Welcome to The Abbeydale Picture House

The Abbeydale Picture House is under new ownership, and with a few successful film showings already under their belt, they look set to revolutionise Sheffield nightlife, however before they do so, CADS allowed me to peer behind the scenes of this vintage cinema.

Upon arriving at the Picture House you are struck by the somewhat unassuming beauty of the building’s exterior, nestled in Sheffield’s budding antiques quarter, the building is perhaps a jewel embedded within the crown of Sheffield’s Abbeydale road. The building’s stained-glass covered tower juts out above the buildings it sits alongside.

Once you step foot inside the building you will be struck by the sheer enormity of the building itself, being greeted by a winding hallway of seemingly endless possibility, the beautiful antique decor only compliments the genuine feel of the Picture House.

The main room really is a sight to behold with rows of lush green vintage cinema seats leading towards an 8x6m cinema screen. Overlooking these rows of seats is a grand balcony which is currently under renovation, however, on my tour around the building I did get the chance to stand on the balcony and watch a short film on the screen, and let me tell you the experience itself is pretty amazing. A piano sits just to the side of the screen. The screen itself holds great quality in terms of it’s picture, and the obvious nature of the cinema itself makes for a truly unique viewing experience.

Set behind the rows of seats is a cafe and bar which serves an assortment of food and drinks with ample seating available.

Behind the screen lies the fly tower which is a truly enormous room in terms of it’s height. The space has been used to house Sheffield Contemporary’s  ‘Behind The Scenes’ exhibition, a mixed media exhibition making use of animation, artwork, written work and video projected onto white screens.

Alongside this, The Abbeydale Picture House has played host to the famed Yorkshire Silent Film Festival, with this years showing such avant-garde classics as Flesh and the Devil and Alfred Hitchcock’s The Lodger.

If this isn’t setting the scene, then simply watch the video above, and see for yourself!