From the early days of cinema entertainment, long before the adventures of Indiana Jones and company were brought to the silver cinema screen, audiences were being entertained by cinema serials originally aimed at adult audiences. Among the most famous were The Perils Of Pauline, Flash Gordon, Zorro's Fighting Legion, Superman, Jungle Girl and, my favourite, The Adventures Of Captain Marvel.

From about 8.45am every Saturday morning in the 1950s children from all around the Ebbw Vale area would hurry to their nearest bus stop to await the cinema buses which transported them to the Plaza cinema, now the site of the road intersection and crossing near Harrisons' hardware store. I, and my friends, used to wait for Offie Edmunds' bus at either Pen-y-Cae Corner or Pillar Box bus stops in Emlyn Avenue.

Sometimes it was impossible to get on Edmunds' bus - then one either caught the more expensive Red & White, or failing that we would run down Glanffrwd Avenue/Terrace, up the tip past WH Ferguson garage, up Libanus Road to the Plaza Cinema in time for the 10am start - finish 12 midday. If you caught Offies bus the driver would always stop right outside the cinema - then you had plenty of time to pay your admission, buy your sweets, settle in to await the start of the show.

The Plaza cinema was managed by Mr Jack Holden - a former dancer with a theatrical touring company, originally from Glasgow, who settled in Ebbw Vale. The Usher - who tried to keep us in order was Mr George Hughes - nicknamed the "Witch Doctor" - he had a long pole which he used to 'cool down' some of the more rowdier/effervescent patrons. If you didn't listen and behave yourself you were banned and it was a few weeks before you were allowed in again. On the whole the behavior was pretty good as no one wanted to miss any episodes of the main attraction - the weekly serial.

The projectionist at these matinees was Mr William (Billy) Stone - Chief Projectionist, Ebbw Vale Cinemas - who began working in the trade in the White House Cinema, Bethcar Street, in the days of the silent pictures - assisted by his staff of 2nd/3rd projectionists and rewind boy/trainee projectionist.

Typical Children's Matinee Programme

• Animated Cartoons (16 minutes)
• Charlie Chaplin Short (10 minutes)
• Western Or Comedy Feature (1hr 10 mins)
  (Roy Rogers, Old Mother Riley, Three Stooges etc)
• Trailers (if suitable) (5 minutes)
• Cinema Serial (Individual Chapters - 18 minutes)

After we had hissed, and cheered our way through an exciting episode of the serial the words "To Be Continued Next Week" then appeared on the screen announcing the end of another thrilling chapter/episode.

There would then be a mass exodus from the cinema. I always used to wave at Uncle Billy (Chief Projectionist) on the way out as he peered through the projection box observation porthole - as well as Captain Marvel, the late William Stone was also a person I always regarded highly as he had the power to bring to life the heroes and heroines who entertained and thrilled us on the Saturday Mornings - as well as in the evenings.

In the case of Captain Marvel we would generally button our mackintoshes around our necks as we exited through the middle double doors of the Plaza. These mackintoshes would become our own Captain Marvel capes and we either flew home or up the main street of town.

All week you would wonder how the hero/heroine of the cinema serial you were watching was going to get out of the particular predicament he/she had managed to get into at the end of each episode. If you had not managed to get along to see a particular episode of a serial you had to rely on your friends updating you on events. These cinema serials fuelled our imagination and afforded us plenty of room for role play.

I remember one incident when one of the boys - who attended a screening of The Adventures Of Captain Marvel tried to make fantasy reality and jumped out of his bedroom window - with a tablecloth fixed around his neck as a cape - and attempted to fly like his hero on the silver screen. Fortunately, he did not sustain any serious injuries.

These days are now, unfortunately, consigned to the history of Ebbw Vale and the cinema in general. The cinema serials I and my peer group enjoyed did however inspire the Indiana Jones series of motion pictures which managed to conjure up fond memories of our Saturday morning children's matinees in the Plaza.

Roy Nancarrow - Ebbw Vale - February 2008