Here is an example of some of the New Year’s Eve treats from 80 years ago as advertised in the Merthyr Express.
Tag: Castle Cinema
The Castle Cinema – some miscellaneous facts
by Carolyn Jacob
The Castle Cinema was built on the site of the Castle Hotel, the first purpose-built hotel in the town and where William Crawshay himself often stayed. It is also the premises from whose windows the troops fired into an unarmed crowd during the Merthyr Rising of 1831. George Borrow, author of ‘Wild Wales’ stayed at the Castle Hotel in 1854. Merthyr did not impress him but he found the Ironworks ‘stunning’.
In 1926 the Castle Hotel was described as being ‘a disgrace to the town’ and it was soon to be demolished. The building was pulled down partly to widen Castle Street, but in 1928 a splendid cinema was erected on the vacant site. The Castle Cinema was built, at a cost of £36,000. Designed by O.P. Bevan and built by Mr. Warlow of Merthyr, it was one of the Principality’s finest cinemas.
It combined American and Welsh influences in its design and its interior was beautifully decorated with landscape murals which captured the feel of medieval Wales. Panels designed by a local artist J. Jones, a local artist showed castles in their settings under a brilliant sky, illuminated by two light ray domes. Its comfort and decoration were up to date and it had seats for 1,600.
The Castle was locally owned and run by Merthyr Cinemas Ltd. The post war depression had hit Merthyr by this time, but when he opened the building the Mayor said he looked on the venture as: ‘a magnificent gesture of faith in Merthyr’s future‘. The popular cinema was taken over by the ABC in 1932.
The Castle also had installed one of the finest organs in Wales, a Christie 3 Manual/10 Rank organ. The well-known Mr Gene Lynn was the resident organist at the Castle Cinema in the 1930s and he made many radio recordings.
The manager in the 1930s was Mr Haggar, a holder of the ‘Company of Showmen Shield’.
Advertised as ‘Castle Super Cinema’ in the 1930s with a ‘Christie Unit Organ, the third largest organ in Europe’. The organ however fell into disrepair in the late-1940’s and was removed in 1954. Strangely there were allotments behind the Castle Cinema right in the centre of the town where now there is a car park.
The fight for Sunday Opening of Cinemas, 1956
At one time chapel and church dominated life in the Borough. The social life of the town revolved around the many places or worship and the attendance every Sunday reveals a strong religious tendency. Merthyr Tydfil was a ‘non-conformist’ town and many people would attend chapel twice on a Sunday but they gradually lost control of Sundays, as the defeat over the Sunday closing of cinemas and pubs shows. In March 1956 there was a plebiscite on the much-debated issue – Sunday Cinemas in Merthyr. Derek Harris a young collier of Darren View, Penyard entertained in Al Jolson style the large crowd waiting for the result of the Sunday Cinema poll. The vote in favour of Sunday openings was a milestone.
The Castle Cinema was renamed the ABC Castle Super Cinema around 1963, still providing a vast 1,696 seats. beauty contests and Pop concerts were held here, one being by Pink Floyd in 1967 another by the group The Small Faces. In 1972 control passed to the Leeds based Star Group, converting the stalls area into a bingo hall, and constructing two studio cinemas in the balcony, seating 195 and 98, both were by means of periscope mirror projection with Westar Projectors and long play towers. The projection room being constructed from the second balcony level high in the original building, making it a nightmare journey for any projectionist to carry films up and down.
From 1977 the cinemas passed to a series of independent operators, and when bingo ceased in 1998, the former stalls area was re-seated and a giant 45-foot screen placed in front of the original stage area, with luxury seating for 300, this new Screen 1 opening in June 1999 with “The Mummy”. The two other screens also remained in operation but due to the high costs in maintaining such an old and rambling building, the cinema finally closed in September 2003. The building degenerated into a dilapidated state and was not used for the presentation of films again. For a brief time it was converted into a skating rink, a venture which soon failed. The permission for Merthyr Tydfil Council to demolish this listed but crumbling building came in October 2010 and by the close of 2011 nothing remained on the site.
Final Parade
80 years ago today…..
Remembering Merthyr’s Cinemas
Do you have memories of going to the cinema when you were younger?
Merthyr and the surrounding area had almost a dozen cinemas in years gone by, and Dr Steven Gerrard of the Northern Film School at Leeds Beckett University (and a Pentrebach boy) is working on a project to collect people’s memories of them.
To achieve this, Steve will be holding a drop in session at Canolfan Soar between 10.00 and 12.00 on Monday 20 November for people to come along and share their memories.
If you would like to take part, please come along and have a chat about your memories – you will be guaranteed a very warm welcome.
