This
was built by the Government in an attempt to reduce
public spending on
alcohol in an area where the huge munitions works at
Gretna was
inflating individual earnings to a unprecedented
extent. Apart
from controlling the production and sale of beer in the
area (which
went on until the mid-1970s), some attempt was made to
offer workers'
alternative leisure activities.
The result was a billiards' lounge,
beer hall, restaurant and bowls (or putting?) green
complete with high
monkey-puzzle tree. Biddells' must have bought the
franchise on
the new Kinema, in November 1916. "Biddall's Ghost
Illusion" had
previously been a popular touring cinema in the area.
The site is now part of the bus station.
Now long demolished. Seated 350; open in 1917.
Archive photo courtesy of Norrie Mcnamee