Cinema Treasures – Modern Mooch

Vicarage Road Sheffield S9 3RH

Architects: William Carter Fenton

The Adelphi Picture Theatre is located in the Attercliffe district in the east of Sheffield. It opened on 18th October 1920 with Irving Cummings in Auction of Souls. The red brick building has buff and blue coloured terracotta enrichments on the façade, especially on the small turret dome over the entrance, which also has stained glass windows.

Seating in the auditorium was provided in stalls and circle, and the projection box was located in the rear stalls, underneath the circle. The cinema was in reverse, and patrons entered the auditorium from behind the screen. The decoration includes pilasters, a segment-arched panelled ceiling and a moulded proscenium arch with a central crest which is flanked by torches. The circle has a lattice-work plaster front.

Single photo enhanced with easyHDR 3.15.2: Adelphi 1920 10 18.jpg

It underwent some restoration in 1936 and a re-decoration in August 1939. It received some bomb damage during the second week of the blitz and was closed for around a month. It received further renovation in August 1946. It remained an independently operated cinema throughout its cinematic life and was usually tied in with the Coliseum Cinema on Spital Hill.

The Adelphi Picture Theatre closed on 28th October 1967 with Robert Vaughn in The Karate Killers and Glenn Ford in The Rounders. It became a bingo club, last operated by the independent Walkers Bingo. After this closed in around 1995 it became a nightclub and since March 2000 was converted into a music teaching centre. This closed in 2006, and the building stood unused, and by 2013, it was in use as a storage facility. It was announced in November 2022 that the city council were seeking to purchase the building to renovate and convert it into a community centre.

Since early 1996, the Adelphi Picture Theatre was designated a Grade II Listed building by Historic England.

Cinema Treasures

Just the other day I came across an old ticket stub issued by The Savoy in Heaton Moor.

They used a Automaticket machine, but with dead stock tickets.

Evolving from being gear and lever driven, to powered by electric motors, these ticketing machines served as somewhat of an industry standard for over eighty years.

While there are still a few of these machines in use, the theatre industry generally abandoned such ticketing systems, in favor of computerized ticketing, by the late 1980’s.

Cinelog

The striking art deco – sic. building later hosted Sheffield’s famous Gatecrasher club nights, among other events, and was also used as a music teaching centre.

It sat empty from 2006 until 2013 and has since been used only for storage.

Sheffielder

My dad was a regular at The Adelphi during the war years. He remembers that the showings were always like a theatre with two matinees during the week and two evening showings everyday unlike the continuous showing at other cinemas and a children’s matinees on a Saturday.

He and his friends had six seats booked on Q row for every Monday and Saturday night as more often than not the films ran for three nights Mon, Tues and Wed, then a new picture Thurs, Fri, and Sat – no show on a Sunday. Occasionally a good film, now known as a blockbuster, would run for longer; if this was the case they just put up with seeing it twice.

The cost of the film was 4d or 6d upstairs, the cinemas in town were dearer.

Called up in February 1944 he did not return to Attercliffe until his first leave from the army a week before VE day in 1945. He returned from Germany, said hello to his Mum and Dad, dropped off his kit bag then caught the tram the three stops to the Adelphi where he knew his friends would be. The smartly dressed commisioner, in blue with plenty of gold braid, standing outside immediately recognised him even in army uniform. He showed him in telling him the lads were all there. He crouched in the aisle next to his friends and caused quite a commotion once he was spotted – he has no memory of the film showing but great memories of the reunion to this day.

Sheffield History

It was bought by Sheffield City Council earlier this year, as part of the Attercliffe Levelling Up project, and has now gone on the market as the council seeks someone to revive the Grade II-listed building as a vibrant cultural hub.

Councillor Ben Miskell, chair of the council’s Transport, Regeneration and Climate Policy Committee, said:

We’re thrilled to announce the Adelphi Cinema building in Attercliffe is now on the market and we’re eager to hear from interested parties. The building forms one part of our ambitious plans for the area which will all come together to breathe new life into the community.

These were taken by me in September 2023.

The Adelphi has a Burton’s for company.

Photo: David Edge April 2024

44 Holmeside Sunderland SR1 3JE

Architects: Frederick Evans, Edwin Sheridan Gray

Black’s Regal Theatre was built on the site of the Olympia Exhibition Hall and Pleasuredrome 1897-1910 and it was built for the northern independent Black’s circuit. It opened on 28th March 1932 with Jessie Matthews in Out of the Blue.

The theatre was equipped with a Compton three manual, nine ranks theatre organ which had an Art Deco style console on a lift.

This was opened by organist J Arnold Eagle. The policy of the theatre for many years was pictures and variety and it had a fifty seven feet wide proscenium, the stage was forty feet deep and there were ten dressing rooms. Other facilities included a cafe and roller rink.

Regal/Odeon, Holmeside, Sunderland, Co. Durham

In 1955 the Black’s circuit was taken over by the Rank Organisation and the Regal was re-named Odeon from 28th November 1955. It was divided into a three screen cinema in 1975 with 1,200 seats in the former circle and two 150 seat screens in the rear stalls.

On 28th March 1982 a special 50th Anniversary concert was given by Phil Kelsall on the Compton organ. Three months later, on 26th June 1982 the Odeon was closed with One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, Star Wars & The Empire Strikes Back, Mary Millington’s True Blue Confessions.

The building was boarded up and abandonded for a long period of time.

However it was to re-open as a Top Rank Bingo Club and remains in use today as a Mecca Bingo Club. The sub-division of the auditorium has been removed. In July 2009, it was announced that the building and the entire block had been the subject of a compulsory purchase order.

Cinema Treasures

I happened by the other day – attracted by the distinctive Deco tower.

And the building’s amazing mass.

I walked around the corner to find the side entrance – as the original lobby is no longer in use.

I was ever so fortunate to happen upon a convivial cleaner, who kindly invited me inside the auditorium.

Much of the interior detail is intact though the balcony was no longer in use.

On exiting, I noticed the ghost of the Regal.

Though the exterior is a pale shadow of its former self, the building is still intact and in use.

A close neighbour is the what was the Ritz latterly ABC Cinema.

Architects: William Riddell Glen

Opened on 1st March 1937 with Fred Astaire & Ginger Rogers in Swing Time, the Ritz Cinema was built by the Union Cinemas chain. They were soon taken over by Associated British Cinemas – ABC. It was lavishly fitted with deep pile carpets and chandeliers.

In 1961 it was re-named ABC. It was converted into a two screen cinema from July/August 1974 when the former circle became a 534 seat screen and the front stalls a second screen seating 212. The rear stalls area was converted into a Painted Wagon pub. Sadly the conversion destroyed much of the original interior of the auditorium. It was later taken over by the Cannon Cinemas group, but later went back to the ABC name.