Unity Picture Palace

Situated in the Walkley district of Sheffield on Langsett Road near Wood Street, the Unity Picture Palace was declared open on Friday 7th November 1913 by Councillor J. Kaye.

The façade to Langsett Road consisted of a series of five bays divided by broad pilasters with moulded capitals supporting a stone frieze: this had “Unity” carved at intervals and was surmounted a richly moulded cornice. The building cost £6,000.

There was seating for around 1,000 patrons: 750 in the stalls and 250 in the balcony. There was a modest stage and two dressing rooms (for male and female artistes) although, after cine-variety was given a short trial in spring 1914, and was apparently not a success, live performances appear to have been dispensed with.

Performances were at 6.50pm and 9pm, Monday to Saturday, with matinees at 2.30pm on Thursday and Saturday. The pit stalls were accessed from Gertrude Street: the picture house was situated between Wood Street and Gertrude Street (Wood Street survives, but Gertrude Street appears to have been lost to re-development). There was a seven piece orchestra under J. W. Bramwell. A Mr Hague sang at the opening, but other programme details were not reported.

The first manager was Harry Bramwell, who moved over from the nearby Upperthorpe Picture Palace (see separate Cinema Treasures entry). He had been associated with Sheffield Theatre Royal and Dan Leno’s Varieties, amongst others, and was highly respected by his colleagues. He remained manager until his death in November 1934 at the age of 70.

The first talkie was shown in the week beginning 12th May 1930, but the film title is not known. The hall had been closed for a short period to carry out improvements, redecoration and the installation of British Thomson-Houston(BTH) sound equipment.

New seating was installed in the balcony in 1935, reducing the seating capacity to around 900 - by the early-1950’s this had reduced further, to 848.

CinemaScope arrived from 4th April 1955 with “Beneath the 12 Mile Reef”, starring Robert Wagner. Matinees had been dropped some years earlier, and the cinema never went over to Sunday opening.

Double bills had always been popular, and the Unity closed on Saturday 28th March 1959 with “Oregon Passage”, starring John Ericson, and Preston Foster in “Destination 60,000”.

The building became a furniture showroom. It was eventually demolished in 1996 - to make way for a car park for a new bingo club.

(Principal research by the late Clifford H. Shaw.)

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