They existed around city centres as well. A form of "passing the time" now gone, with people playing games on their iPhones instead. For those unfamiliar with them, a small cinema open all day which showed a continuous sequence (an hour or two) of short entertainments, cartoons, short features, and "news", which was more of a magazine style, although in earlier times like in WW2 they were a significant outlet for more important news on what was happening, and with no television the only means of showing moving pictures to the public. Major cinema chains like Rank had their own journalists and editors, who would put the news stories together, and a rapid distribution system (I believe they used to use the newspaper trains overnight) to rush that day's production of film reels around the country. Mainstream cinemas also used to put elements of the material out in between major films.
The BR Modernisation Plan works of the 1950s-60s were a regular subject for the short features, doubtless plugged by the BR PR department, many of which are now on YouTube. Look for Rank "Look at Life" (the series name) there and you can find things like the first 25Kv electrification. Here's a Terribly Decent chap reading the script
People paid the admission and went in and out as they liked. There was a soft-illuminated clock to one side of the screen. As it was dark inside, a staff member with a torch was meant to identify an empty seat and point the way with their light.
