Sems Picture House

Located in Leigh, Lancashire, today part of Greater Manchester. The Assembly Rooms was opened in 1899, above the Conservative Club. It was screening films by 1908. After the end of World War I in 1918, it was renovated and re-opened as the Sems Picture House. In 1920 it was the first cinema to be operated by Arthur Ward, and soon became part of the Ambassador Circuit. By 1931 it had been equipped with a Western Electric(WE) sound system. It was soon taken over by the Read, Snape & Ward circuit, later to become Snape & Ward. By 1963 it had been taken over by the G.B. Snape Group of Assoc. Cinema Companies chain.

The Sems Picture House was closed in the early-1960’s. By 2009 it was a bar named Sky Bar. The Conservative Club downstairs was still open. They had both closed by 2014 and by 2015 it the Sky Bar had become a venue to play darts and the Conservative Club had become the 180 Club. They had both closed by 2020 and the entire building was boarded up.

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