New Malden History
Every picture tells a story by Robin Gill - May 2020
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1)Original Malden Cinema in Coombe Road (Through arch way) 2) Picture Theatre Malden Road (High Street)
3) Plaza Malden Road High Street 4) Odeon Shannon Corner
3) Plaza Malden Road High Street 4) Odeon Shannon Corner
The Cinematograph Theatre opened at 7 Coombe Road on July 26th 1911. It had about 300 seats and was situated three doors from the railway station. The seats were covered in red plush with the fittings and curtains made of the best materials. Pictures were “very clear with an almost entire absence of flicker”. The films were changed every Monday and Thursday with shows in the afternoon on Wednesday and Saturday. Three performances on April 24th 1912 raised £10 for the titanic Fund. Alterations were carried out in 1913, when it was renamed The New Malden Picture Palace. It was also known as The New Malden Cinema Hall.
On New Year’s Day 1915, about 350 children, all sons or daughters of soldiers or seamen were entertained at the Cinema Hall and sent a telegram of devotion to the King. Each child received a large box of chocolates, an orange, and a “bright penny “. They had previously received toys and gifts from underneath the large Christmas tree in the cinema. The children received telegrams in reply from the King, Queen Alexandra and Lord Kitchener. The cinema closed in 1921 and was replaced by the New Malden Club.
Picture house becomes The Plaza
The new cinema (New Malden Picture House) had stood in Malden Road on the present site of McDonalds since opening on 28th November 1921, and it was an exciting time for the new owners Plaza (New Malden) Ltd who had taken over at the beginning of 1929 with ambitious plans for the building. Talking pictures were on their way in Great Britain, and the Wainwrights (directors) wanted Malden to be ready. The Picture House was extensively altered, both inside and out, and reopened Monday 11th February at 7.45pm. This was to be a gala evening, albeit on a Malden scale with attendees being the Malden Mayor and Council together with council members from other boroughs together with” influential residents” (wonder who would qualify today?) to marvel at the new lighting and stage effects.
They were entertained by the Plaza Symphony Orchestra with Manny Schalet conducting before the curtain went up. The director RB Wainwright welcomed the guests telling them it was proposed to make the theatre “one of the most modern and attractive in the district”, and to that effect a balcony would be erected in the summer months, and “talking pictures” would be introduced in the next few weeks. There then followed a selection of films culminating in “The Garden of Allah” starring Alice Terry and Ivan Petrovitch.
Whilst no pictures of the interior are available the colour scheme was described as “restful for the eyes”, and the curtain depicted the rising sun. Price of admission was dependent on seat; Matinee: 5d, 9d, 1/3, and Evenings 5d, 9d, 1/3, and 1/10 with children also at 5d and 9d. The vestibule contained a café opened from 10.30am to 10pm where you could enjoy “dainty teas and coffee”.
While the early sound pictures involved no dialogue from the actors, the reel(s) were accompanied by pre-recorded music, and sound effects.
At Christmas, the theatre played host to 300 children. Thanks to the generosity of Malden folk, over £50 was raised to buy each child a toy. Mr Self the manager with the help of the local branch of the British Legion managed to contact the poorest children of the area and invited them to an afternoon of fun and games. Entertainment was given with films starring Mickey the Mouse who had only been created by Walt Disney the year before. Dancing by pupils of the Win Hayman School, and Punch and Judy by Professor Douglas also kept the children amused. The young audience were also presented with a bag of sweets and an orange on their way out.
Union Theatres bought the Plaza in 1935 and had plans to build an additional 30 new theatres that year.
