Mason Moore & Vaughan Moore | 1 November 2021
NUNEATON’S last dedicated bingo hall have closed their doors for good.
The Palace Grand Bingo, based on Camp Hill Road in Nuneaton, shut their doors for the final time last night, after holding their last ever game on Halloween (31 October).
But, the closure did not come as a surprise to users, as bosses behind the Chapel End-based venue made it known five days prior (26 October), in a statement which they posted to their official page on social media sharing site, Facebook.
Owners told social media users that they were making the announcement with ‘deep regret’.
The post read: “It is with deep regret to announce the closure of The Grand Bingo Club.
“Our last session of trading will be Sunday evening, 31 October.
“We will operate our normal sessions this week and will end with our Halloween Party on Sunday Evening 31st of October.
“Thank you for your magnificent support over the last year and I am sorry we were not able to extend the life of The Grand beyond this last year.
“Thank you for your understanding.”
It was the town’s last remaining bingo hall for residents to use, following the closure of Gala Bingo on Abbey Street which shut down due to the smoking ban back in December 2007.
The building started its life with an entirely different use, though, as it first traded as a cinema – the Grand Cinema – when it opened 92 years ago back in 1929.
After serving many cinema-goers, the last title shown there was in 1961 – and some time after, it was transformed into a bingo hall, which was last refurbished in 2010.
Whilst not strictly a bingo hall by nature, Hinckley’s ex-Wetherspoons, The New Baron of Hinckley, located on Regent Street, host ‘drag bingo’ sessions with a local drag queen every Thursday evening at 6pm, with tickets at just £5.
But, for bingo fans who want to play at any other time rather than just on Thursday, the nearest dedicated bingo hall is Palace Bingo, on Leicester Road in Bedworth, which is just a 12 minute drive away from where The Grand Palace Bingo is.