Trisha Shetty (Editor)

Keighley Picture House

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Opened
  
1913

Phone
  
+44 1535 602561

Keighley Picture House

Address
  
132 North St, Keighley BD21 2BN, UK

Similar
  
Cliffe Castle Museum, East Riddlesden Hall, Brontë Waterfall, Oakwood Hall, St Patrick's Church - Bradford

Profiles

Keighley Picture House is a cinema located in Keighley, West Yorkshire, England.

It opened in 1913 as a receiving house theatre which also showed films with a large auditorium containing stalls and balcony seating. In the years to come it was used for live shows and pop concerts as well as regular film screenings. Sometime after the Second World War ended the Balcony was extended making the total number of seats close to 1000, the second biggest auditorium in Keighley after the Hipperdrome/Queens Theatre. In or around 1955 the independent locally owned cinema was purchased by Essoldo cinemas and folded into their chain, losing its "Picture House" moniker in the process and becoming "Keighley Essoldo".

In or around 1974 the Essoldo chain was absorbed by Classic Cinemas making Classic the biggest cinema chain in Europe at that time. Classic were responsible for closing and gutting what remained of the venues theatre and converting the balcony into a second screen and projection room for the main screen which is how it remains today.

In or around the late 1970s/ early 80's Classic went bankrupt and the cinema was acquired from creditors by Bradford Met Council who leased it to a small local firm or co-operative venture. This group restored the cinema to its former moniker "The Picture House". They in turn went out of business in 1991 and the cinema was closed but was eventually leased from owners Bradford Met Council by the Northern Morris company and re-opened in 1996. Northern Morris Associated Cinemas currently own and operate 6 cinemas in the North of England including The Cottage Road Cinema in Headingley, Leeds. The Rex at Elland, The Plaza at Skipton, The Roxy Ulverston and The Royalty Bowness-on-Windermere.

Currently there is a main downstairs auditorium seating about 300 and a smaller upstairs auditorium that seats about 90.

References

Keighley Picture House Wikipedia