South wales has been a hotbed of derelict cinemas ever since i got interested in them and probably for many years previously. Many trips have been made down into the valleys in search of places like this and normally they all follow a similar chain of events. Namely, we spend a day driving around fetted, run down hell holes checking cinema after cinema usually empty handed but occasionally having just a little luck! This trip was no different. Many stops but just one bit of luck! It must have been the fourth time i've checked this place since it closed in 2010 and it was always tight. This time not so, not so in big style actually!
Inside it was pretty good. Not epic but much better than the last few i've done. The main auditorium was intact if a little modern having had a replacement ceiling and proscenium at some point. The foyer was interesting too, cramped really but a few cubby holes to hunt out and some interesting old decor appearing from below the peeling paint.. Give this place a few more years derelict and it will time warp back to the 20s with all the deco detail that's hiding under that paint! The projectors had gone but the various behind the scenes rooms had plenty of old tat horded to keep me busy for an hour or so's rummaging even if there were no truly epic finds. As cinema go a fair 6/10 id say!
Inside it was pretty good. Not epic but much better than the last few i've done. The main auditorium was intact if a little modern having had a replacement ceiling and proscenium at some point. The foyer was interesting too, cramped really but a few cubby holes to hunt out and some interesting old decor appearing from below the peeling paint.. Give this place a few more years derelict and it will time warp back to the 20s with all the deco detail that's hiding under that paint! The projectors had gone but the various behind the scenes rooms had plenty of old tat horded to keep me busy for an hour or so's rummaging even if there were no truly epic finds. As cinema go a fair 6/10 id say!
Located at the corner of Hannah Street and Pontypridd Road in Porth, near to Pontypridd in the Rhondda Valley, Mid-Glamorgan. This was one of the Solomon Andrews and Son’s Ltd. early business ventures into the cinema trade. It opened around 1916 and had a 25 feet wide proscenium.
By 1937 it was operated by the Cardiff based Castle and Central Cinemas Ltd., and they were still operating it until at least 1966, and it was closed soon after.