Conservation of Colwyn Foulkes Cinema Plans
Conwy Archive Service received a grant of £5,500, that was funded jointly by the NMCT and Museums, Libraries and Archives Wales (CyMAL) to conserve a unique series of over 150 1930's cinema plans drawn by the architect Sidney Colwyn Foulkes.
Colwyn Foulkes was a pioneering Welsh architect who trained at Liverpool and built for his time with skill and sensitivity. An interest in the theatre led to one of his earliest architectural works, the Cosy cinema in Colwyn Bay. Cinema design remained close to his heart and he went on to work on plans for cinemas in Bangor, Birkenhead, Conway, Flint, Llanrwst, Queensferry and Rhyl. Of these, the Palace in Conway was awarded the prize for Cinema of the Year in 1936, and both it and the Plaza in Flint (1938) are now Grade 2 listed.
In a national context these plans represent a case study of a social phenomenon: the development of international popular culture through the cinema. These drawings of picture houses in North Wales and the North-West corner of England reflect, in the work of one man, social developments that affected the whole country.
None of the cinemas are still serving their original purpose and some have already been demolished, so in these cases the plans (together with occasional photographs and job files also in the collection) represent all that survives of the buildings intact.
Images courtesy of Conwy Archives Service