Thank you to everyone who volunteered at the Abbeydale Picture house, I think we can safely say it was a success and most importantly the charity CADS were really impressed with your efforts on the day which have had a great impact. I will most definitely be looking for more opportunities for us to re visit the picture house and help out. Watch this space.
Thank you to Gary Allen for his great recount of the day which has also been communicated in the D&S Faculty News letter – we have more stories from Ros, Kathryn and Liz W, you can read them here.
Last Wednesday, the second of the two volunteering days, where staff were helping to renovate the Abbeydale Picture House. The Picture House was first opened in 1920 (it was the largest complex in Sheffield at that point, as it boasted a cinema, theatre, ballroom and snooker hall) but closed in 1975 except for the snooker hall which is still going. Since then, it has suffered various attempts to either re-purpose or restore it but none of them have been entirely successful. From January this year, it has been leased to a Sheffield arts charity (CADS) who are continuing to restore the building with an emphasis on making it useable first, and beautiful second. This is a building I have been past thousands of times, but never really knew what it was or what was in it. The outside is quite plain at ground level, and very dirty above – but inside it is like stepping back in time! You walk along an entrance hall, and turn right into a cinema straight out of the 1950s. There is a big screen in place, and rows of old-fashioned green cinema seats courtesy of one of the earlier restoration projects.
Behind the cinema screen was the theatre stage, and behind that was a large room which had previously been the ballroom, though now was an empty shell. There is a balcony level, which had been used as a dumping ground. Behind the balcony are rooms that have been converted to allow home-workers to meet up and work together (home-workers often suffer mental stress due to isolation, so this is a really valuable use to the local community). Above them were similar rooms that had deteriorated badly and needed to be cleared and cleaned to create more common working spaces. Finally, right at the top are the projection rooms (with projectors and sound system still in place!)
Balcony full of everything; fridges, chairs, wood, bicycles, staircases and even shopping trollies!
The task list was huge! We were split up into teams, one to clean and paint the floors and aisles of the cinema, another to clean up and paint the outside which is often used for vintage fairs and car boot sales, another to put wooden covers over the stage sides and paint these, and yet another team to finish clearing out those rooms at the top of the building.
Kay, Lorna and Vicki prepare to get painting
Liz, Kathryn and Ross clearing the aisles
I think it is fair to say that by midday it was already the hardest day of work I have done here at SHU. Our team did exceptionally well and got the room cleared completely – which considering all the dirt and rubbish needed to be carried in buckets down to the ground floor and out to a skip is no mean feat. We moved on to shifting a huge pile of wood off the balcony area – so more going up and down stairs, but this time carrying planks of wood. It was like the hardest step class you have ever been to!
Lorna and Emma – born to be on the stage
Clearing the new room, with Anna and Ros in masks
By about 3.30 in the afternoon, most of the teams were finishing up, and eventually gathered in a small crowd to watch the final team finish painting the cinema floor ways, and of course take great delight in pointing out bits they had missed.
Meriel and Sohil finishing up the main cinema floors
Our day was done. We had got through a lot of work, but such is the state of the building there is still loads more to do. CADS are doing fantastically well in providing the building with a new purpose that brings in the local community. I really hope that one day the building is fully restored and opened up to full public use again. Hopefully, we may even get to see some of our hard work on television screens; part of the reason for the work was to make it look good for Charles Hanson (from Bargain Hunt/Antiques Road Trip) who is recording a programme there soon.
Team Photo
Left to Right – Back Row: Anna Cawton, Simon Taylor, Sohil Zokari
Middle Row: Gary Allen, Mark Townley, Kay Simpson, Ros Wastnidge, James Berry, Meriel Murray
Front Row: Ross Mackay, Debbie Warr, Nick (from CADS) Vicki Morgan, Lorna Pettifer, Liz Wallington
The team will be looking into doing more volunteering days, and most felt that we should include further days helping out at the Picture House. It is hard to describe, but when you see the building inside you can see how stunning it must have been in its prime and you just desperately want to get it back to that condition. I certainly bought an extra lottery ticket, and when I win (one day!), I will be having the first dance in the ballroom!
