In Holmfirth where there is all you might want …..

Now that boast might be a tad over the top, but this small town in west Yorkshire offers up some cinematic history, a winery and of course a long running TV comedy.

The Picturedrome, 2023

All of which I have written about in the past but have been drawn back to by a series of pictures taken by Andy Robertson my old photographic chum. *

He was there yesterday, took some pictures and sent them over.

He started with the Picturedrome which was built in 1912, opened on March 1st 1913 as the Valley Theatre, but curiously doesn’t appear in the register of cinemas two years later. This is the Kinematograph Year Book for 1914, which lists all the picture houses, films and much else about the cinema industry and came out annually.

Happily it is there for 1928 when it is still called the Valley Theatre, owned by Valley Picture Theatre Ltd, showing one performance nightly and two shows on Saturday with prices from 3d to 1/3d.

A cinema and a balcony, 2023

The place has had a chequered history but is still there operating as a musical film venue. **

And for those that want more there is short history covering all of the Picturedrome’s reincarnations at that excellent cinema TREASURES.***

But Holmfirth was also home to Bamforth Ltd which expanded on its magic lantern business and started making films in this tiny west Yorkshire town.

Between 1898-1900 they made 14 and in the two years 1913-1915 turned out 120 before switching production to London, and also producing a range of picture postcards.

A Bamford card, circa 1914-18

And by sheer chance I came across this one from the collection of David Harrop entitled "Mother, Why Doesn’t Daddy Come Home?"

The Drill Hall, 2023

Which is a link to another of Andy’s photographs which is of the Drill Hall.

It was built for E Company of the 2nd Volunteer Battalion, Duke of Wellington's West Riding Regiment. 

The foundation stone was laid on Saturday 25 April 1891, and there are memorials to the men who served in the second South African War and the Great War.****

Home to E Company, 2023

All of which just leaves me to add that the wineries were the reason we first went up to Holmfirth, but once there we did do Sid’s Café, a centre piece of that TV series “Last of The Summer Wine which ran from 1973 till 2010, and like Andy marvelled at the bus stop over the River Holme.

And I now know that Holmfirth is at the confluence of the River Holme and Ribble, is 6 miles south of Huddersfield and 14 miles west of Barnsley with a population of just over 5, 000.

Interestingly back in 1928 according my Kinematograph Year Book it had a population of 10,444, which would have provided more than enough picture going customers, but begs the question of where they all went.

Pictures; Holmfirth in 2023, from the collection of Andy Robertson and Mother, Why Doesnt Daddy Come Home? date unknown, Bamforth & Co, Holmfirth, the Patriot Series nu 1888, courtesy of David Harrop

Bus stops over the river, 2023

*Holmfirth, http://chorltonhistory.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/Holmfirth

** Holmfirth Picturedrome, https://www.picturedrome.net/Venue-Guide.htm

*** cinema TREASURES, http://cinematreasures.org/theaters/2432

**** Roll of Honour, Drill Hall, Holmfirth, Huddersfield Exposed, https://huddersfield.exposed/wiki/Roll_of_Honour,_Drill_Hall,_Holmfirth

 

Tom Mix, memories of cowboy films and the Holmfirth Picturedrome

The Picturedrome, © Peter Topping

I bet they were queueing up to see Tom Mix at the Holmfirth Picturedrome

The Picturedrome, opened in 1912 and in its day offered films and variety.

Now it looks as if it has been much mucked about with over the last hundred years but something of its former grandeur is still here in Peter’s painting*

It is big enough to seat a couple of hundred people, has a double set of doors, with a veranda above it and must have made you feel special each time you went to watch that magic of light and moving pictures played out in the dark.

It reminded me of many similar old picture houses I have known but tended to ignore because they had long since passed into other use, closed by the grander cinemas that opened in the 1920s and 30s.

I guess in its time there would not have been many other buildings of its size in Holmfirth. There is a blue plaque giving a few details but nothing about the enterprising individual or individuals who saw the potential those films as entertainment were going to have.

But then perhaps I should not have been surprised at the opening of a cinema in Holmfirth given that it was a centre of film making in the years either side of the 20th century.

It was the company of Bamforth Ltd capitalising on their magic lantern business which from 1898 made films in this tiny west Yorkshire town.

