20) The Daffodil

The Suffolks │20 previous / next │main map / suffolks map

18-20 Suffolk Parade (formerly St James's Lodge)

The present Daffodil restaurant occupies the site of St James's Lodge, a detached house built before 1841, when a surgeon called Charles Salt and his wife Margaret were in residence. The property was probably rented out and the names of the tenants changed often. By 1882 the residents were clergymen and trades people and this was a lodging house kept by Mr James Lediard, who had previously been a coachman.

As the 19th century progressed the character of Suffolk Parade became more commercial. With the renumbering of the street in 1892/93, St James's Lodge became numbers 18 & 19 Suffolk Parade, indicating that it had already been subdivided. The left hand premises (18) were occupied by Archie Bendall's Sports Outfitter shop, whilst that on the right (19) was a sadler's shop belonging to Edward Acock.

1915

In about 1894 Mr Acock relocated his business to Great Norwood Street and number 19 was taken over by Mr J. Barrett, a greengrocer and florist with nurseries in Leckhampton. Early in December 1900 a horse belonging to Mr Barrett bolted in Bath Road, when it was attached to a cartload of pigs. The frightened animal dashed down the road, into Cambray, safely negotiated the corner of the High Street, and met with no obstacle until it turned into Winchcombe Street, which was very narrow before it was widened in the 1950s. Here the horse and cart mounted the pavement, where it ran over an elderly gentleman named Joseph William Gouch. He was fortunate to survive, suffering nothing worse than a bruised and sprained ankle. In order to prevent such incidents drivers were required to chain the wheels of unattended carts.

By 1910 J.Barrett & Son had expanded to occupy both 18 and 19 Suffolk Parade, creating a double fronted shop, which they leased from Frederick Sims, who owned the baker's next door at 16 & 17 Suffolk Parade. Mr Sims, a member of Salem Baptist Church, had acquired ownership of all of the properties from 16 to 22 Suffolk Parade by 1920 and it seems evident that he had an ambitious plan for the area.

On 13th March 1922 the Daffodil Picture House Limited company was registered with the purpose of purchasing numbers 18,19,20 and 21 Suffolk Parade from Frederick Sims and to erect a picture house, a shop and other buildings, with the intent of carrying on a business of public entertainment. The nominal capital was £10,000 and the Directors included Frederick Sims and the Cheltenham architect L.W. Barnard, whom Mr Sims had already engaged on a project in 1913.

The cinema opened on 5th October 1922 and initially, having the largest financial interest in the undertaking and always being on the spot, it was natural for Fred Sims to be appointed Managing Director. He took a very keen interest in the cinema and was nearly always to be seen there but he suffered a severe stroke in 1923 and died in November 1926. By 1924 the manager was Mr William Rust. He began his cinema career in Dundee and from there went to Bristol in 1916, later moving to Cheltenham. He was eventually succeeded Mr Sims as Managing Director and retired in 1946.

Although there were previous cinemas in Cheltenham, this was the town's first to be purpose-built, in an art deco style. It had a distinctive white render and red brick facade and, internally, various daffodil motifs. There was a 750 seat large raked auditorium, with an upper circle balcony; a lounge complete with a tiled fireplace, paintings and oak panelling; an orchestra pit with a brass railing and pendant lights in the shape of daffodils. One noteworthy feature was the double seating in the balcony, much favoured by courting couples! At first the films were silent, some of them in colour, but in 1930 a sound system was installed.

1922

The first film to be shown at the cinema was 'Thunderclap', a silent film made in 1921 by the Fox Film Corporation, starring J. Barney Sherry, Violet Mersereau, Paul Willis and Mary Carr.

'The makers of this picture culled just about every trick from all the famous melodramas of yore -- Drury Lane never had it so good (or bad!). Gambler Lionel Jamieson (J. Barney Sherry) is about as villainous as they come -he even uses his own daughter, Betty (Violet Mersereau), to attract suckers to his table.

Still from 'Thunderclap', 1921

However, one of the workers there, Tommy (Paul Willis), is an honest young chap who really loves Betty. He also has a horse, Thunderclap, who he plans to enter in a race. Jamieson plots to bring about the horse's demise. It doesn't take much imagination to figure out that the horse escapes harm and wins its race. In addition, Tommy saves Betty from a gang of Chinamen who, for some nefarious reason or another, have kidnapped her. Jamieson ends as villains in melodramas often do -- he's killed, shot in the back. And the incredible plot twists aren't done yet -- Jamieson's wife (Mary Carr), who has been confined to a wheelchair for most of the film, is shocked into recovery by his death.' ~ Janiss Garza, Rovi

Photo courtesy of Geoff North

The Daffodil was a very sucessful cinema and it went on to host the first meeting of the Cheltenham Film Society in 1945. However attendance fell away in the 1950s, with the rise in popularity of television, and it finally closed on 7th September 1963. Continuing as a place of public entertainment, the building almost immediately reopened as a bingo hall. In 1977 this in turn closed and this became an antique furniture store called Cameron Antiques, until 1989, after which the property was empty for a while.

In 1996 Cheltenham restaurateur Mark Stephens purchased and restored the building, retaining many fine Art Deco features. It reopened as The Daffodil restaurant on 14th February 1998 and was very successful, hosting such events as the Cheltenham Jazz festival. However the restaurant closed in August 2022 and the building continues as an events venue.

Researcher: Stuart Manton (December 2023)

See also the Local Memories page for this property.