History of Kilburn and West Hampstead

The Biograph The Biograph was part of a chain of nine cinemas run by American-born George Washington Grant. It opened in May 1910 at No.236 Kilburn High Road which was renumbered as today’s No.248 in 1923. This renumbering has confused cinema historians who show photos of today’s number 236 which was Speedy Noodle and is now Duck, Duck, Goose. Site of Biograph Cinema (Jean Smith, 1979) The cinema building ran behind the narrow shop front, almost as far back as the Grange Park. The Biograph had a short life and closed in 1917, unable to compete with the much larger Grange cinema which opened nearby. The building became a billiard hall in the mid-1920s, run by W. Jelks, a well-known London maker of billiard tables and balls. Renumbering and separation of the old cinema from its High Road entrance, meant the retail premises on the main road became No.248 and the cinema building behind, No.246a. Musicians Steve Flood and Stuart Colman opened Master Rock Studios a...