Between 1898-1900 they made 14 and in the two years 1913-1915 turned out 120 before switching production to London.

Tom Mix in 1925

Not that Tom Mix ever stood in front of their cameras.

He was an American film actor and the star in many early western movies and according to some “was Hollywood’s first Western megastar and is noted as having helped define the genre of all cowboy films that followed.”**

He appeared in 291 short films and feature films between 1909 and 1935 and was a model for actors like Ronald Reagan and John Wayne.

His was what is often described as a colourful life and reflected what we think those early Hollywood starts were like.

He was born in 1880, enlisted in the US army in 1898 during the Spanish American War but never saw active service and in 1902 failed to return to duty after a brief holiday during which he married his first wife.

But while he was listed as absent without leave, he was never court-marshaled and never discharged.

In 1905 he rode with other Rough Riders*** in the inaugural parade of Theodore Roosevelt  and after working on a variety of odd jobs in the Oklahoma Territory worked at the Miller Brothers 101 Ranch becoming a  skilled horseman and expert shot, winning national riding and roping contests at Prescott, Arizona in 1909, and Canon City, Colorado in 1910.

From there he went into films first as a supporting actor and then from 1909 as the lead and even made a short documentary film titled Ranch Life in the Great Southwest in which he displayed his skills as a cattle wrangler.

Remembering a screen idol

All of which may seem a long way from Holmfirth but not so.

His films will have made their way from California to Yorkshire and captured the imagination of generations of youngsters just as they did the writer Ted Willis whose own credits included films like Woman in a Dressing Gown, the Blue Lamp and the famous Dixon of Dock Green.

And so in the fullness of time when Ted wrote his autobiography in 1970 he gave it the title  Whatever Happened to Tom Mix? The Story of One of My Lives.****

But that as they say is for another time.

Painting; the Holmfirth Picturedrome © 2014 Peter Topping, Paintings from Pictures,
Web: www.paintingsfrompictures.co.uk
Facebook:  Paintings from Pictures

Picture; Tom Mix, May 21 1925, Wikipedia Commons, this work has been released into the public domain by its author, Herbert A. French, who grants anyone the right to use this work for any purpose, without any conditions, unless such conditions are required by law.


*Paintings from Pictures, www.paintingsfrompictures.co.uk

**Tom Mix, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom_Mix

***The Rough Riders is the name bestowed on the 1st United States Volunteer Cavalry, one of three such regiments raised in 1898 for the Spanish-American War

**** Whatever Happened to Tom Mix? The Story of One of My Lives.1970

Mr Bamforth’s amazing picture postcards and film company ......... with best wishes from Holmfirth

Bamforth postcard, date unknown

Now I had never bothered to check who made this picture postcard from the Great War which was a mistake given that it was produced by Bamforth & Co, Holmfirth, from their Patriot Series.

Holmfirth is that little gem of a place which I never tire of visiting.*

On our first trip having been up to the winery high above the town we sauntered down for a wander and there I found the Picturedrome.

It opened in 1912 and in its day offered both  films and variety.

Now it looks as if it has been much mucked about with over the last hundred years but something of its former grandeur is still there.

It is a big enough to seat a couple of hundred people, has a double set of doors, with a veranda above it and must have made you feel special each time you went to watch that magic of light and moving pictures played out in the dark.

The Picturedrome, © Peter Topping

It reminded me of many similar old picture houses I have known but tended to ignore because they had long since passed into other use, closed by the grander cinemas that opened in the 1920s and 30s.

I guess in its time there would not have been many other buildings of its size in the Holmfirth.

There was a blue plaque giving a few details but nothing about the enterprising individual or individuals who saw the potential those films as entertainment were going to have.

But then perhaps I should not have been surprised at the opening of a cinema in Holmfirth given that it was a centre of film making in the years either side of the 20th century.

It was the company of Bamforth Ltd capitalising on their magic lantern business which from 1898 made films in this tiny west Yorkshire town.

Detail from the reverse of the card

Between 1898-1900 they made 14 and in the two years 1913-1915 turned out 120 before switching production to London.

And by sheer chance having used this picture postcard from the Great War on a number of occasions I looked closely at found that here was one of Mr Bamforth’s postcards.