1937 did not start well for the inhabitants of Malden: their popular cinema (Plaza) had burnt down on Sunday 27th December 1936, and all that was left of the main building was a pile of rubble and mangled metal. The cinema which could seat 700 stood on the site now occupied by McDonalds, it was purpose built, the site previously being allotments before the New Malden Picture Palace (original name) was constructed in 1921. The fire did not take long to take control, about 30 minutes after the alarm was first raised by a woman neighbour (who saw flames shooting through the roof), practically the whole of the inside of the building had been destroyed. It took five hours and thousands of gallons of water from the brigades of Malden and Wimbledon plus help from the London Salvage Corps to bring the fire under control. A local fireman Alan Ansell had a lucky escape when the roof collapsed causing a girder to fall on him. The blow shattered his brass helmet, which probably saved his life, Ansell asked to keep his helmet as a memento, and the other helmets were replaced with leather ones with the borough arms @£2 15s each (£2.75). The cinema was never rebuilt, though local shopkeepers felt it would improve their trade, and only the undamaged entrance lobby was used, for events such as friendship week.
Malden gets an Oscar
Such was the demand for a cinema in the area, a number of sites including the original premises were proposed, but all were rejected for one reason or another. Finally building started on the Odeon next to the Kingston Bypass at Shannon Corner. The development was temporarily suspended when one of the workmen died after falling from a balcony in August 1938.
The Odeon at Shannon Corner was opened on November 7th 1938 by Sir John Power MP. The member for Wimbledon from 1924-1945 (the cinema was in the borough of Merton). The ceremony was followed by music from The Band of the 1st Battalion King’s Own Scottish Borderers. The Movietonews was followed by a Mickey Mouse cartoon, and the main feature was “Gold Is Where You Find It” starring George Brent and Olivia De Havilland. Prices in the stalls ranged from 9d (4½ pence) to 1/6 (7½ pence) while a seat in the circle cost from 1/6 to 2/6 (12½ pence)
The cinema was designed by George Coles who was the architect for many other Odeons in the 1920s and 1930s. Two of the buildings still standing are listed as Grade II. It was his last design for Odeon. The fact it had a free car park was well advertised attracting the cinema loving motorist as well as foot customers and was well situated near to Kingston By pass a well-used arterial route out of London.
The facade was covered in cream faience tiles, and had three large windows allowing light into the circle foyer. Above them were three smaller windows, with the Odeon sign in large letters above. There was a slim fin-tower on the left-hand side of the facade, which had the name ‘ODEON’ on top.
Inside the auditorium, seating was provided for 961 in the stalls and 600 in the circle. There were three lay-light fittings in the centre of the ceiling. On the splay walls each side of the proscenium, were decorative grilles with horizontal and vertical bands. It was described as a super-cinema in design circles.
Oscar Deutsch the managing director of Odeon Cinemas of which there were eight in South London according to his publicity machine lent his name to the group “Oscar Deutsch Entertains Our Nation”. There were 250 Odeon Cinemas nationally by 1937. After Deutsch died in 1941, his wife sold the cinema chain to J Arthur Rank and it became part of The Rank Organisation. The cinema was closed on 2nd January 1960.
On New Year’s Day 1915, about 350 children, all sons or daughters of soldiers or seamen were entertained at the Cinema Hall and sent a telegram of devotion to the King. Each child received a large box of chocolates, an orange, and a “bright penny “. They had previously received toys and gifts from underneath the large Christmas tree in the cinema. The children received telegrams in reply from the King, Queen Alexandra and Lord Kitchener. The cinema closed in 1921 and was replaced by the New Malden Club.
Picture house becomes The Plaza
The new cinema (New Malden Picture House) had stood in Malden Road on the present site of McDonalds since opening on 28th November 1921, and it was an exciting time for the new owners Plaza (New Malden) Ltd who had taken over at the beginning of 1929 with ambitious plans for the building. Talking pictures were on their way in Great Britain, and the Wainwrights (directors) wanted Malden to be ready. The Picture House was extensively altered, both inside and out, and reopened Monday 11th February at 7.45pm. This was to be a gala evening, albeit on a Malden scale with attendees being the Malden Mayor and Council together with council members from other boroughs together with” influential residents” (wonder who would qualify today?) to marvel at the new lighting and stage effects.
