Public Hall Cinema & Institute
Briton Ferry,
SA11
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Located in Briton Ferry, close to Neath. The Public Hall opened in 1911. Some films were screened in the early days, but it began operating as a full time cinema from 1931.
It was listed as (Closed) in the 1937 edition of the Kinematograph Yearbook, and never reopened.
The building continued as a Public Hall and often staged Amateur productions on its stage. It was demolished in 1962 and a car dealership/garage was built on the site.
The two other cinemas in Briton Ferry, the Palace Kinema and the Picturedrome continued for many more years, and were joined in the late-1930’s by the the Lodge Kinema.
Contributed by
Editha Pearce, Ken Roe
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Recent comments (view all 3 comments)
I am confused by the above as I did a few days of relief in a cinema called the Public Hall at Briton Ferry some time around 1960. The feature that week was “Two Way Stretch”. I cannot remember much about the cinema except that it was a Kalee equipped medium sized house with a fairly wide stage that was sometimes used for live shows. I also recall seeing that that some of the inner doors had “Palace” etched on the glass.
Was this a case of the Palace Cinema later using the name “Public Hall?”
Five years ago my husband took me on a memory lane trip around South Wales. We went to Briton Ferry and looked at where I thought the Public Hall was. I managed to locate what I believed was the location of the cinema but it had since been turned into a garage.
Just had a look in the Kinematograph Year Book Cinema Directory for 1958, the only cinema listed here is the Lodge. Western Electric sound System, 1,020 seats, procenium width 32 ft wide,and the screen 29ft 6in wide, by 15 ft high. The proprietors were Ferry Cinema Co, Ltd.