In 1906 Arthur Cheetham of Queen Street, Rhyl’s pioneer film maker, opened his permanent Silvograph cinema in Market Street. It was the upper storey of the block that stands between Wilkinsons and The Lorne.
Mr. Cheetham was a businessman of many parts and a bit of a maverick. In the Silvograph’s first year he fixed a permanent advertising board / signboard at ground level but the local authority took a dim view of it.
Perhaps the sign required planning permission or was deemed to be obstructive. Mr. Cheetham was ordered to take down the sign within a specified period, but he did not do so. Council workmen turned up one night and removed it.
The incident was filmed and exhibited by Mr. Cheetham and - being a printer and publisher - he produced the above commemorative postcard. The back of one is shown below:
Click on it for a clearer view:
Click on it for a clearer view:
[The addressee is noted here for indexing purposes: Colgrave Sparkhill.]
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TUE 12th JUN 2018 UPDATE: Maverick or not, the Christmas lantern slide below reflects Arthur Cheetham’s cosier side as he poses with his family on whom he relied so much in his varied career.
Seated left to right: Rose (his wife), Arthur and Gwen. Standing left to right: Bernard, Edith, Gustavus and Frances.
This item comes from the collection of the late Eric Foulkes via Philip Lloyd whose book 'Silvograph, Arthur Cheetham 1865-1937, pioneer film maker' was published in March this year. Thanks, Philip!
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