Bernie Clifton backs bid to restore 1930s Wellington cinema
They share a name – and an age – and now Telford panto star Bernie Clifton has thrown his weight behind a campaign to bring a cinema back to Wellington.
Mr Clifton has said he supports the ongoing campaign by the Clifton Community Arts Centre Ltd, which wants to bring the former Clifton Cinema back to life.
This year marks the cinema's 80th birthday, as does Mr Clifton.
He said: "The more buildings of the era that can be saved, the better.
"I ought to mention I'm the same age."
Although he lives some distance from Wellington and may not be able to provide physical support that often, he is happy to twin one Clifton with another.
Last year, the Clifton Community Arts Centre Ltd announced plans to take over the former HSBC bank and turn it into a a new 80-seat cinema.
It is hoped a cafe-bar could be created on the ground floor of the unit and the upper floors used for rehearsal rooms, readings, classes, craft workshops and young people's activities.
But the group says it will also continue with its ultimate aim to acquire the former Clifton Cinema in Bridge Street, which closed in the 1980s.
The group has so far raised more than £32,000 from a share offer launched in December 2013. It was seeking to raise £500,000 to buy and restore the building which has been empty since soft-furnishings chain Dunelm moved out in 2012.
Though the group had no specific plans to mark its milestone, campaigners trying to reclaim the building will hold more community events than ever during 2017.
Anniversary mugs were also produced to mark the milestone and were sold to help the Save the Clifton campaign.
The mugs featured a black and white image of the cinema back when it was in use. They were on sale at the Clifton group's stall at Wellington Market, to mark the landmark birthday on January 18.
Clifton Cinema in Wellington, which opened on January 18, 1937, has reached the milestone despite currently being closed and facing an uncertain future. Campaigners said they retained hope of reopening the building in the future as "the most wonderful" gift for the occasion.
The group has also launched a campaign for the cinema to be listed as a heritage asset or for it to be put within the town's conservation area.
They say this would help to preserve the building for future generations.
Get in touch with the Clifton group at enquiries@theclifton.org or by post at Civic Offices, Larkin Way, Wellington TF1 1LX.
