Olympia Cinema

Morgan Street,
Tredegar, NP22 3ND

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Additional Info

Previously operated by: Jackson Withers Circuits

Functions: Bar

Previous Names: Market Hall

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Olympia Cinema - Morgan Street, Tredegar

Built during the 1800’s, the Market Hall adapted to a number of popular uses serving the needs of the day and the town.
From 1913, the venue was a cinema known as the Olympia Cinema. During the 1940’s the cinema formed part of the Jackson Withers Circuit, competing successfully with other cinemas operating in the town within the same street. The Olympia Cinema outlived them all, closing during the 1970’s, following a period of time when it functioned partly as a cinema and bingo.

Eventually the cinema converted to full time bingo as a Top Rank Bingo Club, before it’s full closure in the 1980’s. With the golden era of bingo over with, the venue remained unused for some years before adapting to retail use as a carpet showroom. The cinema was converted to a pub and now forms part of the popular JD Wetherspoon chain. Named ‘The Olympia’ it opened on 18th July 2001.

Contributed by Jeffrey Morris

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Recent comments (view all 4 comments)

edithapearce on November 27, 2009 at 8:22 am

I visited this hall several times in the early 1960s to undertake holiday relief sessions.The hall seemed to have a different manager every time I was there. Two of the managers that I can recall were a Mr.Northcott and a Mr.Derrick.
Mr. Northcott, who was in his mid sixties at this time, used to temporarily surface in many of Jackson Withers Cardiff and Valley halls.I never saw him in the Swansea area. I believe that he did nothing but relief managing on a short term basis. Mr. Derrick was quite different.He too was probably in his sixties but was the exact opposite to the dour Mr. Northcott. I can recall seeing Mr. Derrick at a number of the Cardiff and Rhondda Valley halls where he functioned as a relief manager.Mr.Derrick was one of the most knowledgeable people, where cinemas were concerned, that I ever met.He had managed and operated a number of halls and knew the business backwards.Where ever he was working, he would always visit the box in the mornings both for a cup of tea and because he just enjoyed talking cinema.He was a good friend of Bill Dempsey a Withers relief chief projectionist.These two gentlemen had worked together at several cinemas in the West of England.