Welfare Hall

Gwaun-Cae-Gurwen, SA18

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Welfare Hall

Located in Gwaun-Cae-Gurwen, near Ammanford, Carmarthenshire.. This was a massive white-painted Miner’s Welfare Hall which was built in 1931, opening in 1932. Apart from containing a cinema / variety hall the building also boasted a reading room and a lecture theatre. The proscenium was 32ft wide, the stage 30ft deep and there were seven dressing rooms. It was equipped with a British Thomson-Houston(BTH) sound system. There was a dance hall attached. It was still open in 1969, but had closed by 1980.

Contributed by Editha Pearce

Recent comments (view all 4 comments)

Capelmawr
Capelmawr on July 25, 2011 at 11:01 am

The cinema opened as the “New Cinema” under the propreitorship of Gwaun Cae Gurwen with a British Thomson Howell sound system and 750 seats. By 1951 its name had changed to “Workmans Hall” under the same ownership and now held 642 seats at 7d to 1/9d. The proscenium was 20feet wide and the stage was 14 feet deep. There were two dressing rooms to cater for when variety was held. Shows were once nightly with 2 on saturdays. I can find no record of it ever going under the name given to it by Editha Pearce.

edithapearce
edithapearce on August 26, 2011 at 7:37 pm

Once again Capelmawr is being abusive. I grew up in the area during the late 1940s – early 1950s. My family often attended concerts, film shows and miner’s welfare association events at the hall.My father was a lodge official. In those times it was always know to locals as the “Waun Welfare Hall”

johntenerife
johntenerife on November 5, 2013 at 8:17 am

When the hall— and its gardens — opened for business on October 1st 1932 it had cost £14,888, and was known as GWAUN-CAE-GURWEN, WELFARE HALL. (See photograph)

Biffaskin
Biffaskin on April 22, 2021 at 5:10 am

It’s listed as the Welfare Hall in the 1948 Kine Year Book.

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