Newquay

The Pavilion and Shelter was built by Newquay (Cornwall) Urban
District Council in 1912 near the seafront on The Crescent. It also
included a lounge and tea rooms at the rear. The venture was part
financed by Cornish Riviera Entertainments Ltd. The Pavilion was
ran as a cinema from at least 1926 and would probably have been
modified. By 1932 Gwyther Eastlake Prance & W Mumford (Sound &
Movement Cinemas Ltd) were running the cinema with 750 seats.
The proscenium was 30' wide. RCA Photophonic sound was installed.

The cinema passed to Albert Jackson Withers of Cardiff in 1942 and
became the most important cinema of his Cornwall Circuit. By 1970
the cinema was equipped with CinemaScope, 70mm projection and
stereophonic sound and was screening special releases such as the
blow up of Beckett in December 1971. The cinema passed to Rank
who sold it to Garfield Daniels Ltd by 1980. The cinema closed in
1994, only to reopen specially to premier the film Blue Juice that
had been filmed in the area. It then closed for good.

The building has been reopened in 2002 as an Australian theme bar,
the cladding has now hidden much of the structure. The cinema
had been disused since 1994. The twin towers on either side of the
entrance block are about all that remains of the original Pavilion.
The side view shows a fine window, revealing the original design to
be in the style of an Italian villa.

The auditorium had been rebuilt in
1970 with 812 seats, due to a fire that
gutted the building in June 1968 along
with the entrance making a very odd
looking structure, positioned on the
edge of the cliff. The original entrance
was at the side of the building with
windows, where a veranda was
positioned. Curiously the new bar have
inserted windows at the side and
created a seating area in the form of a
veranda.

The Picture Theatre was operating as early as 1912, in the
Oddfellows Hall, Marcus Hill built in 1878. It was later known
as the Picture House. It was operated by Newquay Picture
Theatre Ltd and seated 180, and was connected to the
operators of the Pavilion cinema. It was later operated by
W alter Ellis Slack and closed in 1930.

The Victoria Theatre, Chapel (Wesley) Hill (off Fore Street) had a
61' by 35' 6" auditorium at first floor level seating 412 and a balcony
seating 93. 2 dressing rooms were provided and a projection box
was situated in the tower to the right of the building. The
ground floor was occupied by Victoria stores. The proscenium
was 20' wide.Opened in 1930 by A H Chapman of St Columb Major
the operator was Anderton & (Arthur) Rowland of Plymouth. The
sound system was BTH: British Thomson Houston.

Various plans were submitted for this building by Enid Hosking
and by Newquay Entertainments Ltd. The building consisted of a
single storey frontage, no projection box and a stadium
auditorium seating 611.   The theatre was designed for live
concerts and stage shows. Revised plans added a cafe within the
frontage and a projection box. The entrance was on the right
hand front corner, closest to the town.   The building had a 36'
wide proscenium with 19' 6" deep stage with 6 dressing rooms.
The sound system was BTP British Talking Pictures. The building
opened 2nd October 1939. The ceiling and esternal roof was
barrel shaped.

Modernised in 1955 with other Cornish cinemas, the auditorium
received grilles on either side of the proscenium that were up
lit.    There was an unusual combination of up lighter and vents
in the form of 'boxes' on the ceiling. These boxes and up lit
grilles are identical to those installed on the Helston Flora
modernisation, but in a different configuration. For a closer
look at these features view the photograph under Helston Flora.
The colour scheme had ceiling and walls in apricot, and lights and
vents in Arctic Blue, stenciled with snow crystal designs. The
coves were pale champagne and the dado cherry red.

The theatre was renamed Astor when leased to Duchy Cinemas
Ltd. in the late 1950's when CinemaScope was installed. Being
quite a way out of the centre of Newquay it struggled and closed
in 1978. More recently a not very attractive second storey has
been added to the frontage, and was a furniture store, now
closed.

In November 1944 F E Bromige prepared plans for a giant cinema to be built in East Street. The exterior
design was stunning, and of a similar style as the architects other work of the period. There was a tower
to the right of the entrance with verticle inlayed fenilation and the materials were a mix of brick and
concrete strips. The auditorium was a streamlined art deco design with a 540 seat circle and stalls for a
further 978, total 1518. A large stage was included with 2 dressing rooms. There was room for a ballroom
under the circle.

Clearly this cinema was never built, which is a shame as Newquay never had a proper purpose built
cinema, and as a direct result is lacking any cinema at present.