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Abbeydale Picture House Cinema


RichardB

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ABBEYDALE PICTURE HOUSE CINEMA
Abbeydale Road, Sheffield

http://www.abbeydalepicturehouse.com/

Extract :

When the Lord Mayor of Sheffield opened the Abbeydale Picture House to the public on the 20th December 1920 it was the largest and most luxurious cinema in Sheffield Its style and decoration reflected a new era of hope and prosperity for Britain following the end of the First World War. With a capacity of 1500 the Abbeydale boasted a lounge and café foyer upstairs, a Clavorchester orchestral organ in the auditorium and a billiard hall and ballroom downstairs in the basement. Outside the white faience tiles, domed tower and balustrade overlooked audiences as they queued under a stained glass canopy. Inside they were welcomed by a mosaic floor, ornate plasterwork, mahogany fittings, and most importantly, plush green velvet seats! The grand atmosphere meant the Abbeydale truly was a 'Picture Palace'.

Over the years the silent movies and cine-variety shows ended with the coming of the talkies. 25 years later wide screen cinema was introduced. Sadly as tastes and trends changed with the growth of television audiences at the Abbeydale declined. Finally 55 years after it opened the Abbeydale Picture House closed as a cinema in 1975. But the story of the Abbeydale Picture House doesn't end there. In 1989 the building was awarded a Grade 2 listing for its architectural and historical importance, and until 1991 it was A & F Drake's office furniture showroom and warehouse. Since then it has been home to Bar Abbey and the Abbey Snooker Club. In 2003 the Friends of Abbeydale Picture House was born, and it is here the next exciting chapter begins.....

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http://www.abbeydalepicturehouse.com/

Extract :

When the Lord Mayor of Sheffield opened the Abbeydale Picture House to the public on the 20th December 1920 it was the largest and most luxurious cinema in Sheffield Its style and decoration reflected a new era of hope and prosperity for Britain following the end of the First World War. With a capacity of 1500 the Abbeydale boasted a lounge and café foyer upstairs, a Clavorchester orchestral organ in the auditorium and a billiard hall and ballroom downstairs in the basement. Outside the white faience tiles, domed tower and balustrade overlooked audiences as they queued under a stained glass canopy. Inside they were welcomed by a mosaic floor, ornate plasterwork, mahogany fittings, and most importantly, plush green velvet seats! The grand atmosphere meant the Abbeydale truly was a 'Picture Palace'.

Over the years the silent movies and city-variety shows ended with the coming of the talkies. 25 years later wide screen cinema was introduced. Sadly as tastes and trends changed with the growth of television audiences at the Abbeydale declined. Finally 55 years after it opened the Abbeydale Picture House closed as a cinema in 1975. But the story of the Abbeydale Picture House doesn't end there. In 1989 the building was awarded a Grade 2 listing for its architectural and historical importance, and until 1991 it was A & F Drake's office furniture showroom and warehouse. Since then it has been home to Bar Abbey and the Abbey Snooker Club. In 2003 the Friends of Abbeydale Picture House was born, and it is here the next exciting chapter begins.....

From The Star 03.09.2008: Good times ahead?

http://www.thestar.co.uk/headlines/Silver-...dale.4450088.jp

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Began showing "talkies" on this day 10th March in 1930 (from Peter Harvey). Anyone know what that might have been ?

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Good Luck to them.

Yes indeed, it deserves to succeed.Happy to be a 'Friend Of The Abbeydale' myself and wish them every success.At least one of Sheffield's old cinemas is being preserved for the future.

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The Sheffield Cinema with a happy ending - now in the early stages of being reborn to entertain the people of Sheffield once again.

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Sunny Side Up starring Janet Gaynor and Charles Farrell.

(I was minus nine at the time ;-) )

This was a very early and very impressive talkie.

Firstly it was a musical, featuring, as its title suggests, the song "Sunny Side Up".

Secondly the use of "trick photography", 1930's style, without computers, must have been breathtaking, -

In another featured song called "If I had a talking picture of you" which is an obvious play on what the film is about (a talking picture) the singer holds a photograph of his girlfriend and as he sings to it "If I had a talking picture of you" the photograph comes to life on the paper and sings back to him.

Try doing that without computers, - the finished result looks better than that other 1930's classic King Kong in which Kong very amateurishly climbs the Empire State building (new in 1933)

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Guest lynnehud

t was at the bottom of my road. Spent many an afternoon there during the school holidays & spent a number of minutes under the seat during the wicked Witch of the West scenes in The Wizard of Oz.

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Guest DougDunn

I actually work with the Abbeydale Picture House Youth Theatre there now, and am proud to be part of such an endeavour. Many exciting plans are on the way - and the renovations are slowly beginning to happen!

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Guest Rustysphotography

Awesome shots mate and really cool HDR :D Was this an arranged visit ? if so could you point me in the direction of the person to contact as i would love to get some shots of this place as well .

Rusty

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Sold today by auction for £150,000 - www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk

Sounds like someone got a bargain there.

If you can buy a massive white stone theatre for as little as £150.000 then unwanted pubs which are up for sale like the Elm Tree at Manor Top, and unwanted working mens clubs like the Park & Arbourthorne, both of which have been up for sale for over a year with apparently no takers, can't actually be worth that much.

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Yesterday's regular car boot at the Picture house was held in the old auditorium (usually outside or in the corridor). I was there and took some pics. The highlight is the original advertisements still on the front, mostly of very local businesses.

 

 

ads.jpg

view.jpg

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My wife and I used to go to Ballroom dancing lessons in the ballroom under the cinema in the early 1970's. Nobody seems to have mentioned the ballroom in previous posts.

At my Grandfather's there was a piece of wood that I was told was an arm from one of the Abbeydale cinema seats. I was told that a relative of his from Cheltenham who was a woodworker had stopped with him whilst building the Abbeydale Cinema had left this piece of wood behind.

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