Chapter 2 of 7 · 1913 – 2013
A building with a past
Cinema, bingo, memories
Before it was our house it was the Kensington Picture House: films, bingo, Saturday mornings, and a lot of Thorne walking through the doors. Ken Austin, Anne Wade and others helped us remember who had been here first.
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History of the building
All of this is gathered from the internet, so could be completely wrong! If anyone knows anything of the history, or has pictures, please could you comment here, or send them to me, or I'd love to meet anyone who remembe
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Anne Wade remembers the old Kensington cinema
I used to go to the old Kensington cinema in the 50s and early 60s. Dad worked shifts down the pit, so mum and I used to go to see the Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis comedies, and all the Norman Wisdom films. 'A Stitch in T
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Letter extracts from John Austin to his wife, Eveline.
Extract from a letter (undated) to Eveline from John Austin The Panatrope failed on Monday. It would not go at 6.15 so we sent for a pianist at 7.30 I tried it again and it acted so we sent the pianist home. Jimmy (the o
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Meeting Ken Austin
On 22nd March, Ken Austin came over with his lovely wife Anne, and his son, John. Ken (78 years young) is the grandson of the man who built the Kensington (Percy Austin), and son of the Manager, John Austin. Ken was the
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The History of the Kensington Picture House by Ken Austin
The Kensington Palace was opened on Monday 4"‘ April 1927. The site was previously occupied by a wooden picture house that was sold and removed to Snaith where it served many years as a garage. Doncaster Gazette made ref
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The Original Electric PictureDrome!
Our friend, Lisa found this on a calendar from Thorne Gazette! It shows the original cinema that stood before the Kensington. Weirdly enough, the old front seems to mirror our proposed new back of the building - minus th
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More history...
From a book about cinemas (sorry, forgot the name!)... Thorne had a cinema as early as 1912, the Picture Palace, which in January of that year entertained inmates of the Workhouse. In March, 1926 it was announced that th
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Memories...
A poem by John Lyne of Stainforth appeared in the Thorne Gazette this week. We think it's great! Grand Designs It's real name was the Kensington, but we just called it the flicks, And now they have ripped it to pieces an
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More History
Thanks to Ray Pemberton for sending me this snippet from the Thorne Grammar School Magazine Volume 3 number 27, Easter Term 1927. It will be of particular interest to Old Boys generally, and to those locally resident in
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Memories of the Kensington
Wonder if you knew that there was a café on the top floor. It served afternoon teas and did functions. My auntie had her wedding reception there in 1927 and my mother had hers there in 1940. I went to the matinee at the
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A bit more history
Found this link: http://www.thornegazette.co.uk/news/local-news/can-a-new-use-be-found-for-the-old-picture-house-1-622892 Nice to know it was on the market for £245,000 and I got it for £90,000 !