Picture House

In the Stanley district of Wakefield, the Picture House opened in 1920. It was nickname the ‘Clog and Rhubarb’, after two of the local businessmen who owned it: William Lamb, who died in 1922, was a clog manufacturer, while John Edward Jacques (1871-1946) was a market gardener. The three other original directors were Frank Edward Wardle, a boot-maker, Albert Denton, an estate agent, and Walter Wilson, a Leeds-based general dealer.

At opening, Fred Lamb, brother of William, was the commissionaire, while his daughter, Nellie, served in the pay-box (and later married the projectionist, Frank Hubbard).

In due course, John Jacques bought out his co-directors.

In 1925 18 year old violinist Maurice Remmer was engaged to accompany the silent films.

The Picture House closed for the summer on 30th May 1959. It closed again in the summer of 1960 and, after opening again for the autumn, closed for good on 30th December 1960. The final film was the appropriately titled “The Last Voyage”, starring Robert Stack and Dorothy Malone.

In due course, the building was gutted. When I visited, in June 2005, it was home to Gordon’s Auto Centre. More recently the business has been reconfigured as Gordon’s Tyres, located in the Cinema Garage.

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