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History of the Walton and Weybridge Film
Society
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During the winter of 1963/64 a group of
local residents were stimulated into forming a film society in
the area, as a result of a WEA course on “The Art of the Film”.
There was a common interest in the cinema and also a wish to
offer the people of Walton and Weybridge an opportunity to
further their knowledge and enjoyment of films not readily
available at that time outside the West End of London.
The British Film Institute was contacted, and its advice and
film hire services utilised. The hall of St. Mary’s Church,
Walton, was hired and the first experimental season of three
films was shown in the Spring of 1964. In September of that year
a full-length season was mounted, and a total of 70 members
joined. From 1968/69 to 1992/93 meetings were held in the
Lecture Hall of Weybridge Library, and membership numbers
regularly exceeded 100.
From September 1993 we were able to secure the exclusive use of
the then Screen Two, Walton-on-Thames, which offered higher
standards of comfort, projection and sound equipment. Membership
was capped at 155, and there was a waiting list.
With the upgrade to their seating in July 2012 the capacity was
reduced by more than half, which made our continuation there
uneconomic. We were quickly able to transfer the new season to
the Performance Hall of Cleves School, Weybridge.
In the 2015/16 season, the society moved to the
performance hall at the Hepworth Playhouse, Walton-on-Thames.
For the 2019/20 season, the society is fortunate to be screening
the films at St. George’s College, Weybridge in their Amanda
Smith Theatre. |
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