Memory Lane

Cardiff remembered: “The Bug House”

Author Brian Lee writes a weekly history and nostalgia column for the South Wales Echo.

Written by Brian Lee

Brian’s Blast from the Past... In my book Voices of Cardiff and under the heading “The Bug House” I recalled: “The Coronet Cinema in Woodville Road was the nearest fleapit or local cinema to where I lived.

“Sadly, it was knocked down to make way for a petrol station, but is now a block of flats. “It was at the Cora, or Bug House, as we called it that I went to see the film Buffalo Bill in the 1940s. In those days we kids played Cowboys and Indians.

“Little did I realise it then that Buffalo Bill had ridden along Woodville Road, raising his hat to all and sundry as he led a big parade on his first visit to Cardiff back in 1891.

“The Globe, which used to be in Albany Road, was another fleapit that wasn’t far from where I lived. It was the first cinema where I ever sat in the upstairs posh seats.

“On this particular night my mother, my Aunt Sarah and my sister Valerie and I had queued for so long in the rain to see Random Harvest, starring Greer Garson and Ronald Colman, that the manager took pity on us and escorted us to the expensive upstairs seats.

“Fifty years ago these local little cinemas played a big part in our lives. Now they are just memories.

Please send your pictures and stories to Brian Lee, Cardiff Remember, South Wales Echo, Six Park Street, Cardiff, CF10 1XR
or email brianlee4@virginmedia.com
If sending a letter, please include your phone number.

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Cardiff remembered: “The Bug House”

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