Picture House
9 Railway Street,
Leyburn,
DL8 5EH
9 Railway Street,
Leyburn,
DL8 5EH
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Additional Info
Previous Names: Elite Cinema
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The Elite Cinema opened in 1928 with a seating capacity of 500 and is situated in the North Yorkshire market town of Leyburn. It was a small independent cinema showing a varied programme of films from "Art House" to "Hollywood". There were also occasional live theatre and music events staged. There was a comfortable bar.
The auditorium had 173-seats on a single level and there was disabled access to the auditorium and the foyer from the street. There were 2 permanent wheelchair spaces and more could be made available with 24 hours notice.
Kept in a very good condition the Elite Cinema had a small stage, used for live shows on occasions. The proscenium was 20 feet wide and the stage 12 feet deep. The Elite Cinema was also often used for filming when a ‘period’ cinema is required, the British TV series ‘Heartbeat’ was often filmed there.
The Elite Cinema was closed on 6th May 2007 when it screened its last film; Judi Dench in “Notes on a Scandal”.
However, it soon re-opened as the Picture House and run by volunteers, who also choose the film programmes. Sadly closed in October 2008.
Contributed by
Ian Grundy
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Recent comments (view all 6 comments)
I filmed this in one of my cinema heritage videos in 2000. Nice venue with a committed staff. Had Dolby stereo even in the early days. The projectionist travels quite a distance to run the show – open usually Thursday, Friday and Saturday each week with a diverse programme of films – arthouse and mainstream. – Terry Ladlow
The Kine Yearbook 1937 edition gives a seating capacity of 500 for the Elite Cinema.
A fairly recent photograph of the Elite Cinema as seen on a rainy day:
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The Elite is indeed open again for movies and stage performances in 2008, it has now been renamed the Picture house and is enthusiastically run by a team of volunteers. It has two performances daily on Thursday, Friday and Saturday as a general rule.
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Sadly the venture was short-lived and the Picture House closed again on 31st October 2008. It had been relatively successful, but costs were set to rise and the organisers could not afford to subsidise, even in the short term, a loss.