Lyric Cinema
Herbert Street,
Pontardawe,
SA8
Herbert Street,
Pontardawe,
SA8
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Located in this valley town, north-west of Swansea, it was just across the road from the Public Hall, which also contained a cinema. The Lyric Cinema was operating prior to 1937. It had a 20 feet wide proscenium.
It closed in around 1980, it was the last of the towns three cinemas to close. The main features of the facade remain. The site is now used for retail purposes.
Contributed by
Editha Pearce
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Recent comments (view all 3 comments)
1938 saw the cinema with a Duosonic sound system and 500 seats with continuous shows from 6.00pm to 10.15pm at prices of 4d to 1/–. The proscenium was 20 feet wide and the propreitor was William H. Baggett. Somehow seating had increased to 560 seats by 1951 at 9d to 2/3d and shows were now continuous from 5.00pm to 10.00pm. Western Electric sound had replaced the dousonic system and the cinema was now in the ownership of the Lyric & Public Hall Cinemas (Pontardawe)Ltd – who owned the only other cinema in town. Problems must have persisted with the sound however because the Western Electric system was later replaced by a British Acoustic system.
I first visited this hall some time around 1946 and came to know it very well.The admission prices in 1953 were 6d for the Saturday matinee and otherwise 1/3d for the front and 2/– for the back.The sound was very ropey at that time and so were the projectors.Breakdowns being a very common feature especially when ancient ‘Three Stooges’ films were shown as a part of the matinee presentation. The cinema received a heavy renovation in the early part of 1953 when it received new seating and presumably a new sound system.On Coronation Day 1953 a portion of Herbert Street was used for a childrens' street party which I attended.That day the Lyric presented a cartoon film show and gave free admission to all children. The Lyric was located on the north side of a small river which used to flood during times of heavy rain. I can recall the hall being closed on several occasions because of a flood risk. Though I can never recall the hall actually being flooded. One of the unusual aspects of the Lyric Cinema was the large amount of stained glass contained in the entrance lobby windows. The dominant colour was blue. As a consequence the cinema was often referred to as the ‘Ty Glas’ by Welsh speaking locals.A few years ago my sister in law told me that the cinema had been converted into a number of retail premises. However, some of the blue glass still remained in the lobby area that was now a part of a chemist’s shop.
There is a superb image of the Lyric Cinema building on Google Earth. To view this image enter 77 Herbert Street, Pontardawe. The entrance to the former cinema was via the pillared doorway on the right.