1905 - Moving Pictures

A touring company at the Queens Hall showed the first moving pictures on Christmas 1905. Two years later the Queens Hall began showing regular film shows.

Jungle Town, The Rink was advertising moving picture shows in 1911 but this venue appears to have had a variety of other entertainment as well. Jungle Towns location is also not at all clear and I would like to hear from anyone who has any idea where the Rink was.

In 1912 four new cinemas were opened. The Empress Picture Palace on the corner of Rectory Street, the Star Picture Palace on Aire Street, the Albion Picture House on the corner of Wilson and Albion Street and lastly the Crown in Lister Street. The Star was built as a replacement for the Crimea Picture Pub, which had been a cinema pub until it was made to choose between showing films and serving beer, and decided that the latter was more profitable.

By 1913 the Crown Picture Palace in Leeds Road, Glasshoughton was in existence with the owner, Mr. Cox, in dispute with the central Castleford cinema owners who were threatening to boycott anyone who supplied him with films. The cinema was forced to close but reopened in November 1916. In May 1923 it burnt down. That week they were showing 'Rob Roy' with Pipe Major Stratchen and his son giving musical accompaniment on the bagpipes. Unfortunately the fire also damaged the bagpipes.

In 1921 the Picture House was opened on Station Road. This was a luxury theatre that could hold 1200 people in comfort. The Empress closed in 1922; the Crown burnt down and never reopened. The Star closed for refurbishment and reopened as the Majestic in 1924. The Albion was rebuilt further along Albion Street in 1927. In 1931 the Queens Theatre became the Queens Cinema and the Majestic became the New Star.

The Queens closed in 1959 and the Picture House followed in 1964. The last film was shown at the New Star in 1975, the same year that the Albion was converted to triple screens. The axe finally came down on the Albion in February 1987 leaving Castleford with no cinemas at all.

The Castleford Xscape opened in October 2003 with 14 screens, revolutionary new seat design, incredible sound and screen technology the movies returned to Castleford with a BANG!

The Old Albion

The New Albion

The Picture House

The (New) Star

Originally this was "The Star Cinema" but sometime in the sixties it became "The New Star Cinema. As the 'Star' it was possible to book seats for sixpence and before the crowd were allowed to enter the booked people, who waited on the opposite side of the road, were invited to enter. Many a young lad spent his almost last sixpence on this in order to impress his lady friend. I say almost last because he had to retain something in order to purchase an ice cream for her during the interval.

My thanks to Derek Atkins for the photo.

Derek says;- I have been to the New Star many times and once worked there. My grand parents went every Thursday evening until closure.

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