As a schoolboy, my uncle opened a cinema in a shed in his back garden in Plymouth Road, Penarth in 1913. This was probably the first comercial cinema in Penarth as the tickets I have are priced at 1d and 2d. He later went on to work for his Family firm in Cardiff Docks during the 1920s. In his spare time he worked, without pay, as assistant manager at the Windsor Kinema and the Hippodrome. During that time he met my aunt who played the piano for the silent films. I have a number of photographs at these venues showing them on stage with my uncle playing the drums. Later he joined ABC and became manager of the Vandyke, and the Kings in Bristol before opening the new Regal cinema in Salisbury as manager. I have some very interesting photographs and momentos spanning his career which, when I have sorted them out, I will scan in and share.
As a schoolboy, my uncle opened a cinema in a shed in his back garden in Plymouth Road, Penarth in 1913. This was probably the first comercial cinema in Penarth as the tickets I have are priced at 1d and 2d. He later went on to work for his Family firm in Cardiff Docks during the 1920s. In his spare time he worked, without pay, as assistant manager at the Windsor Kinema and the Hippodrome. During that time he met my aunt who played the piano for the silent films. I have a number of photographs at these venues showing them on stage with my uncle playing the drums. Later he joined ABC and became manager of the Vandyke, and the Kings in Bristol before opening the new Regal cinema in Salisbury as manager. I have some very interesting photographs and momentos spanning his career which, when I have sorted them out, I will scan in and share.