Picture House

In the village of Eldon Lane, three miles southeast of Bishop Auckland, County Durham, it is not known exactly when the Picture House opened, but it was open soon after the end of World War I

It was not listed in the 1914 or 1923 Kinematograph Year Books, but the Picture House was is listed in the 1928 edition - which is somewhat ironic, as it had closed the previous year!

The proprietor and manager was listed as W. E. Piercy. Shows had been once nightly, with two shows on Saturday.

After closure the building was used as a garage and coal yard. Then, in late-January 1984, catastrophe struck at Clark’s coal depot, when four feet of snow brought the roof down and demolished the walls. The owners, brothers Arthur, Jack and George Clark, whose family had acquired the building shortly after it closed as a cinema, estimated the damage at thousands of pounds.

Taking time out to reminisce about the cinema, 73 year old Jack, who sold sweets in the Picture House, said it used to get packed, and front row seats were only 2d. Elder brother George, 75 years old, worked the hand-cranked projector (so the Picture House must have opened earlier rather than later).

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