Neuadd Dwyfor
Penlan Street,
Pwllheli,
LL53 5DH
Penlan Street,
Pwllheli,
LL53 5DH
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The Neuadd Dwyfor (the English translation is ‘Hall Dwyfor’, Dwyfor being the name of the administrative area around Pwllheli). It opened as the Town Hall in Spring of 1902, with the first show being "Aladdin". The auditorium, seating around 600, is located upstairs on the first floor level of the building. Magic lantern lectures were held in the building and also some early cinematograph performances. By 1920 it was operating as a full time cinema. The proscenium was 25 feet wide. It has a ‘U’ shaped balcony, that has five rows of seats on the three sides.
Taken over by the local Council in 1974, it became the Town Cinema. It was refurbished in 1993 and re-named Neuadd Dwyfor, and now hosts stage productions as well as films.
Contributed by
Ken Roe
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Recent comments (view all 19 comments)
Well there you go,this could go on forever,I only know what I’ve read.As for the Assembly Hall it could have been deemed as a rather small venue in comparison to Neuadd Dwyfor.
By the way I was a projectionist at Neuadd Dwyfor for 50 years,most of them as chief projectionist.The former manager made extensive research on the matter when celebrating the cinemas birthday years ago,the cashier’s books were still at the cinema until not so long ago,they’re probably with Gwynedd Council now.
My last few years at the cinema was as a relief projectionist as like many others I took early retirement when Gwynedd Council took over,but I was still doing a couple of nights almost every week.
The projection room is very small at this cinema,but quite pleasent to work in,especially during the summer when you can go for a break on the spacious flat roof, with a grand view over cardigan bay of Harlech and Barmouth.
There are no steps from the box to the roof, just open the door and your on it,the box was built on the flat roof in 1930 to accommodate the advent of sound and for many years one had to access the roof to get in,there’s now a covered landing to enter.
This is a photo from 1992
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Another photo here.
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Solomon (Solly) Andrews died in 1908. I can remember once seeing his grave at the Cathays Cemetery. Afterwards the Andrews family business was continued for many years by his sons Francis and Emile.When I worked at the Warner Pathe offices in Cardiff between 1955 and 1960 the WP management still referred to the Andrews current and past cinemas as ‘the Solly Halls’.
In the mid 1950s the Andrews halls booked via the Central Cinema in Cardiff.The king pin of the business at that time was a Mrs. Andrews who lived somewhere near to Roath Park. I can recall visits from the Central Cinema projectionists who complained about the Projectomatic system they had to use. They hated it and as a consequence switched it off and ran the hall manually when the management was not about.
thanks for the pictures.really nice.something I know I will never get to see in person.
Thanks Mike I hope to include some more soon.
Seems like the Colisseum in Porthmadog, this venue is in trouble as well! The council have suggested the venue if losing £150k per annum, which they cannot afford in the current financial climate and they are looking for a private organisation or person to take it over and run it. Any volunteers?
The name Neuadd Dwyfor was not adopted in 1974 when the cinema was taken over by Dwyfor District Council,as suggested by Capelmawr they kept the name Neuadd Y Dref / Town Hall.for their entire reign. It was Gwynedd Council which came into being in April 1995 that renamed the building to Neuadd Dwyfor, heven knows why as it was built by the old Town Council, also I’m not sure where the glass cages surrounding the projectors on display in the foyer are supposed to be situated as I erected the equipment on my own a few years before I retired.
Mr W J Kenny (Billy). the cinema’s former manager has sadly passed away at the age of 80. He started his cinema career at the age of 14 as a trainee projectionist at the former Palladium Pwllheli,where he worked for 10 years (Interrupted by national service in the british army. He carried on as a projectionist in the services as well.
He was working as the 2nd projectionist at the Palled when the post of Chief Projectionist came up at The Town Hall Cinema, (now Neuadd Dwyfor) in 1955 at the time of the cinema’s refurbishment and transistion to Cinemascope.
When Dwyfor Council took over fro Pwllheli Corporation in 1974, he became the manager, previous to the council’s reorganisation the borough treasurer was acting manager.
He began a succesfull Children’s Theater in the late 70’s (Theatr Plant Pwllheli) which carried on for many years. He retired in September 1993 at the age of 62 when the building started on it’s second refurbishment.