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View Full Version : Archived: Shipley Glenroyal Cinema-April 2009



ERNIE99_UK
27-04-2009, 03:08 PM
Information from http://www.kingsdr.demon.co.uk/cinemas/shipley

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The Shipley Picture House Company (later to become Glenroyal Cinema Company) built this showpiece super-cinema, the 1200-seater Glenroyal in a prime position in Briggate and only a few yards away from the old and now defunct Shipley Picture House. It was the idea of Shack Hyde as this was to become the flagship of his A.S Hyde Circuit and built at a cost of 25,000 GBP with over seventy percent of the work done by local labour and materials supplied by local tradesmen. Click here for a mini-biography of Shack Hyde and an overview of his Companies.

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Photograph shows Clifford Cawthorne laying the Foundation Stone.
At the back: second left is Shack Hyde; third left Harry Chippindale; sixth left Mrs Edith Hyde.
Extreme right John Woodhead (director); fourth from right at back Ernest Dawson (architect).

The building was designed by the Manchester architect Ernest Dawson, LRIBA, FSI, AMSA, originally from nearby Windhill who also designed and owned the Western Cinema in Park Road, Bradford.
The result was a building of singularly beautiful design yet eminently practical and it still stands in very good condition today. The front elevation is of Rustic Brick and Cream Terra Cotta faience tiling which was illuminated with floodlights. The building bricks and sanitary pipes were made by Wrose Hill Fireclay Co Ltd a mile away in Carr Lane, Windhill with plumbing by Harry Firth of Shipley. The front facade 130 feet long with a wrought iron and glass canopy the full length. This massive frontage also housed five self contained small shop units plus a sweets/tobacco shop to the right of the cinema entrance with access both outside from Briggate and from within the cinema foyer.

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The second floor above the balcony accommodated the spacious projection room, rewind room and stores - quite different to the small cramped conditions of some of the older cinemas.

Art Deco Interior
The entrance hall had gold plastic walls and a Mother-of-Pearl dome ceiling; magnificent Spanish mahogany doors which gave a hint of the beauty to follow within. A "complete shop" managed by a Mrs W. Harrison of Briggate provided sweets/chocolates and tobacco. The paybox had the latest automatic ticket issuing machine.

The wide central stairway lead directly to the balcony foyer magnificently carpeted with thick Wilton carpet specially woven by Firth's of Brighouse for the Glenroyal and having been supplied and fitted by Alfred Linley & Sons of Windhill. For three decades patrons will have been puzzled by the illuminated red and black Buddha statue on the staircase. I can now reveal the Buddha was bought at an auction by Shack Hyde who found it attractive and adopted it as a mascot. It seems that more Buddhas appeared at other cinemas in his expanding circuit - some were on public display and others were in offices.

From the Balcony (or Circle if you prefer) which seated 350 one realised the immensity and beauty of the building and a decorative scheme of green, and gold to "give an impression of space and life which will enable the mind of the patron to relax into a world of pleasurable imagination". Matched by innovative specially designed lighting it would be just too simple to call it art deco. The joint use of open and concealed lighting added considerably to the richness of the decorations. Over four miles of cable and tubing had been used in the lighting installation by Gordon Binns of Shipley. The balcony was of reinforced concrete and steel capable of withstanding 18 tons dead weight placed on its weakest point.

The luxury seats upholstered in Firth's moquette were from Trinity Chair Works of Scarborough. A number of settees to hold two patrons had been installed and "should prove a popular innovation, the additional comfort of these being very marked".

The 30-feet wide proscenium stage accommodating the screen of the (then) latest 4:3 aspect ratio (Academy format) and speakers and was fronted by curtains (drapery) with the latest W.J Furse motorised control and multicoloured lighting by Falk Stadelmann & Co Ltd. A special sound absorbing ceiling was installed and claimed to be the finest in the country which created considerable interest in architectural circles having been designed by the architects and erected by local joiners J. Hobson & Sons of Windhill. The stalls floor has a gradient (rake) of 1 in 12 allowing easy and perfect vision from all parts.

