known as the Winston Club. This makes the club part of Laindon's cinema story as well as its wider social history.
A social club existed on the Northumberland Avenue/High Road site from the 1920s. It was known at different times as the Laindon Legion Social Club and the Carlton Social Club. In 1940 the Carlton name was replaced by Winston, reflecting the wartime prominence of Winston Churchill. The Winston Club was formally registered as a mutual society in 1943.
The Winston Club became a place for drinking, singing, music, cards and dominoes. Former residents remembered regular Saturday singing, children's Christmas parties and a savings or loan club that helped families put money aside for Christmas and emergencies.
Unlike many older High Road buildings, the Winston Club building survived the large-scale redevelopment that removed so much of pre-New Town Laindon. Local-history records later refer to it as the Winston Social Club and Winston Sports & Social Club.
Another major indoor venue stood on High Road beside Laindon High Road School. It became associated with the British Legion and Laindon War Memorial Hall and was used for dances, meetings, boxing events, jumble sales and other community activities. The Laindon war memorial originally stood in its grounds.
The hall and its grounds were sold in the 1970s. The building was demolished in 1975, and the site was redeveloped with two detached houses. The war memorial was removed and later resited elsewhere in Laindon.
Halls and clubs mattered because Laindon did not depend entirely on commercial entertainment. Dances, club nights, boxing tournaments, children's events and local performances were organised by community groups, sports clubs and social organisations. For many residents these venues were just as important as the cinema.