Michael Palin opens the new Electric Picture Palace in Blackmill Road, Southwold.
The £130,000 project, a conversion of an old stables and cartshed, was designed by local architect John Bennett and completed in 18 months by local builders Duncan and Son, with interior and exterior decorations by volunteers and members of the Southwold Film Society. The wine-coloured moire silk to the auditorium walls (used as a background on this website) was lovingly applied by Jane Bennett who also marbled the front entrance pilasters.
The Southwold Cinema, which developed from the old EPP in York Road nearby, closed in 1964 so the town had been without a cinema for 38 years. All agreed it was good to have one back. Michael Palin wished us luck and wrote that he hoped “the organ would continue to rise”.