They were entertained by the Plaza Symphony Orchestra with Manny Schalet conducting before the curtain went up. The director RB Wainwright welcomed the guests telling them it was proposed to make the theatre “one of the most modern and attractive in the district”, and to that effect a balcony would be erected in the summer months, and “talking pictures” would be introduced in the next few weeks. There then followed a selection of films culminating in “The Garden of Allah” starring Alice Terry and Ivan Petrovitch.
Whilst no pictures of the interior are available the colour scheme was described as “restful for the eyes”, and the curtain depicted the rising sun. Price of admission was dependent on seat; Matinee: 5d, 9d, 1/3, and Evenings 5d, 9d, 1/3, and 1/10 with children also at 5d and 9d. The vestibule contained a café opened from 10.30am to 10pm where you could enjoy “dainty teas and coffee”.
While the early sound pictures involved no dialogue from the actors, the reel(s) were accompanied by pre-recorded music, and sound effects.
At Christmas, the theatre played host to 300 children. Thanks to the generosity of Malden folk, over £50 was raised to buy each child a toy. Mr Self the manager with the help of the local branch of the British Legion managed to contact the poorest children of the area and invited them to an afternoon of fun and games. Entertainment was given with films starring Mickey the Mouse who had only been created by Walt Disney the year before. Dancing by pupils of the Win Hayman School, and Punch and Judy by Professor Douglas also kept the children amused. The young audience were also presented with a bag of sweets and an orange on their way out.
Union Theatres bought the Plaza in 1935 and had plans to build an additional 30 new theatres that year.
1937 did not start well for the inhabitants of Malden: their popular cinema (Plaza) had burnt down on Sunday 27th December 1936, and all that was left of the main building was a pile of rubble and mangled metal. The cinema which could seat 700 stood on the site now occupied by McDonalds, it was purpose built, the site previously being allotments before the New Malden Picture Palace (original name) was constructed in 1921. The fire did not take long to take control, about 30 minutes after the alarm was first raised by a woman neighbour (who saw flames shooting through the roof), practically the whole of the inside of the building had been destroyed. It took five hours and thousands of gallons of water from the brigades of Malden and Wimbledon plus help from the London Salvage Corps to bring the fire under control. A local fireman Alan Ansell had a lucky escape when the roof collapsed causing a girder to fall on him. The blow shattered his brass helmet, which probably saved his life, Ansell asked to keep his helmet as a memento, and the other helmets were replaced with leather ones with the borough arms @£2 15s each (£2.75). The cinema was never rebuilt, though local shopkeepers felt it would improve their trade, and only the undamaged entrance lobby was used, for events such as friendship week.
Malden gets an Oscar
Such was the demand for a cinema in the area, a number of sites including the original premises were proposed, but all were rejected for one reason or another. Finally building started on the Odeon next to the Kingston Bypass at Shannon Corner. The development was temporarily suspended when one of the workmen died after falling from a balcony in August 1938.
The Odeon at Shannon Corner was opened on November 7th 1938 by Sir John Power MP. The member for Wimbledon from 1924-1945 (the cinema was in the borough of Merton). The ceremony was followed by music from The Band of the 1st Battalion King’s Own Scottish Borderers. The Movietonews was followed by a Mickey Mouse cartoon, and the main feature was “Gold Is Where You Find It” starring George Brent and Olivia De Havilland. Prices in the stalls ranged from 9d (4½ pence) to 1/6 (7½ pence) while a seat in the circle cost from 1/6 to 2/6 (12½ pence)
The cinema was designed by George Coles who was the architect for many other Odeons in the 1920s and 1930s. Two of the buildings still standing are listed as Grade II. It was his last design for Odeon. The fact it had a free car park was well advertised attracting the cinema loving motorist as well as foot customers and was well situated near to Kingston By pass a well-used arterial route out of London.
