Tivoli Cinema
14 Station Road, Llandaff North,
Cardiff,
CF14 2FB
14 Station Road, Llandaff North,
Cardiff,
CF14 2FB
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Additional Info
Previously operated by: Splott (Cardiff) Cinema Co. Ltd.
Architects: William S. Wort
Functions: Auto Showroom
Styles: Art Deco
Previous Names: Royal Cinema, Llandaff Cinema
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A cinema opened in 1914 as the Royal Cinema and was re-named Llandaff Cinema in 1924, but closed after a fire in 1930. The Splott Circuit acquired the location and built what was to be their smallest cinema seating about 500 on one floor opening in June 1935 as the Tivoli Cinema.
The design was typical of architect William S. Wort’s work for the company and the cinema received the same upgrades as the others in 1955/6 but in 1958, with little warning, after showing "The Night We Dropped a Clanger" the cinema closed.
Acquired by a garage proprietor the "Tivoli Garage" traded for a number of years and subsequent modifications have removed much of the cinema building though the motor showroom still trades.
Contributed by
Geoff
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Recent comments (view all 6 comments)
I never worked this hall as it had closed before I took up projecting in 1960. However, I was lodging in Whitchurch between 1955 and 1961 and often went to watch films at this hall via the 24 bus service. It was a small cramped hall and, on most of the nights I visited, seemed to have very rowdy patrons. The management was continually walking up and down the aisles threatening to remove people.
Some time around 1962/63 I met a projectionist who had worked at this hall immediately prior to it’s abrupt closure. He told me that the Tivoli was sited on land that had originally been adjacent to a long vanished canal.The main reasons for its sudden closure was the fact that parts of the building were subsiding and that it was not making much of a profit.Thus the Jackson Withers management were reluctant to undertake expensive renovations to what was obviously fast becoming a failing asset
The original plans for the “Llandaff Cinema” in 1913 show it to be a small one-floor hall on the site later rebuilt as the Tivoli.The rear section of the present garage occupies the site of the auditorium and may be based on the later structure.
Both the plan and the only photograph found of the original building both show the name “Llandaff Cinema” in the stonework above the entrance doors.
I’ve looked at the Google picture and feel sure that the building at the rear of the garage is the original auditorium.Therefore I’m wondering if it was the front of house portion of the building that could have suffered subsidence? Later being demolished and replaced by the present structure. How close did the canal (if it ever existed?) run to the building?
The Glamorganshire canal – very busy in its day ran nearby but was abandoned and much of it was filled in after World War II. Old pictures show it at the pub called the Cow and Snuffers ( now also closed) a few yards(metres if you prefer)from the Tivoli. I haven’t found a photograph of the Tivoli so am relying on the architect’s plans for details of its appearance, but agree that the rear portion is almost certainly, with subsequent alterations, repairs etc, the 1935 auditorium.