Shrewsbury Matters: Love of cinema lives on thanks to dear Empire

No, no, no. Not the British Empire. The Empire cinema in Shrewsbury. Nowadays better known as Pizza Express.

This lovely little cinema in Mardol was officially opened on November 25, 1922.

It has a special place, of course, in the hearts of many Salopians – and a very special place in my heart because our dad was the immaculately turned-out commissionaire there for a while (and was able to get us in free of charge).

And the place is also special to me because, as a boy and as a young man, I saw dozens of films there; films (some good, many of them terrible) which helped form a backdrop to the early part of my life and which gave me a great and enduring love of the cinema.

The dear old Empire closed in 1998 with the coming of the multi-screen Cineworld on Old Potts Way.

What's nice, though, is that the building has survived, its mock-Tudor frontage still intact, and, should you go into the restaurant today, you can still experience the gentle slope of the floor towards where the screen used to be.

Now, there are a great many things for which I have to thank our elder sister Jan. She was largely responsible for introducing myself and our younger brother to books and the joys of reading (she would often take us along to the library with her). She was also responsible for taking us on long Sunday afternoon walks around the town. Thus we developed not only a liking for long walks but also a knowledge of (and love for) our home town. And it was Jan too who often took us to the cinema. I'm talking late 1960s, early 1970s.

And I reckon I must have seen just about every Carry On film of that era, every Elvis film and every John Wayne western of that time.

Our dad (who had so many different jobs during his lifetime that the subject would make a column in its own right) was commissionaire at The Empire around, I think, 1965-1966.

He looked fantastic in his uniform with smart cap and a tunic with epaulettes. Oh, I wish we had a photograph! I do remember distinctly that he got myself and my little brother in free to watch the James Bond film, Thunderball. I also remember scoffing marshmallows and barley sugars as we became entranced by 007.

Of course the fast-moving, explosive, full-colour and tremendously noisy all-action adventures of James Bond could never have been envisaged as The Empire opened its doors for the first time back in the era of the silent movies.

This is how the news of its forthcoming opening was reported in the Wellington Journal and Shrewsbury News of September 23, 1922.

"The new Empire Cinema in Mardol, is now nearly completed.

"It was started only in July last, the rapidity of the building operations is due in no small measure to Mr Tom E. Davies, a native of Shrewsbury, who owns a number of cinema theatres in Europe and is also controller of the United Kingdom right for the Charlie Chaplin films; and to Mr Sidney Bernstein who is one of the most capable exhibitors in the country, and already controls many cinema theatres.

"The aim of the directors in building the new theatre is to provide first class entertainment and comfortable accommodation for their patrons; it will seat 1,250 people with ease.

"The seating will be the semi-armchair variety, and every modern device known to the architect will be installed.

"The entrance hall will be carried out in Jacobean oak with black and white marble floor, and special lanterns are being devised to harmonise with the scheme of decoration. A Wedgwood cafe and tea lounge will be provided on the first floor for the benefit of those who require light refreshments.

"The theatre ventilating plant will keep the building supplied with filtered air, and the temperature will be regulated so that it will be cool in summer and warm in winter.

"Mottograph projectors, which are being used in all the largest theatres in Europe and America, are being installed in the operating box, together with a special screen so that there should be no eye-strain.

"With regard to the programme, only the best pictures will be shown."

(They clearly had not foreseen the coming of Confessions of a Driving Instructor).

Many of us who frequented The Empire in the sixties and seventies will have fond memories of the well-worn red velvet seats, the queues that would form outside whenever a particularly popular film was showing, the thrilling little sweet shop in the foyer, and the adverts for that Chinese restaurant 'just 100 yards from this cinema'.

So, 90 years on from its opening, let us raise a glass this November 25 to the source of much happiness – The Empire!