Cinemas in Whitchurch

We seem to be fast approaching Christmas, and in earlier times we might be thinking of popping down to our local cinema to watch the latest ‘flick’ from Hollywood

It’s all so different now with streaming, surround-sound television and multi-choice channels, but it wasn’t long ago that, whilst the wireless was okay, the cinema was the only way for some escape from the daily drudge of everyday life

Friday night, or Saturday if you wanted to be really posh and queue up with the swanky folk to ‘escape’ for a couple of hours. There was always a B-movie, the main film (with an intermission between so that you could buy some ice cream), and the National Anthem at the end, where we all had to stand up solemnly to show respect

So where were our local picture-palaces?

The Rialto was located off Old Church Road, just behind the Plough Inn. It’s all gone now, demolished in 1976 and replaced by flats in the 1980’s, but when it was first built it was called ‘The White Palace’. It was built c1914 by Samuel Bennett (the house-builder we learned about back in June) and had 450 seats and a sloping floor. Silent films at first and then converted to sound in the early 1930’s. there are very few photographs, but the sketch below shows how the Rialto might have looked in its halcyon days

Does anyone know more about this cinema, and what films were shown?

In Llandaff North, there was the Tivoli, where the petrol station now is. Another casualty. Also built c1914 and opened as the Royal Cinema, renamed the Llandaff Cinema in 1924 and burned down in 1930! It reopened in 1935 as the Tivoli, seating 500 and sadly closed without warning in 1958

In Rhiwbina was the Monico. This was a ‘proper’ picture palace and dominated the local area. The flats (sorry apartments) which are there now, are often referred to by the locals as ‘the Monico flats’. The Monico cinema was opened in 1937 showing a Gary Cooper film ‘Lives of a Bengal Lancer’. The cinema had 950 seats with stalls and a circle. In the 1970’s when larger cinemas started to become multi-screen, the Monico underwent a transformation with ochre and brown cladding externally and two screens inside, seating 433 and 156 patrons

Both of my sons went to the Saturday-morning matinee at the Monico, where Brian Bull, the owner/manager acted as compere showing a wonderful confection of children’s adventures, cartoons and competitions. Lots of childhood memories for both my boys!

Sadly, the Monico finally closed in 2003

All of these have now gone, and largely forgotten. Does anyone have memories of any of these cinemas they’d like to share?

And now we have the Nantgarw Showcase cinema complex, and the fast-food eateries just outside. Is this the future?

 

Grateful thanks to the Cinema Treasures website and to the Dic Mortimer blog for much of the detailed content contained in this issue

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