There’s nothing quite like a night at ‘the flicks’ – and you won’t find a better or more charming spot than Cross Hands Cinema in Carmarthenshire
Locals would flock here to be entertained, with the upkeep of the hall funded by miners all chipping in 1p from their weekly pay(Image: Media Wales)
More than 100 years ago a community would gather at this very spot, to talk, to engage, to enjoy themselves. Public halls were once the lifeblood of every town and village in Wales, and in one small corner of Carmarthenshire that was no different.
Constructed in 1904, Cross Hands Public Hall was rebuilt by the Miners’ Welfare Institute almost 100 years ago – in 1932 – to become the impressive and charming structure we see today. Inside it boasts a glorious auditorium, a balcony, and a large stage, and as you look around you’re surrounded by Art Deco designs, beautifully dimmed lights, and a sense of what family entertainment was like decades and decades ago.
Welsh actor Hugh Griffith, who won an Oscar for his performance in Ben-Hur, performed here, as did iconic Welsh duo Ronnie and Ryan. Stay informed on Carms news by signing up to our newsletter here.
Locals would flock here to be entertained, with the upkeep of the hall funded by miners all chipping in 1p from their weekly pay packet. Then, by the mid 1980s, the coal industry was in a terminal decline, decimating communities and livelihoods across Wales and beyond.
All of a sudden families didn’t have the means for nights out. Life became harder, and with television becoming more and more popular the need to be entertained as one diminished. With that, this wondrous hub was shut, bringing down the curtain on generations of memories.
But communities in Wales don’t tend to give up that easily, and thanks to locals including then Mayor Bryn Davies a grant was secured and the hall was able to reopen in all its glory one fine evening in April 1996.
Today, the public hall is known as Cross Hands Cinema, an independent gem for film buffs, run by volunteers.
The venue has just had a run of Indiana Jones: Raiders of the Lost Ark, hosted a screening of Citizen Kane, and is now screening a new release called The End of Oak Street starring Ewan McGregor and Anne Hathaway.
With a capacity of just over 300, the hall hosts live events including choir performances and comedy nights, is used by church groups, and organises special screenings such as a horror double-bill in the run up to Halloween.
It even puts on free films on special occasions, with ‘90s classic The Addams Family lined up for this coming half-term school holiday. For more information about what films are on and when, click here.
“I’ve been involved with the place for about four years now,” says one of the cinema’s managers, Dave Jenkins, as he looks out over rows of the auditorium’s wonderful red seats.
“I saw an advert on Facebook saying the cinema needed some help so I ended up being the Tuesday night projectionist. I didn’t know there was a cinema in Cross Hands, and as someone who loves films and loves going to the cinema, that disappointed me.
“I walked in and ‘wow’. It’s a gorgeous old cinema. If I’d known about it earlier I’d have been here all the time.”
Co-manager Kelly Sewata had a similar reaction when she first walked into the grand old hall. “I’d never been here, but I dropped my daughter off a few years ago when she was volunteering as part of a Duke of Edinburgh’s Award,” she says.
“When I walked in here for the first time it reminded me of going to the cinema for the first time as a child. I just fell in love with the place. Anyway, I got chatting to some of the people here and got more and more involved from there.
“Not enough people actually know that there is a cinema in Cross Hands.”
Dave agrees.
“I was disappointed with myself that I didn’t know, and that’s part of the challenge now, to make sure that people do know,” he says. “It feels like it’s 1984, and I love it, the whole retro feel. There are certain places where you just want to watch films and this is one of them.
“We’re always looking forward; we want the modern blockbusters of course but we also love showing the classics, where people can come and watch something and feel that magic they felt when they first saw it years ago.”
About 30 volunteers work to keep this old place going, ranging in ages between teenagers and people in their late 70s. Tickets typically cost between £5.50 and £6.50 to see a film here, for both children and adults, depending on if you’re sat in the stalls or up in the balcony.
It’s an affordable evening of entertainment, but making ends meet is not always easy when big cinema chains in neighbouring Llanelli and Carmarthen tend to hoover up younger audiences when the latest Spider-Man movie weaves its web. But Cross Hands Cinema wants to remind people that they can also get their blockbuster-fix right here, without heading to a nearby town and paying multiplex prices.
“We want to appeal to the younger generation,” says Kelly. “Older generations already support us but we need to pique the interest of children of secondary school age.”
Beyond the upper circle upstairs in this grand building you’ll find the projection booth, a throwback to the golden age of cinema with reels here and DVDs there. Somehow, there’s nothing quite as nostalgic as the lights and sounds in a projection booth. This is real cinema.
But not everything lasts forever, and if Cross Hands Cinema is going to continue in the long-term, it needs a new projector. The problem is, new technology of that kind costs tens of thousands of pounds.
“The projector we have is coming towards the end of its lifetime,” says Dave. “The company that made it no longer exists so we can’t get any spare parts. Because of that we’re trying to raise money to buy a new projector and secure the cinema’s future.
“People have already been very generous, and we hope that that continued generosity can help us thrive for years to come.”
In this day and age of streaming services, ipads, TikTok and everything else that gives us everything we need (or don’t) at the touch of a button, is there still an appetite for cinema in 2026? Do people want to put their phones down and head for the box office?
The answer in Cross Hands is empathic.
“Spider-Man: Brand New Day opened this summer and has taken in almost £2.5bn at the box office, worldwide,” explains Dave.
“That shows that, post Covid, people really are going back out – they love the experience of going out to see a film, and not just the film itself but the experience of meeting with people and grabbing a box of popcorn.
“Seeing something as part of a crowd is just different, and we want a room full of people laughing together at a comedy or rows of people peering through their fingers at a horror film. The future of cinema is certainly very bright and we want to be a big part of that.”