To recap – Canolfan Soar – 20 November – 10.00 to 12.00. Please come along and share your memories.
Blind Welfare Week
From the Merthyr Express 90 years ago today….
Merthyr’s Lost Landmarks: Merthyr’s Lost Cinemas
Following on from the last post we’ll have look at some of the eleven (yes it’s hard to believe) cinemas that were in the borough in the mid 1900s, but have since been demolished.
Merthyr Electric Theatre
Opened in 1910, it was Merthyr’s first ‘purpose-built’ cinema.
Palace Theatre
Merthyr’s second cinema, opened in 1912.
The Castle Cinema
Opened in 1929, it was built specifically to show the new ‘talkies’, and was Merthyr’s grandest cinema.
The Cosy Cinema, Penydarren
Opened in 1914
The Victoria Cinema, Dowlais
Opened in 1910, it was Dowlais’ first, and only ‘purpose-built’ cinema.
The Oddfellow’s Hall
Built in 1876 as a meeting hall, it housed a cinema for many years.
The Picture Palace, Troedyrhiw
Opened in the 1920s
The Electric Cinema, Aberfan
The Palace Theatre, Treharris
Opened in 1891 as the Treharris Public Hall, it later became the Palace Theatre.
Do you remember visiting any of these cinemas? If you do, please share your memories.
Entertainment in Merthyr
Youngsters today might be surprised that there was a time, not a million years ago, when Merthyr was a hub of all kinds of entertainment: several cinemas showing a variety of films, plays being performed by both professional and amateur companies at several venues – not to mention live music at several ‘night spots’.
Below is just an example of what was regularly on in Merthyr – all of these adverts appeared in a single issue of the Merthyr Express 70 years ago today, 21 February 1953…
The above is just a small example of what was going on in Merthyr – there was something new happening every week somewhere up and down the borough. How times have changed.
Do you have any memories of going to any of these places? If so, please share any memories with us.
Captain Nelson Morris Price C.B.E., J.P.
by J Ann Lewis
A Merthyr Express headline 60 years ago today, on 18 August 1962 read “Captain Nelson M. Price: the Man Who Stopped a King is Dead”.
The headline referred to an event in 1936 during the visit of King Edward VIII. Captain Price had organised an unofficial parade of his former colleagues in the old Fifth Welsh Battalion in front of the Castle Cinema. As the procession passed, the Royal car stopped, and Captain Price told the King “These men want you to see them, in the hope that you may be able to bring new industries to the Borough so that they may find work”. The King got out of the car, to the astonishment of his ministers, and spoke to the 52 men on parade. The King again departed from the official programme and paid a visit to Dowlais, and it was there that he made the famous remark, “Something must be done”.
Nelson Price was born on 22 May 1892 near Bethesda, North Wales, and when he was quite young, his family moved to Dowlais, settling in Broad Street. Within a few years however, his father died, leaving a widow and eight children.
Nelson volunteered for service on 4 August 1914, the very day that the First World War was declared. He served in Gallipoli, Egypt and Cyprus before being discharged as no longer being fit for service, and he returned to working in the collieries, where he had been studying to become a mining engineer prior to the outbreak of the war.
Following the armistice, he decided to become involved with welfare work relating to the war disabled, war widows and orphans. He was a founder member of the Royal British Legion, becoming the first Chairman in the Wales Area. He also worked tirelessly for the War Pensions Advisory Committee, and was appointed Chairman of the North East Glamorgan War Pensions Committee, being acknowledged as an authority on War Pensions Regulations. He was a champion for the War disabled for over 42 years, and his work was recognised when he was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire in 1939, Officer of the Order in 1946 and Commander of the British Empire in 1960.
It was during his time as Chairman of the British Legion in Wales, that he was instrumental in negotiating the gift of Buckland House in Bwlch (the former home of Henry Seymour Berry, Lord Buckland) to the British Legion as a home for ex-servicemen.
During his lifetime, Nelson Price was also appointed Chairman of the Merthyr Magistrates, Chairman of the Lord Buckland Trust, Lifetime President and Honorary Secretary and Treasurer of the Merthyr and District Angling Association. He was also a lifetime member of the Cardiff Athletic and Rugby Club.
At the time of his death in 1962, he was living in Caeracca Villas in Pant, in a house named ‘Cilfoden’ – the village of his birth. His wife Jane Ann survived him by two years.
A Great Night Out
Below is an example of some the varied entertainment that was available in Merthyr in years gone by. All of these adverts appeared in the Merthyr Express 70 years ago today.
How time have changed.
Anthony Eden at the Castle Cinema
80 years ago today……
