A HOARDER who says he is not even a "cinema-lover" has rescued and restored a 1920s-style theatre sign after his son salvag ed it from a skip.
Russell Castleton, 73, of Chelmsford, who owns hundreds of old electric cables, stamps and coins, now proudly boasts the result of his latest project.
After six months of dedication, the grandfather has polished-up the six-foot high by 14-inch wide sign, which once graced the entrance to the old Pavilion Theatre in Duke Street.
The single-screen cinema opened in the 1920s before it was closed in 1998, later making way for a laser quest and then Zeus nightclub, before it was demolished for flats.
The retired train driver, who lived with family in Rainsford Avenue before moving to Spalding Avenue, said: "I did it for the history of Chelmsford and the city's Chelmsfordians.
"I didn't know until recently that the old building had been abolished and replaced with flats – it's like it never existed.
The Lowestoft-born craftsman, who says he was never one for going to the cinema, says he does not know whether he has the energy to take on another project.
"I've made a reasonably good job of it I think taking into consideration my age – and certainly considering how heavy it is to lift – it weighs about three stone."
Mr Castleton, who worked on trains for about 40 years, restored the sign spending just £10 on timber and adhesive. His wife Iris, 80, said: "He has done a very good job considering his health but I took the mickey out of him doing it."
Iris added: "We moved here six years ago and there is nothing but railway books on a great big unit – it's six feet wide, three foot deep with a huge glass cabinet of ornaments on top.
"He is a bit of a hoarder and he was a muddler when I met him – but he has been a brick to me because he has looked after me."
The Pavilion Theatre was built in the 1920s before it was bombed in World War Two.
