WTW Cinemas, which will own and operate the state-of-the-art four screen complex in the town, wants to hear from local people who have memories, photographs or stories about Newquay’s cinemas in times past.
As part of its appeal, the company wants former members of staff at the Victoria, Astor and Camelot to make contact.
Mark Williams from WTW Cinemas said: “The Lighthouse will be the first cinema to be open in Newquay for more than 16 years, but of course, there will be many people who remember the old cinemas like the Victoria, Astor, Camelot and the Pavilion before it. We would love to hear from people, both locally and across the whole of the South West, who might have special stories, information and moving and still pictures of Newquay’s cinemas past. We’d urge them to get in touch and share them with us.”
The Lighthouse Cinema will be completely unrecognizable from the days of the earliest cinema in Newquay – the Picture Palace opened in 1911. Around the same period, the Victoria Cinema came into being and in 1938 the New Theatre concert hall (which later became the Astor) opened to the public.
There were three cinemas operating in Newquay at one point – the Astor, Pavilion and Victoria. However, in June 1968 the Pavilion was gutted by fire. It was rebuilt and reopened a year later as the Camelot and was classed as the main cinema in the town.
The Victoria closed to film in 1974 and the Astor shut its doors in 1978. The Camelot was the only cinema to survive, but finally closed forever in 1995.
Mark Williams added: “We’re particularly interested in anyone who was involved in cinematography in Newquay during this time. We would be delighted to invite some of the people that come forward along to tour the new building and to see how the new Lighthouse is progressing.”
Anyone with specific memories, photographs or stories that might help with this campaign should contact Natalie Blachford on 01208 77900 or by visiting www.wtwcinemas.co.uk
The Lighthouse Cinema will open in late spring and generate 25 new jobs in Newquay. The first purpose-built fully-digital cinema in the South West will seat more than 650 people when it is completed and will feature MasterImage 3D projection in two screens.
Family-run business WTW Cinemas owns and operates cinemas The Plaza in Truro, White River Cinema in St Austell and The Regal in Wadebridge. It has just been announced that White River Cinema has won the RAAM ‘Best Independent Cinema in the UK’ award.
The new cinema in Newquay is the second phase of the company’s development plan, which included the construction and opening of St Austell’s White River Cinema in December 2008. The third stage will be the refit of the existing Plaza cinema in Truro in 2012.
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