Beach Pavilion Saltcoats

Harry Kemp staged concert parties for the 1922 summer season at the La Scala cinema in Saltcoats. This became the first of the renowned Kemp Summer Shows which ran at the seaside resorts on the Clyde coast. 

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Due to popularity, the Beach Pavilion, Saltcoats was built in the 1920s as part of the Lido Complex.  Amongst the many performers who featured in the shows at the Beach Pavilion was Dave Willis (1895-1973), a Scottish comedian and actor well-known for his music hall performances in 1930s and 1940s, Alec Finlay, Clark and Murray, G.B. Bowie’s Saltcoats Entertainers with Jimmy Benson, The Dryburgh Dancing Girls which was formed by Grace Dryburgh, wife of Comedian Lex McLean and the famous Buffalo Bill and his Wild West Show. 

During WW2, the Pavilion was used as an intelligence base.  The Beach Pavilion closed as a theatre and was then used for bowling.  The building was demolished in 1999.

Programmes from The Bob Bain Variety Collection.