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Description
Roger Shone lives and breathes the golden age of the cinema. Along with classic picture-house paraphernalia and artifacts ranging from ticket stubs to gilded plaster wall-fixings. Roger's hobby and consuming interest started when he was a youngster helping-out in the running of the Alhambra cinema, a purpose designed performance venue commanding a prime, position in the High Street of Shotton, Flintshire.
In the 1950s the town of Shotton was home to many of the 12,000+ workers at the John Summers Steel plant, just over the river Dee from the town. Chester Road, the main shopping parade, had yet to feel the impact of large-scale, all-under-one-roof supermarkets and was well-served with a variety of owner-managed shops shops and offices. The Alhambra cinema was a dominant force on the High Street. Offering, not just latest feature films and children's weekend matinee performances, but a lot more. From seasonal panto, hugely popular talent competitions to wrestling spectaculars, The Alhambra did it all!
During September 2016, I called on Roger Shone at his modest Chester home. We spent a pleasant couple of hours reminiscing about old times on the High Street -and of course, about a bygone age, with TV still in its infancy, when, for a huge cross section of folk, a night at "the pictures" was the highlight of the week.
This clip is an extract from an extended interview session which in, due course, will be deposited with local & national archives for the benefit of future generations.
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