Local History Post by Tony Royden and Philip
Grant.
1.The Majestic’s front elevation
drawing, from the 1928 planning application.
Today there are multiple ways we can view films; at the cinema, on free-to-air
television, blu-ray, DVD or the many streaming platforms which we can even
watch on our smartphones. But 100 years ago it was a very different story. The
cinema was the only place for the public to go, which they did in their
thousands to see the latest releases. Back then, the cinema (or ‘Picture House’,
which popularised the colloquial expression “going to the pictures”), would
have shown black-and-white silent movies, accompanied by incidental music being
played live on a piano, or sometimes by a small orchestra.
Wembley got its first cinema in 1915, when a former roller-skating rink
at the corner of the High Road and Cecil Avenue was roofed over and converted
to the Wembley Hall Cinematograph Theatre. It had around 500 seats and offered continuous
showing of “animated pictures” in the evenings, with matinees on Wednesday (the
early closing day for Wembley’s shops) and Saturday afternoons.
2.Wembley Hall
Cinema advert and postcard, both from c.1920.
By the 1920s, Wembley was a fast-growing suburb of London, thanks to the
British Empire Exhibition (which brought in millions of visitors) and an attractive
“Metroland” marketing campaign encouraging people to make it their home – a far
cry from the crowded and dirty centre of the capital. Residents were looking
forward to having a cinema with more than the very basic facilities of the
Wembley Hall, and when a large cinema chain put up a signboard in 1926, on a
piece of land at the corner of the High Road and Park Lane, promising that a
‘super cinema’ would be built there, it seemed that they would soon have one.
3.Looking west along Wembley High Road in the 1920s. (Brent Archives – Wembley History Society Colln.)
Two years passed, and despite the signboard still being displayed, no building
work had begun. Thankfully, two Wembley men were chatting on the pavement, and
one declared: ‘If they are not going to build a cinema, it’s about time we had
one.’ That man was R.H. Powis, a County Councillor and public works contractor
with offices at 12 Neeld Parade (Wembley Triangle). Powis’ vision of a Super
Cinema was one that incorporated shops, café and ballroom and he wasted no time
in gathering a group of local businessmen together, to form a company that
would actually undertake the work to build it.
4.Photo of R.H. Powis from the 18 January 1929 “Wembley News” supplement.
(Brent Archives)
Powis was no stranger to championing large entertainment projects, as he
had been a leading figure in organising Wembley’s staging of an Elizabethan
scene, involving over 2,000 local residents, for the Pageant of Empire at the British
Empire Exhibition in 1924 (taking a
starring role himself, as Sir Francis Drake!). He became the Chairman, and other
investor/directors included Charles Aldridge, who had a confectionery shop at 5
Neeld Parade, and E.C. Mitchell, whose bakery business was at 112-114 High Road.
With a formidable local team assembled they named the company The Wembley
Majestic Theatre Ltd (because their vision was for a super theatre of grandeur that
would be nothing short of majestic), and the ball was rolling.
First, they needed a site on which to build the cinema, and again local
contacts were useful. Another leading supporter of Wembley’s part in the
Pageant of Empire was the district’s Medical Officer, Dr Charles Goddard. He
was currently raising money for the new Wembley Hospital, and was a trustee of
the charity which owned the original Cottage Hospital, built with
money donated by Anne Copland in 1871. This Victorian
building, which had become a private house called “Elmwood”, was located on the
High Road, next door to the then recently-built Post Office (currently “The
Robin” gastropub). It had been rented to a local builder, James Comben, of Comben & Wakeling Ltd, but now it was vacant and available to buy!
5.“Elmwood” in the 1920s. (Both images from
the “Wembley News” supplement)
By coincidence, “Elmwood” was directly across the road from where the
original ‘super cinema’ signboard was placed on derelict land two years
previously and where the cinema chain had promised to build their cinema – the
location of which was to play a significant role for what was about to happen.
6.The Majestic Cinema
site location plan, from an original planning application drawing.
(Brent Archives – Wembley plans microfilm 3474)
Next, Powis and his fellow directors needed architects for the new building,
and as the cinema was being built with local money, they chose two local men
for this assignment. J. Field and H.J. Stewart were a firm practicing from a
private house at 2 Christchurch Avenue, near Ealing Road. They submitted their
plans to Wembley Urban District Council on 6 February 1928, and these were
approved by the Council’s Surveyor two days later!
7.J. Field and H.J. Stewart, the Majestic Cinema’s architects. (From the “Wembley News” supplement)
8.Field and Stewart’s main drawing for the cinema. (Brent Archives – Wembley plans microfilm 3474)
The contract for building the cinema was put out to tender, and the
directors received thirty bids. They gave the work to W.E. Greenwood & Son
Ltd, who had offered the second lowest price, on condition that they began work
the following morning (which they did). This company was quite local (based at
Mordaunt Road in Harlesden), and had the advantage that W.E. Greenwood himself
was a specialist in interior design, which was to be a feature of the cinema.
9.Work in progress on the Majestic Cinema, around June 1928. (From the “Wembley News” supplement)
Work went ahead at pace, and by the middle of 1928 the people of Wembley
could see their new “super cinema” rising from behind the hoardings, opposite
the southern end of Park Lane. Meanwhile, across the road, bricks had arrived
on the derelict land for the original two-year promised ‘super cinema’ to
commence their construction. Worrying times for Mr Powis and the company’s directors,
but they were not deterred. They stepped up construction, working day and
night, determined to win the race for Wembley’s first super cinema. But an
unforeseen delay was just around the corner.
10.Looking out
from inside the future auditorium towards the back of the cinema site, around
August 1928.
(From the “Wembley News” supplement)
Beyond the elegant frontage, the Majestic’s auditorium had a lightweight steel structured roof, covered
with roofing felt fixed to wooden sheets. On a hot Monday afternoon, 20 August
1928, while this was being installed, the roof
suddenly caught fire. Luckily Wembley’s volunteer fire brigade, with its fire station located nearby on St John’s Road, just behind
the Town Hall, was quickly on the scene, just two minutes after the alarm was
raised, to extinguish the flames before the fire had caused any damage to the
steelwork.
11.The fire on
the roof of the Majestic Cinema, August 1928, with the Post Office building on
the right.
(Brent Archives)
The fire was a minor setback and although there was £200 worth of damage
(which is approximately £11,000 in today’s money) it did not delay the work on
the cinema. By the autumn people passing the site could see the front of the
building taking shape. At street level
there were three shops available for letting and stretching across the whole
width of the first floor were the windows of an imposing ballroom. But what
they couldn’t see was the spectacular interior of the cinema itself, which was
being skilfully crafted by decorative artist, John Bull, to W.E. Greenwood’s
designs … they would have to wait until the Majestic Cinema opened to the
public in January 1929 for the big reveal.
12.The front of the Majestic Cinema nearing completion. (From the “Wembley News” supplement)
You will only have to wait until next weekend, for Part 2, to see
pictures of the Majestic’s interior, so join us then! We can assure you that it
is worth waiting for.
Tony Royden and Philip Grant.
