James_colwill
I started as a junior projectionist in 1960, I still remember the 2 films showing, Commanche Station & Tomango.
Chief was Ted Parr, 2nd projectionist was Ian Karslake, The Manager was Mr Battrick.
Mornings consisted of cleaning the stationary Ruston & Hornsby diesel engine. Started on compressed air, one ran in the evening, both drove 3 phase Crompton Parkinson 32kW 240v generators, at the end of the evening performance on slowing the engines pumped compressed air back into the air bottle at 180 psi, ready to start the engine the next day.
110v emergency lighting was supplied by a bank of 48 large 2v accumulators wired in series, trickle charged via 2 mercury vapour rectifiers located in the rectifier room next to the projection room. There were 3 other BD12 MV rectifiers that supplied 50v DC at high current for the arc lamps.
The Cinema was built for sound, it had a massive 18 inch loudspeaker & a horn tweeter located behind the screen.
The amplifier was virtually bomb proof, with large transformers, the output tubes were 4 x Pen 44’s in parallel push pull, with 280v on their plates, output was around 30 watts.
The 2 projectors were the extremely reliable BTH Supa mark 2.
Everything was kept in immaculate working order & everyone knew their area of responsability.
Around 8pm Mr Battrick visited the projection room & had a cup of tea, he was affectionately known as the old man.
I worked my way up to Co Chief, but left after 6 years.
I have very happy memories of the place.
If anyone would like any more info, I would be happy to help.
James_colwill I started as a junior projectionist in 1960, I still remember the 2 films showing, Commanche Station & Tomango. Chief was Ted Parr, 2nd projectionist was Ian Karslake, The Manager was Mr Battrick. Mornings consisted of cleaning the stationary Ruston & Hornsby diesel engine. Started on compressed air, one ran in the evening, both drove 3 phase Crompton Parkinson 32kW 240v generators, at the end of the evening performance on slowing the engines pumped compressed air back into the air bottle at 180 psi, ready to start the engine the next day. 110v emergency lighting was supplied by a bank of 48 large 2v accumulators wired in series, trickle charged via 2 mercury vapour rectifiers located in the rectifier room next to the projection room. There were 3 other BD12 MV rectifiers that supplied 50v DC at high current for the arc lamps. The Cinema was built for sound, it had a massive 18 inch loudspeaker & a horn tweeter located behind the screen. The amplifier was virtually bomb proof, with large transformers, the output tubes were 4 x Pen 44’s in parallel push pull, with 280v on their plates, output was around 30 watts. The 2 projectors were the extremely reliable BTH Supa mark 2. Everything was kept in immaculate working order & everyone knew their area of responsability. Around 8pm Mr Battrick visited the projection room & had a cup of tea, he was affectionately known as the old man. I worked my way up to Co Chief, but left after 6 years. I have very happy memories of the place. If anyone would like any more info, I would be happy to help.