Where do the Days go 256 - 263

Day 256. As we processed together along the street the Police dash backwards and forwards looking for me. Despite the fact that I should have been panicked at the thought of being caught I found the regular chanting along with Harry and Chris incredibly relaxing, almost hypnotic. I begin to think that if I could get the DCI and DI to chant along with me they might begin to believe my explanations.
Day 257. I was about to shout at the Police to join in when I snapped out of my spiritual calm. I clearly cannot spend the rest of my life in this group so I going to have to figure out at way to break from this set. I slowly moved myself to the front so I could guide and lead us away from where the police were congregated. I headed for an old cinema I could see at the other end of the road. It is boarded up but may offer just a chance of a hiding place.

Day 258. Slowly we process, orange clad and singing. For some we are a religious movement, for some happy Dutch fans, for some a threatening mass Tango moment. However to the Police we are invisible. Thank god major criminals have never worked this disguise out. As the gap between our group and the group of officers increases I am able to look at more detail at the cinema. There is a small gap in the hoardings. If I can just squeeze my way in without attracting attention I may be safe.

Day 259. As we pass the old boarded up cinema I quickly push into the gap in the hoardings and manage to slip inside without attracting attention. I quickly throw off my orange fabric robe and place my tambourine onto the ground. Only a few of the chanting group notice me leave them and they are quickly distracted by a new round of chanting. I peer through a knot hole in one of the sheets of wood. The Police are breaking up into small groups and beginning to search the area. They sound of more sirens fills the air. The hoarding are filthy with dust and dirt. It is years since anyone has been in here

Day 260. Behind the hoardings the front of the cinema is quite magnificent. Even though time and the elements have treated it badly it has a semi gothic semi deco charm and you can still make out some of the gold highlights that pick out curls and details in the plasterwork. The three sets of wooden double doors are from an oak that you rarely see anymore. It is a testament to their quality that they are still solid whereas the timber nailed across them crumbles to my touch as a lever them away. I have to move quietly to avoid detection

Day 261. A pain of glass in the end door is cracked. I can just reach my hand through. I can feel an emergency escape bar on the inside. I just need to bash it but the noise will attract attention. At that very moment of thought the sound of siren goes by. I hit the bar on the beat of noise and the doors separate slightly. I push one half slowly, age has made it stiff but it slowly moves to reveal the foyer. I step into the darkness and am instantly reminded of stepping out into the light after afternoon films.

Day 262. There are odd shafts of lights where panes of glass are broken and they appear like spotlights on the walls illuminating fragments of this cinemas past. I have no idea how long ago this building was closed but it was clearly before the desire to make all cinemas multiplex with sanitised fittings and over promotion of product. Here is another world, a calmer time. The walls have the remains of flock wallpaper now stained and with fungal growth but it is the framed pictures that catch the attention. Film stars and films from a time when their personal lives were secret and we only saw them through the flickering shadows of 16 and 35mm film.

Day 263. I am transfixed by the photographs of the film stars. What is it about black and white pictures that make them so wonderful in their artistry. It is a strange collection and selection of personalities. The American stars were giants astride a celluloid world. James Stewart, Marilyn Monroe, Spencer Tracey, Katherine Hepburn, Gregory Peck but, with the exception of Cary Grant, the British Stars reveal another style of film making. I am staring at the ghosts of Norman Wisdom, Sid James, Hattie Jacques, Joan Sims, Ian Carmichael and more. There faces warm me.