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GALLERY- May 2003

Photos of the 1911 New Pavilion Theatre, Morley, West Yorkshire, taken circa 1995 by Ian Grey (who lives in Morley) for the Gould Theatre collection. (Click the images for larger view).

A 1950s shot of the Theatre on films can be found at the Historic Morley website, although the associated details are somewhat inaccurate. The photo does, however, show some of the nearby streetscape and is taken from Queen street, the main shopping street in Morley.

Despite having lived in Morley for 10 years, Ian has yet to gain access to the building, although he hasn't tried very hard yet! Whilst built as a theatre equipped with full flying facilities the building is somewhat unusual in that the stage roof does not have a normal "lantern" arrangement to it so further research is warranted. It is believed to be fan shaped internally with a balcony and has inevitably been much altered. A Morley local historian (Mr. Ronnie Barraclough) has previously researched the building for a local studies book (sadly out of print) but he was unable to find any interior shots, other than stage sets of amateur shows. There are Reference copies extant within the Leeds Libraries service (one in Morley Library).Ronnie has just published a new book, Morley Entertainers which shows the New Pavilion on the front cover.

Morley Cinemas featured in Bioscope number 73 in November 1999 by Stuart R Smith. Hopefully this building can be the subject of a future more in-depth Bioscope article at some point

Thanks to Ronnie Barraclough for providing additional details from his research, including the following comments on Mixed Theatre/Cinema use:-.

The Pavilion did not really change over to full time films in 1913, after the fire which destroyed everything back stage but left the auditorium undamaged, films were shown only for a short time, presumably with the projector between the seats, as a temporary measure until the fire damage was repaired. This is when my wife's grandfather, an actor and manager, came to Morley to take the post as theatre manager. It then remained a professional theatre until 1916 by which time there was a scarcity of acts because of the war's demand for man power and silent films were improving and becoming more and more popular. It remained a silent cinema from 1916 until sound films were introduced which presumably made the Pavilion's silent films less attractive so on Monday 23 September 1929 it returned to its original role as a professional theatre. On Monday 1st June 1931, after talkie equipment had been fitted, it was a cinema again. It closed as a cinema on
Saturday 27 July 1968 and opened as Star Bingo on Wednesday 7 August 1968. Walker's Bingo in 1984 until 29 February 1988 then unoccupied until After Dark opened Thursday 12th July 1990. <RB>

.The small extension at the rear was most definitely the projection room, I remember watching the projectionist at work through the window which is now blocked up. It was rear projection and was eventually made redundant when cinemascope equipment was fitted to commence showing on Monday 3 September 1956, when a modern projection box was fitted in the balcony displacing some of the seats. <RB>

Last updated May 20th 2003

This is the corner entrance to the New pavilion, now known as After Dark or Orbit. It is a "techno" nightclub and has been so for over a decade. Originally built as a Theatre it went over to full time sound films in 1931, retaining the stage facilities for occasional shows up until closure. Silent Films had been shown earlier as part of the variety bill- a serious fire damaged the stage in 1913. It eventually went onto Bingo in 1968. To the right is South Queen street, to the left High Street. It is of striking appearance, being red semi-glazed brick and contrasting cream faience detailing. The tilework was from Burmantofts pottery in Leeds.
This is the High Street facade viewed obliquely. The stone building to the left is currently scheduled for demolition & replacement with a retail unit and flats above. It is a triangular shaped site on a roughly parallelogram shaped plot including the stone building to the left and some smaller properties to the rear.

The High Street facade photographed from the car park opposite. Both retail units are currently empty and have been for some time. There were originally four shops, the one closest to the entrance being a sweet shop. It is currently knocked through into two shops and the right hand one was a shoe shop at the time of the photo. Ronnie can also recall a butchers and corn merchant. The facade is almost symmetrical, the left hand bay appearing to contain staircases judging from the staggered windows and exit doorways.

A close-up of the removed canopy above the entrance. (The rough cement work has since been smoothed over). There is a commemorative stone to the left of the entrance, which has been damaged by apparently being mortared over. The local town Council are hoping to try and get the stone restored. The detailing & name (highlighted in neon) above which can be seen on the cover of Ronnie's new book are very sympathetic to the early building photos in the 2003 incarnation.

The South Queen street facade. Note the high fly tower and the unusual triangular stage house. The Stage Door to the right is now an entrance to what became the restaurant part of the building, possibly no longer used. The venue is only used a few times a month but is very popular with youngsters in the club scene. The dressing rooms were in the cellar under the stage. Very few small windows this side, whether the stage tower windows were for natural light to the grid or simply to add interest to an otherwise blank wall is not clear.

 
From 1931 to 1956, The Cinema used rear projection from the small building underneath the air conditioning units which is to the rear of the stage, after sound projection equipment was permanently installed. A new Box was subsequently constructed in the Circle in 1956 for Cinemascope. It is not clear if the block was originally dressing rooms or was added for film. It now forms a toilet block.
The unadorned stage right flanking wall and side auditorium. Not an exciting photograph! This does show, however, that Theatres could also be guilty of bland hidden facades, a charge often levied at Cinemas.
Closer detail of the roofline showning the broken pediment and pillar detail. On the larger photo, subtle surface detailing can be seen in the tiling around the New Pavilion lettering
Roof line above the corner entrance showing the construction date above the faience fruit either side of the lozenge.
Note a second higher canopy has also been removed above the semi-circular window. From a 1913 photograph it appears this was a fairly shallow shelf-like slab. The lower canopy looks to have had cast iron detailing and glazed lettering on a gentle curve. The visible security cameras are part of the club CCTV system, not police surveillance cameras (Although the current drug culture associated with the clubbing scene probably means it is the Police who make most use of the imaging).
This is a 1968 view as Star Bingo. This is reminiscent of the Newcastle star Bingo which had a large display box hiding the facade detailing. This is from a recent Morley Observer and the scan includes the caption related to the event- the visit of Pat Phoenix for the grand opening of Bingo. It eventually changed to a walkers Bingo club. Walkers moved to a smaller venue elsewhere in the town in 1988, after which the building was refurbished as a night club after a period of disuse. It remains a club but for specialist use.
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