In time I shall go looking for a catalogue of their postcards and may be able to find a date for "Mother, Why Doesnt Daddy Come Home?"

All of which is both a lesson in looking more closely to what you have in the collection and of course to another of those amazing little facts about one of our small towns.

Pictures; Mother, Why Doesnt Daddy Come Home? date unknown, Bamforth & Co, Holmfirth, the Patriot Series nu 1888, from the collection of David Harrop

Painting; the Holmfirth Picturedrome © 2014 Peter Topping, Paintings from Pictures,
Web: www.paintingsfrompictures.co.uk
Facebook:  Paintings from Pictures


*Holmfirth, http://chorltonhistory.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/Holmfirth

** Holmfirth Vineyard and Restaurant, http://www.holmfirthvineyard.com/

The Pardon Came Too Late .............. postcards from Holmfirth

I am intrigued by three picture postcards which I had at first assumed were produced during the Great War.

Each carried an image relating to the execution of a British soldier along with verses from a music hall song.

Now the image of the young soldier awaiting execution for cowardice or desertion is a powerful one and can still provoke debate about how the British army dealt with men who for differing reasons showed what some chose to call a “lack of moral fibre” and today we see as a symptom of combat fatigue.

In total 306 British and Commonwealth soldiers were shot during the course of the Great War and their names tended not to be recorded on the Rolls of Honour.

So these three cards drew me in

The idea that a company would issue these during the war seeded a tad off and the verses actually  predate the war having been written by Paul Dresser in 1891.

Mr Dresser was born in 1857 in Indiana and made his living from singing and song writing becoming very popular during the 1880s and 90s.

And that raises the possibility that these three were produced sometime before the war.

The clue might well be that they were made and issued by Bamforth & Co of  Holmfirth and these three carry the catalogue number 4829/2 so once I have found their catalogue it should be possible to date them.

At present and it is a long shot the company moved their film production to London in 1913 and these three all carry the imprint of Holmfirth and New York.

So maybe they are pre 1913, but that said the jury is still out but I bet there will be someone who can help.

And of course there was.  David tells me that the song sheets were published during the war as were the three postcards which ia an interesting take on attitudes to the war and leaves me wondering if a song sheet will turn up.

We shall see.

Picture; THE PARDON CAME TO LATE (1) & (3) Bamforth & Co, Ltd, date unknown, from the collection of David Harrop

On discovering the Picturedrome in Holmfirth and a thriving cinema industry

We were up in Holmfirth recently visiting the winery but that is a story for another time.  

It was while we were there that I came across the Picturedrome, opened in 1912 and in its day offering films and variety.  Now it looks as if it has been much mucked about with over the last hundred years but something of its former grandeur is still there.

It is a big enough to seat a couple of hundred people, has a double set of doors, with a veranda above it and must have made you feel special each time you went to watch that magic of light and moving pictures played out in the dark.

It reminded me of many similar old picture houses I have known but tended to ignore because they had long since passed into other use, closed by the grander cinemas that opened in the 1920s and 30s.
I guess in its time there would not have been many other buildings of its size in the Holmfirth. There was a blue plaque giving a few details but nothing about the enterprising individual or individuals who saw the potential those films as entertainment were going to have.

But then perhaps I should not have been surprised at the opening of a cinema in Holmfirth given that it was a centre of film making in the years either side of the 20th century.  It was the company of Bamforth Ltd capitalising on their magic lantern business which from 1898 made films in this tiny west Yorkshire town.  Between 1898-1900 they made 14 and in the two years 1913-1915 turned out 120 before switching production to London.

Nor were they alone, for across the country and especially here in Manchester there were film companies knocking out films in the years before and after the Great War.  Some survived well into the 2Oth century, which is a neat way of mentioning the History Group again and C.P. Lee who spoke to us about our own cinematic history.

Now, I have a very simple rule when someone has told a story better than I can the best thing to do is point you in their direction, so anyone wanting to know more about should visit
http://www.manchesterfilmhistory.info/ and http://www.itsahotun.com/

But having said that you might also want to read about our own palaces of fun and cinematic magic at http://chorltonhistory.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/Chorlton%20cinemas

Picture; from the collection of Andrew Simpson