Inside London's legendary Scala cinema

I first discovered the Scala in August 1981. I’d just turned 17 and had spent the summer holidays working night shifts cleaning planes at . It was dirty and hard but magical to stay up all night and see the lights, and also to be part of a crew of oddballs who were knowledgeable about movies. My school mates were a bunch of punks who regularly escaped the constraints of our conservative town by getting the train up to to explore the clothes shops on the King’s Road and in Kensington Market, go to gigs and to the Scala, a vibrant repertory cinema just off the . Alongside daily changing double-bills of arthouse independents and cool classics, the Scala put on all-nighters