Christie Connections - Snowcrete

Introduction

I know, I know! I have yet to give you the final two parts of Shelthorpe House, and we still have loads of chapters of Goadby’s History of Loughborough to get through, but these posts aren’t quite ready yet, so instead I am going to share with you some, what I am calling “Christie Connections”.

To explain … Last year, I set myself the challenge of reading all the Agatha Christie novels, 80 of which had been sitting on my bookcases since 1977, many remaining unread! I’m pleased to say, I finally managed to finish that challenge mid-February this year (2025), and was wondering what to do with all those bookmarks I’d put in amongst the pages where I was reminded of Loughborough!

Christie Connections with Loughborough

Some of those connections are absolutely direct mentions of something specific to Loughborough (I won’t share any examples – let them surprise you later!); some are mentions of, for example, people who happen to have the same name as some of the people of Loughborough whom I have either researched or meant to research; and some take us on a circular journey to cement the connections.

"Sleeping Murder"

Today’s post is prompted by something I read in Sleeping Murder, on p384. The book was published in 1976, although is set during the Second World War, and features Miss Marple.

A detailed synopsis is available elsewhere, but in short, Gwenda Halliday had recently married Giles Reed, and the two were setting up home together in England. Gwenda’s stepmother, Helen Kennedy-Halliday had gone missing and in trying to trace her, Gwenda and Giles have occasion to visit Mr Jackie Afflick, the proprietor of Daffodil Coaches. His office – and presumably the place where he lived – was described as follows:

“The house was newly built. It was of Snowcrete, heavily curved, with a big expanse of window. They [Gwenda and Giles] had been shown in through an opulent hall to a study, half of which was taken up by a big chromium-plated desk.”

Snowcrete is a white Portland cement which is used for rendering and for mortar, which is apparently durable and attractive.

The Strand Cinema, Belfast

In December 1935, the Belfast News-letter reported on the opening of a new cinema for Belfast. The Strand Cinema, under the Union Cinema Co., was apparently one of the most notable new suburban theatres to be put up in Belfast, and its architect, Mr J. McBride, had also designed several other cinemas. The building was on a triangular corner site, a flatiron shape, with windows running around the corner on the first and second floors. While the external walls made use of rustic brick, the side walls had large panels finished in snowcrete.

Typical of a 1930s cinema, the floor of the foyer was tiled in bold-coloured terrazzo – grey, red, black, and aluminium – and the walls were covered with waterproof plastic paint and sprayed with metallic paint, making speckles. Everything within was streamlined and horizontal, and every corner was rounded. The walls of the auditorium had three rows of portholes, which housed lights, being very suggestive of the popular ocean liner. The cinema had the latest type of seating – apparently the last word in comfort – amounting to 900 seats in the stalls, and 270 in the balcony.

The Loughborough Connection

But what has this to do with Loughborough?

Well …

- the builders were Sloan Bros. - of Belfast

- the doors were made - in Belfast

- the agents for the thermal insulating board that was used were based - in Belfast

- the heating was by Messrs Johnson & Co. - of Belfast

- the bricks came from the Pilot Supply Co. - of Belfast

- the glazing contractors were Messrs W.F. Clokey - of Belfast

- decorative work was carried out by Messrs Molto & Egan – of London!

And the cladding tiles??

Well, the agent was Mr Harry Peyton of Belfast, who arranged for the glazed faience tiles which were used in the front elevation to come from Hathernware! Apparently, “Faience is a very suitable material for cinemas and theatres, since a good quality material preserves its clean and bright appearance almost indefinitely. Hathernware faience is of the highest grade, and it has been extensively used in Northern Ireland.”

This cinema was opened almost a year before Loughborough’s own Odeon, on Baxter Gate, which was also clad in Hathernware, and is now a Grade II listed building. 

I also found references to a ship called Snowcrete: one source suggests it was built in 1921 as the Warren Grove, and owned in 1936-7 by Everards (an obtuse Loughborough/Leicestershire connection, as the name of a building company was Ellis & Everard, and of course, the Everards Brewery is local to Leicestershire, with one of the family renting Nanpantan Hall for a short time). I certainly came across a newspaper article from 1930 which mentioned a ship called Snowcrete, but another source suggests that Snowcrete was built in 1949, and owned by Blue Circle Shipping.

Although I found references to the use of Snowcrete in houses in Stoneygate (Leicester), in Birstall, and in Oadby, I couldn’t find anything in Loughborough. If you know of any, I'd love to hear from you!

I’m looking forward to sharing some more Christie Connections with you in the coming months!

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Posted by lynneaboutloughborough

With apologies for typos which are all mine!

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Dyer, Lynne (2025). Christie Connections – Snowcrete. Available from: https://lynneaboutloughborough.blogspot.com/2025/03/christie-connections-snowcrete.html [Accessed 9 March 2025]

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