´óÏó´«Ã½

Archives for February 2010

William Haggar's fleapit cinema

Post categories: ,Ìý

Phil Carradice Phil Carradice | 14:31 UK time, Wednesday, 24 February 2010

Time was every community in Wales had its own "fleapit" cinema, showing two features a week - and a special show on Sundays. They were the social centres of the town, people dressing in their best clothes and queuing round the block to get a seat.

Cinemas had their origins in the travelling picture shows, the Bioscopes, which were part of the fairs that visited towns across the country in the late nineteenth century. People like Harry Scard, Mitchell and Kenyon and, in particular, William Haggar not only showed films, they also made them.

Read the rest of this entry

The origins of war memorials

Post categories: ,Ìý,Ìý,Ìý

Phil Carradice Phil Carradice | 12:06 UK time, Wednesday, 24 February 2010

Virtually every town in the country has one - and many villages, too. There are nearly 40,000 of them across Britain. And yet, most of us pass them by without a second glance apart, maybe, from the weeks leading up to 11 November every year. We are talking, of course, about war memorials.

Read the rest of this entry

Tredegar House and the death of Gwyneth Morgan

Post categories: ,Ìý,Ìý

Phil Carradice Phil Carradice | 11:39 UK time, Wednesday, 24 February 2010

Tredegar House in Newport was, for years, the family seat of the Lords Tredegar, one of the richest families in Wales. In December 1924 the disappearance of Gwyneth, daughter of Courtanay Morgan, then holder of the Tredegar title, caused a furore in the country.

Gwyneth, always something of a wild child, had been staying at a house in Wimbledon, possibly drying out after drug or alcohol abuse. She just walked out one foggy morning, with £70 in her pocket, and five months later her lifeless body, weighted down with stones, was discovered in the Thames at Limehouse.


Phil Carradice next to Gwyneth Morgan's memorial

Read the rest of this entry

More from this blog...

´óÏó´«Ã½ iD

´óÏó´«Ã½ navigation

´óÏó´«Ã½ © 2014 The ´óÏó´«Ã½ is not responsible for the content of external sites. Read more.

This page is best viewed in an up-to-date web browser with style sheets (CSS) enabled. While you will be able to view the content of this page in your current browser, you will not be able to get the full visual experience. Please consider upgrading your browser software or enabling style sheets (CSS) if you are able to do so.