It All Began Here
This picture appeared in an arbitrary Pinterest collection, and fbb was anxious to identify both bus operators, the number plate and destination were illegible on the good old fashioned half cab, but from the positioning of the plate abd the shape of the blind aperture, fbb guessed ...
.... Doncaster. The above is an ex Trolleybus body on a motor bus chassis, but you will get the idea. To confirm his suspicions fbb typed 'Gaumont Doncaster' into his search engine. 
Looks about right.
Research suggests that the cinema is (or was!) at the junction if Thorne Road and Hall Gate.
The site was once occupied by the Majestic theatre and cinema ...
... replaced by a gorgeous art deco Gaumont in 1934. The safety curtain featured memories of the town's Railway Unydustry.
The original glazed frontage was later obscured by cladding ...
... and the Doncaster bus is now in South Yorkshire PTE livery. The cladding was.probaby necessary to allow for the creation of two smaller auitoria under the balcony.
Next came rebranding as 'Odeon' and the cladding painted grey.
The bus is now in pre-privatised South Yorkshire's Transport Livery.
But, in passing, note the church spire in the background, far right.
This is Christ Church ...
... a truly magnificent building. Older knowledgeable readers may remember that Christ Church was the terminus for a number of independent operators plying the Thorne Road to Thorne (there's a surprise) and on to Goole.
Here are just three of those companies; Severn ...
... Felix ...
... and Premier.
The operators on the main road route were not in destructive competition; they ran as a consortium, rotating the duties to ensure that all participants got their fair dibs of the revenue over each cycle of several weeks.
The full name of the above was H Wilson Premier Services. Amusingly, when fbb first enjoyed Christ Church terminus another H Wilson ...
... was very much Premier of the UK!
Back to the Gaumont/Odeon
The Odeon was closed on 10th April 2008 with the final film screened being Sean Faris in “Never Back Down”. It has been sold to a local company Lazarus Properties, who specialize in town centre re-developments.
They had no plans for use of the building at the time of closure, but in February 2009, plans were proposed to demolish and build a casino. Attempts were made to save the building, but these were overturned.
Demolition was in October/November 2009.
The bas relief sculpture on the façade ...
... was saved, but was then ‘lost’. It was found a few years later in a council building yard at thebtown' cemetery. In 2019 it was awaiting renovation and a decision on where to display it. 
This was completed in 2020 and is now on view in the town.
Its location, spookily, also has strong connections with public transport.
Our Variety story will conclude in TUESDAY'S blog, after an fbb quiz tomorrow.
Bet you can'r wait.
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The bodge was to turn the green squares into a larger green background.
Know
Then any minor slips with the scalpel with be lost from the normal viewing distance. fbb hasn't had the courage to tackle the smaller logos for the tank ends, The logos were glued in place and sealed with spray can matt varnish.
Thus the fbb version stands up well to distant examination when compared with the actual Triang Hornby model.
But some questions remain.
How much did the original wagon cost and how does that compare with an equivalent today.
Secondly, did these BP chemicals tanks ever exist on the real railway?
Next Bank Holiday Quiz : Mon 31 Aug
