The Daffodil
18-20 Suffolk Parade
On 11th January 2024 Mandy Hammond wrote the following memories of her late father, Thomas Hammond, manager of The Daffodil from the 1940s-1970s.
My Dad took over in the late 1940's working for the Tenham Cinema Company, which was based in Wales and owned by Billy Davies. They had cinemas in Wales. Dad ran both The Daffodil and The Palace cinemas. After The Palace closed it became Macfisheries.
He continued to run the Daffodil as a Bingo hall until it closed down. No real changes were made to The Daffodil when it became a bingo, no seats were removed and the gas wall lamps were still lit every night, also the projectors and film stills etc remained in the projection box. Tenham Cinema Co. turned all their cinemas into bingo halls or sold them. The ticket box and confectionery box remained and were used to sell the bingo books.
My Dad was from Swansea and when he came out of The Welsh guards after the second world war he went to work for Tenham Cinema Co. running a cinema in Barry. Then he moved to Cheltenham to run the Palace and The Daffodil. He also had a house clearance shop at 27 Suffolk Parade with the neighbouring premises being Fred Hulin the cobbler and the art material shop, from about 1969 until 1978/79.
He had a few famous faces visit The Daffodil over the years, including a survivor from the Titanic crew who talked to customers when they showed the film “A Night to Remember", Frankie Howerd, Sid James and Anthony Newley. My Mum worked alongside my Dad at both the palace and The Daffodil. I am quite happy for you to use my photos. I hope this information is of some interest to you.
My Dad took over in the late 1940's working for the Tenham Cinema Company, which was based in Wales and owned by Billy Davies. They had cinemas in Wales. Dad ran both The Daffodil and The Palace cinemas. After The Palace closed it became Macfisheries.
He continued to run the Daffodil as a Bingo hall until it closed down. No real changes were made to The Daffodil when it became a bingo, no seats were removed and the gas wall lamps were still lit every night, also the projectors and film stills etc remained in the projection box. Tenham Cinema Co. turned all their cinemas into bingo halls or sold them. The ticket box and confectionery box remained and were used to sell the bingo books.
My Dad was from Swansea and when he came out of The Welsh guards after the second world war he went to work for Tenham Cinema Co. running a cinema in Barry. Then he moved to Cheltenham to run the Palace and The Daffodil. He also had a house clearance shop at 27 Suffolk Parade with the neighbouring premises being Fred Hulin the cobbler and the art material shop, from about 1969 until 1978/79.
He had a few famous faces visit The Daffodil over the years, including a survivor from the Titanic crew who talked to customers when they showed the film “A Night to Remember", Frankie Howerd, Sid James and Anthony Newley. My Mum worked alongside my Dad at both the palace and The Daffodil. I am quite happy for you to use my photos. I hope this information is of some interest to you.