Neuadd Ogwen
29 High Street,
Bethesda,
LL57 3AN
29 High Street,
Bethesda,
LL57 3AN
1 person
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Neuadd Ogwen (Official)
Additional Info
Functions: Community Arts Center, Concerts, Movies
Previous Names: Public Hall, Public Hall Cinema, Ogwen Cinema
Nearby Theaters
Located at the rear of the Victoria Hotel in Bethesda, near Bangor, Gwynedd. The Market Hall was opened by 1898. It burnt down on the early morning of 11th July 1909. All that remained were the four walls and some charred rafters. The Victoria Hotel was spared by the efforts of local men (there was no fire service back then).
It was rebuilt and reopened as the Public Hall. The proscenium was 25ft wide and there were 500-seats. By 1923 Mr. C.S. Wakeham was operating it as the Public Hall Cinema. In the early 1930’s it was taken over by Mr. E.H. James and it became part of his small chain of cinemas which were located in Menai Bridge (Anglesey), Llanrwst, Bettws y Coed and Llanfairfechan. A Uniquaphone sound system was installed to bring the cinema into the sound era. The public Hall Cinema continued to operate into the early-1950’s when it was renamed Ogwen Cinema, operating during summer months only. It had a 22 feet wide proscenium and a 15 feet deep stage, with two dressing rooms. It was equipped with a British Thomson Houston(BTH) sound system.
Today it operates as concert and community arts centre venue named Neuadd Ogwen and in 2021 it was underwent renovations and was able to operate as a cinema
Contributed by
Editha Pearce, Alan Turner
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Recent comments (view all 2 comments)
The Ogwen no longer operates as a cinema,the projection equipment has been sold off to another cinema.
The Google image above only partly shows the cinema’s entrance as it’s unfortunately obscured by the red van.