The facade was covered in cream faience tiles, and had three large windows allowing light into the circle foyer. Above them were three smaller windows, with the Odeon sign in large letters above. There was a slim fin-tower on the left-hand side of the facade, which had the name ‘ODEON’ on top.
Inside the auditorium, seating was provided for 961 in the stalls and 600 in the circle. There were three lay-light fittings in the centre of the ceiling. On the splay walls each side of the proscenium, were decorative grilles with horizontal and vertical bands. It was described as a super-cinema in design circles.
Oscar Deutsch the managing director of Odeon Cinemas of which there were eight in South London according to his publicity machine lent his name to the group “Oscar Deutsch Entertains Our Nation”. There were 250 Odeon Cinemas nationally by 1937. After Deutsch died in 1941, his wife sold the cinema chain to J Arthur Rank and it became part of The Rank Organisation. The cinema was closed on 2nd January 1960.
You Can’t Do That Either by Robin Gill - April 2020
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Landlords could be prosecuted for any “nuisance” which occurred in one of their properties. These nuisances were usually unpleasant smells, normally from the drains. Such a case involved E S of Chestnut Grove, the “nuisance inspector” stated that the smell was “injurious to health” and had to be sorted out.
The fine imposed was £2 2/6 (£2.12½ p).
Boys will be boys
AD a boy of Burlington Road was fined 6d (2½ pence) for damaging some plants but the punishment didn’t stop there as the plants were valued at 2 Shillings (10 pence), plus costs of 7/6 (37 ½ pence) making a total payment of 10/- (50 pence) a lot of money for a lad of 15 to find in 1879.
JT of Burlington Road, and GC of Cleveland Road, were accused of stealing some cob nuts from a garden in Chestnut Grove. The admitted the offence and had shared the nuts, worth 13 shillings (65 pence) amongst their friends. JT received a caution, but GC who had stolen before, and had run away from home, was given six strokes with a birch rod.
Nothing to see here
Mrs AC of Chestnut Grove seemed to have a vivid imagination, or to have it in for her neighbour, who she accused of damaging the door of her property. But when the police sergeant called to inspect the harm done, he could see no mud which had been thrown, in fact the door was newly painted. There was also no sign of broken windows which had also been alleged. He did hear that there had been an argument about a chicken. Previously there had been a complaint of damage to her trees, but again nothing could be found. Mrs AC stated she had swept the debris away. The bench was unable to help putting the problem down to flights of fancy.
Drinking in the streets
WP of Northcote Road was found on his hands and knees in Elm Road unable to get up as he was so drunk. He used foul language when people tried to raise him to his feet, and also to the local police inspector! Ironically, this was the day that the fountain and drinking trough was opened in the village, and the day was declared a public holiday. Unfortunately, it seemed that WP had been drinking something stronger than Adam’s Ale, and for this, he was fined £1- or 14-days hard labour.
FK of George Road was summoned for assaulting his wife, who stated she only wanted a separation order. All he did was loll around the streets, and when she managed to get some work, he used to come home and go to bed. A warrant was issued for his arrest and when apprehended, he was asked to signed the pledge being warned that this was his last chance.
Habitual thief
WH, a dairyman, went through a spree of theft in New Malden in May 1900 stealing an overcoat, a child’s money box, a purse, another coat, a pair of trousers, a pair of braces, a silver watch and guard, a tin box , another overcoat, two suits, another pair of trousers, a pair of sugar tongs, a pair of scissors, handkerchiefs, a hair brush, comb , and mirror, a bottle of salts, a bottle of scent and 22 shillings in cash from three separate properties. He had spent over 30 years in jail and was sentenced to another 12 months hard labour, followed by 2 years police supervision.
Taxi rise
HT who lived at Derby Villas Coombe Road (now High Street) refused to pay a cab fare from Kingston to Malden of 4 shillings 5 pence (22 pence). The passengers beside himself, were two ladies and three children. He gave the driver 2 shillings and 9 pence (14 pence) and refused to pay the outstanding, stating that he had never paid more than 2 shillings and sixpence for a similar journey, and had given the driver 3d as a tip. Being told he was legally obligated to pay the rest, he did so in court together with 6/6 (32½ pence costs).
