Old, and Some New, Photographs of Woodbridge & Melton
On the right hand side of the entrance to the station there was a sizable building owned by A. J. Garnham. He was a jobmaster providing a range of transport. Below this business and the railway platform there was a large storage and display area for Alfred Barnes' ironmongeries business.
This advertising poster for Alfred Barnes gives a better understanding of the size of his business.
The Great War had been in progress for only a few months when the Woodbridge Electric Theatre opened on Saturday 25th September 1915. Behind the venture was Mr David Ager, a businessman who had brought the early cinema to to Colchester, and Mr Isaac Richardson of Woodbridge, the Manager. The theatre was built by Reeds of Aldeburgh and boasted an unusually large screen. It was twenty four feet by eighteen feet and provided a brilliant 'flickerless', picture. Like other Electric Theatres, Woodbridge produced its own power with two oil driven engines in a small room located where the Riverside Theatre Bar is today.
The view of Woodbridge Electric Theatre from station Road.
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