'We must save this Glasgow cinema which brought stars into our lives'

One of the most revered is the Govan Lyceum, currently lying empty as campaigners try to breathe new life into the building in the hope it can be saved for future generations.

Our recent story about the Govan Road landmark, which sits on the corner of McKechnie Street, prompted many warm recollections from readers.

Karen McNiven, who grew up in Govan and now lives in the West End, is giving any campaign to restore the cinema her whole-hearted support.

The old Govan Lyceum (Image: Glasgow City Archives)

“I pray that it can be saved,” she told us. “It’s been just awful that despite the level of regeneration funding into the area over many years it is still a building at risk.

“The Lyceum has such historical significance for Glasgow, not just Govan.”

Karen adds: “I now live in West End so am delighted to have the new bridge connecting these two parts of city again, as Partick and Govan really felt like one big community when I was growing up.

“Like many Govanites, as children we all headed to the cinema for the Saturday matinées, often getting in for free through the back door if you had no money.

“They knew all the kids, the local women who worked there. I saw a lot of films with my mum and dad too, so it really was a place for us all to have a great day out.

“It was such a loss to us all when it closed.”

The Govan Lyceum (Image: Colin Mearns/Newsquest)

Karen remembers “the drama when the curtains went back” and watching old Disney favourites like Cinderella, Snow White and The Jungle Book.

“Watching Jaws there when I was a bit older frightened the life out of us all,” she recalls.

 “We’d get ice cream and, if you were flush, a mix bag from the Lyceum Cafe across the road. So many stories to tell and memories to hold.

“The fun never stopped when we left as I often headed to the whelk and mussel shop beside it on Govan Road to pick up some delights before heading. I can still taste the hot peas and vinegar even now….”

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George Craig also got in touch to share his Glasgow cinema memories. He recalls: “The ABC Plaza, now the bus station, was a bit scruffy; it had a kids' club on Saturday mornings where we could pelt each other with cola cubes.

“The Lyceum was classier and showed the big war movies like The Guns of Navarone and The Longest Day. At the interval you'd march down for a Kiora to the backing of Apache by The Shadows. 

“I hope it can be revitalised.”

Lorraine McMahon recalls her father telling her all about trips to the Saturday matinees at the Lyceum.

“My late father was born and raised in Kinning Park, the eldest of a large family, and he and his brothers went to the Lyceum every week,” she says.

“He told me that they took empty jam jars and used them as the entrance fee. Then, when I was a wee girl growing up in Linthouse, my mum and dad took me there.

“I have happy memories of the Lyceum and hope that it will be saved and used for years to come.”

Carolyn Carroll recalls the Lyceum manager, Mr Bryson.

“Mr Bryson always wore a dinner suit and bow tie with an immaculate white shirt,” she says. “His beautiful grey moustache made him look commanding and distinguished. He was a real gentleman.

“My dad would pay for the five of us to go and watch the coming attractions, the Pathe newsreels, the Pearl and Dean adverts… then, two movies, one a B list followed by a great A list, which was usually an American block buster, as often as not a musical.”

She adds: “Out of the four cinemas The Plaza, The Vogue, The Elder and The Lyceum, it was the latter which stood out as the classiest of all.

“My two sisters and I would run ahead of my mum and dad to wait in the queue. There was always a queue.

“That cinema raised me above the tenement rooftops and took me to a world that was so different, where my imagination was stirred.”

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The Lyceum brought stars, music and colour into the lives of the hardworking people of Govan, adds Carolyn.

“How can a place that held so much life, so much joy be allowed to slowly deteriorate?” she says, sadly.

“What a beautiful building it was inside,” she says. “A foyer full of Disney characters, a kiosk where my future husband bought me Maltesers, and if you could afford upstairs, pure luxury.

“I have nothing but happy memories of that wonderful place and the joy it brought me from the age of four in 1949 till I got married and left Govan at twenty five.”