Cinema

I visited the south Wales town of Porth in May 2008. While I was photographing the former Central Cinema, I got chatting to a local, who said that the town’s first cinema operated in a building on the opposite side of the road, then (and now) occupied by Rhondda Furniture. The building certainly has ‘cinema-style’ decoration on the upper frontage, and appears to be large enough.

The obvious candidate for this is the Grand Cinema, listed in the 1914 and 1931 Kinematograph Year Books, but with no address. The 1914 KYB lists 750 seats, not unreasonable for this building. However, due to the uncertainty, I have merely headed this entry ‘Cinema’.

(The 1914 KYB also lists a Pictorium Cinema. However, an internet search indicates that this was on Llwyncelyn Road. C.D. Motors occupies the site; it is not clear whether their building housed the Pictorium, or is a more recent build.)

Hopefully another contributor will be able to shed further light on the Grand and the Pictorium.

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