Got my first sticky fingers in the Monico , still remember the whiff , pilchards and piss .
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Got my first sticky fingers in the Monico , still remember the whiff , pilchards and piss .
Memories came flooding back of the Saturday morning kids matinee, cheers Genie. Seems a lifetime ago.
Remember my old man taking me to the Plaza to watch the first ever Rocky film.
The Regent in Ely holds some great memories as well. Remember seeing the Italian Job, and 10,000 yrs BC in there. The place erupted when Raquel Welsh got her tits out!
Saturday mornings were the best though. Me and my younger sister used to go every week with our little bags of sweets, to watch the cartoons and Flash Gordon.
Now I've been to many football matches and music gigs, where it's been so crowded it's been a bit scary, but nothing has ever compared to leaving the Regent on a Saturday morning. As soon as the final curtain came down, there would be a stampede for the doors, and down the famous steps, where you would literally take your life in your own hands if you were to trip up. Lol!
On a side note. Me and my sister used to rush home to tell my dad all about the latest episode of Flash Gordon, but he always mysteriously knew what had happened before we could tell him.
Wasn't till yrs later, he told me that his mate used to be the projectioinist there and he used to call over for a quick cuppa with him every Saturday morning 😂
Plaza
And the Rialto.
The Gaiety. And what was the one on the junction of Wellfield Road and Albany Road.
I think the least known of the cinemas mentioned was the Rialto in Old Church Road Whitchurch. My favourite cinema of all was the Gaumont which later became the Top Rank. Has the Odeon in Queen St survived the ravages of redevelopment? As my visits to Cardiff don't go beyond the CCS I haven't a clue what does and doesn't exist in the City Centre.
My first visit to the cinema was the Rialto. It was a bit of a flea pit. If I recall correctly it was a single storey building so there wasn't an upstairs. It was off Old Church Rd so if you didn't know it was there you would miss it. I recall it had a small advertising hoarding on a low wall that was between the Royal Oak pub and Boots next door. When I was young I remember a poster for a film called "Doctor Blood's Coffin" on the hoarding which my mother point blank refused to take me to. Happy days
Another compilation of closed Cardiff cinemas :
I bet nobody remember the Clifton?!
http://cinematreasures.org/theaters/...?status=closed
If you will excuse me broadening the thread to include Newport, this was my first cinema experience - my mum took me to see Bambi.
http://www.southwalesargus.co.uk/new...ears/#gallery0