Coliseum Cinema
Ystalyfera,
SA9
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A small variety hall and later cinema that was above the the printing works of "The South Wales Voice" newspaper. The hall and print works were built by Ebenezer Rees some time around 1897.
The Coliseum Cinema was open prior to 1937. In 1944, it was listed as (Closed).
Contributed by
Editha Pearce
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Recent comments (view all 2 comments)
I spent much of my childhood, during the late 1940s / early 1950s, at Ynysmeadwy a village near to Ystalyfera. I knew the South Wales Voice offices and printing works quite well but at that time never associated it with having been a former cinema. I last saw the building in 1970 and even then it looked like an old fashioned print works , giving no hint of its former use.
Local legend has it that Ebenezer Rees was the grandfather of Donald Peers the well known 1950s singer of “Babbling Brook” fame. Several people have claimed that the young Donald Peers worked at the print shop and in the cinema on Saturdays and during his school holidays.
An R.C.A. Photophone sound system provided the sound for the 550 patrons the cinema could seat at prices ranging from 6d to 1/3d. The propreitors were Ystalyfera Kinema Ltd.