Tudor Cinema

In Chipping Sodbury, south Gloucestershire, the third cinema in this small town arose from the debris of the Picturedrome, which had been blown down in a gale (see separate Cinema Treasures entry).

That was around 1937. It is not known when the Cosy Cinema opened - it was first listed in the Kinematograph Year Books in 1946, but an advertisement in the Cinema Theatre Association Archive is from November 1943.

The Picturedrome had been owned by J. L. Mott. By the war years D. Watts-Williams was the proprietor of the Cosy Cinema, but it is not clear whether he built the new cinema, or whether he acquired it soon after it had been built by Mr Mott.

Mr Watts-Williams was a milkman, and seats for Saturday nights could be reserved by placing a note in a milk bottle! Years later, a former patron remembered going to the Saturday children’s matinees where the start time, supposed to be 2.30pm, was dependent upon Mr Watts-Williams completing his rounds on time (I gather his aged delivery van was not that reliable!). But at least, in 1945, all children up to the age of 14 were treated to a free film show to celebrate the end of the war.

A Gyrotone sound system had been installed, and there were 150 seats.

By 1948 Harry J. Dando was the proprietor. The address was henceforth listed in the Kinematograph Year Books as Woodmans Road. That forms a T junction with Hounds Road, so presumably the cinema was on the corner.

By 1951 Mr Dando had renamed this the Glen Cinema, after his daughter Glenice. A British Thomson Houston(BTH) sound system had been installed and the seating capacity had been increased, to 264, so presumably the name change coincided with work to enlarge the cinema. (One source suggests the Glen Cinema was a brand new cinema, but I have followed others which suggest it was an enlargement of the Cosy Cinema.)

By 1956 the Glen Cinema had been taken over by Haggar’s Cinemas Ltd. and renamed the Embassy. 270 seats were being listed. CinemaScope was installed, with a 16ft wide screen set in a 17ft wide proscenium.

By 1958, still owned by Haggar’s Cinemas, yet another name change saw the Embassy Cinema become the Tudor Cinema.

All to no avail, it seems, as the final appearance of the Tudor Cinema in the Kinematograph Year Books was in 1961.

It is not known what uses the building might have gone into, but housing now covers the likely site at the junction of Hounds Road and Woodmans Road.

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