JW who was a lodger living in Providence Place (now Grafton Road) went to the Malden Tavern for a drink with some friends, but as it was just before 11pm the landlord refused to serve them. One of them pulled the plug from a gas pipe allowing the gas to escape. The landlord asked for the plug back, when he was jeered and assaulted by JW. The landlord called them blackguards, and they were prosecuted for the theft of the plug, fined 2/6 (12 ½ pence) and costs of 19 shillings (95 pence) or 14 days in prison.
Responsible owners
An Act of Parliament was passed in 1897 required all dogs to be muzzled when outside. This was to combat rabies, and was evidently successful as Great Britain has been practically free from the disease since the beginning of the 20th century. As it was a new law however, a lot of dog owners from Malden fell foul of it including LF from Kingston Road, FP from Blakes Park (Now Blakes Lane) and Sir CC from Malden Road, so it cut across all streams in society. The fine was 10 shillings (50 Pence). After the Act was repealed people from New Malden could still be fined for allowing their dog “to be at large without a collar bearing the owner’s name and address”. Such a fine was given to EN of Dukes Avenue and DL of Coombe Road the amount of 5 shillings (25 pence).
JP of Montem Road was a coal merchant had got into dispute with another coal merchant from Kensington over a business transaction. He threatened to shoot his rival. JP said the situation had got so violent, he produced his revolver but it was not loaded, and he had no bullets it was just to frighten his rival. The summons was dismissed and his rival was fined £3 10/- (£3.50p) for the original assault.
WP of Beresford Road was convicted of stealing broccoli from a field in New Malden to the value of 4d (2 pence) He was fined 5 shillings (25 pence).
Ernie’s ancestor
AJS was a local milkman who lived in Burlington Road, he was also a keen cyclist. One of his customers was in Thetford Road the home of FWB and his wife CFB. He was a stockbroker’s clerk having fallen on hard times as a result of the Jamestown Raid in South Africa in 1896. They were married in Clerkenwell in 1892. CFB also took an interest in cycling, and went for long rides with the milkman.
FWB arrived home early one evening and finding his wife was not there, decided to go for a bicycle ride himself. He was quietly smoking his pipe under a hedge when he noticed his wife and the milkman ride past. That evening she didn’t return until late, explaining that she had had a puncture which AJS had fixed for her. The husband’s suspicions were aroused and he employed some private detectives to investigate the relationship. The saw AJS arrive at the house in the evening, and the bedroom light went on, and he did not leave until one o’clock in the morning. Concealed in the hedge opposite the house they confronted the milkman when he emerged demanding to know what he had been doing. AJS said he had been “paying his addresses to the maid servant”. LT the servant denied he had approached her. His name and address were taken and he was allowed to go. After he had left the detectives noticed he had dropped a photograph of CFB
This was enough for the husband, and he started divorce proceedings. The milkman frequently called at the house when the husband was absent, but the wife denied adultery had taken place on these occasions., although she always made a point of sending the maid on some errand. She said a lady friend recommended him as a milkman, and he had stayed to mend her bicycle. He had accompanied her to her sister’s house in Battersea, to show her the way and accompanied her home.
The divorce was granted with costs. AJS married CFB the following year setting up a sweet shop at 50 Eden Street Kingston (now Eden Kebab) and they adopted a daughter. CFS (as she had become) died in 1938. He then married her niece EJW in 1940, and they continued to run the shop in Kingston, though due to war shortages business was very much curtailed.
AJS was last seen alive on 3rd April 1960, and his body was pulled from the Thames on the 14th. He was 81. It was said to be suicide. He was a very fit person, during the first world war he worked on the first military aircraft at what became Hawkers, being nearly drowned during launching trials of the early seaplane adaptations. He was also a cycling champion, and continued cycling up to his death.