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An unusual feature of the auditorium were five large windows facing south and overlooking Briggate each with internal geared shutters which could be opened to allow "the entire building to be flooded with sunlight when the opportunity occurs". This along with the low-pressure hot water type air heating system and powerful extraction fans ensured "the atmosphere of the Glenroyal will always be clean and healthy".
Heating and ventilating systems were installed by Harry Firth and claimed that . . .

"The foul air of the building is drawn through six ducts, and the incoming air is drawn in and warmed before passing into the general atmosphere".

Projection Room
As this was 1932 and "talkies" were now well established, the Glenroyal was fitted with the American designed Western Electric Sound System The decision to install this system followed a lengthy investigation in which the Directors visited over sixty cinemas to hear various makes of talkie apparatus under working conditions before making their final commitment.

Western Electric 'wide range' soundboxes were fitted to the latest Kalee (from A. Kershaw & Sons of Leeds) rear shutter projectors fitted with high intensity arcs to ensure a brilliantly illuminated picture. The operating box was, in fact, a suite of rooms for rewind, rectifiers etc. at the rear of the auditorium and high above the balcony and was completely isolated from the rest of the building by a 14-inch thick wall and a separate roof. As the nitrate film material in those days was highly flammable there was always the risk of fire but the Glenroyal design ensured no danger of spreading to the main auditorium.
This was indeed the last word in cinema design and one of which Shipley could be proud.

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The End of Cinema
The Glenroyal closed as a cinema on Saturday 8th December 1962 with the final films:

"The Loudest Whisper" - USA 1961 B/W 107 mins.
Starring Audrey Hepburn, Shirley Maclaine and James Garner.
and
"Gun Street" - USA 1961 B/W 67 mins.
Starring James Brown, Jean Willes and John Clarke.


The Hammond Lafleur organ was removed and transferred to the nearby Woodend Working Men's Club to be played by the same lady organist Nellie Merrall (known locally as "our Nellie" from Windhill) who had entertained cinemagoers over the years..

Bingo

The building was now owned by Eckhart's Star Cinemas of Leeds who converted it into the Glen Casino, with manager Vincent Gallagher, for bingo together with "Fast, Exciting, Thrilling legalite Roulette direct from the Continent" opening on Thursday 8th January 1963. Star retained the Glen part of the name though that was later changed to EMI Bingo and Social Club in 1974 and lasted until the premises closed in 1982. A suspended ceiling was put in at front circle level right across to the stage area.

A new owner re-opened the premises this time as Walkers Bingo and in 1990 the freehold building was bought by King's Leisure and it's still in use today as King's Bingo and Social Club. I'm assured by the proprietor that the upstairs Circle area is left untouched and just as it was when the cinema closed - even the seating is still there making it a time capsule of that 1930's art-deco design of cinema. The current owner tells me there is a lady ghost frequently seen and felt (rush of cold air) hurrying towards the front where the screen used to be. Was this ghost a relic transferred from the old Queen's Palace Theatre (Shipley Picture House) building along with other fittings, I wonder? ---It closed 2005.

Photos:

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Moodster020
27-04-2009, 07:28 PM
Nice one!

Had a little looksie at this few weeks back & it was sealed tighter than a Duck's Arse!

Thought that the current owner was a "Luxury flat" developer & was on about tearing it down:
http://www.thetelegraphandargus.co.uk/news/1760764.7m_plan_for_old_cinema_site/

ERNIE99_UK
28-04-2009, 11:27 AM
Good one Ernie, it's a top place and you've got some great pictures there. :thumb Did you go back during the day?

Yep, it was a daytime visit this time:thumb

Goldie87
28-04-2009, 07:51 PM
Cool stuff :thumb


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This old litter is interesting, brought back memories of some of the abandoned cinemas that were around here years ago. Loads of stuff like that was found where the bingo conversion hadn't messed it up.