Cannon Cecil Cinemas

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Uploaded on: December 23, 2013

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The junction of Ferensway and Anlaby Road is now a cross-roads; in these pre-war photos it is a T-junction.

The May 1925 view shows the original Cecil being either rebuilt or radically remodelled. The Hull Daily Mail of Tuesday 29 Sept 1925 carried a report of the opening night on Monday 28 September. It was referred to as a “new building”: designed by Blackmore, Sykes & Co of Hull. There were 1700 seats; and a lift to the “spacious balcony”.

Sadly, whilst there are photos of a dour-looking Lord Mayor and Lady Mayoress and the ‘star’ Violet Hopson, there are none of the new Cecil!

The August 1931 view shows the completed Cecil nearly a decade before it was a casualty of the bombing of Hull. The entrance is in the curved feature on the corner. Amazingly the building across Ferensway with a spire/turret feature on the corner is still there (as the Pasaz cafe-bar and bistro in 2013). The post-war Cecil was erected on the site of the large (public?) building with the imposing, white façade; and Ferensway driven on through the junction.

The ‘Overview’ section for ‘Cannon Cecil Cinemas’ refers to the “Theatre De Luxe, being (renamed) Cecil Cinema in 1925. That has to have been as a consequence of the re-building/modelling captured in the above, 1925, photo.

Perhaps this entry should be rewritten solely for the post-war Cecil; and a new entry added for the pre-war Theatre De Luxe/Cecil Cinema.