05 July 2023 , 21:57
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Fascinating new pictures show an abandoned theatre left 'frozen in time' - with a huge staircase and even an old cigarette machine still waiting to be used.
The Theatre Royal, a replacement of an earlier theatre which sat in the same spot from 1790 until 1904, brought live entertainment to the West Yorkshire town of Halifax when it opened in 1905.
Later on in the century it the building would host a cinema, bingo hall and then a nightclub, before closing its doors for good in the 2000s.
Footage from urban explorers UK Urbex shows what are believed to be old cinema seats - once hidden when the building was converted into its other uses - now sitting empty, covered in dust and cobwebs.
Empty seats in the old Theatre Royal, which saw a number of different uses from 1905 to 2007 (Facebook/UK Urbex)An old cigarette machine in the building is also nestled between the rubbish and abandoned furniture, reports Yorkshire Live - with a coin slot advertising a very retro price of just £5.90 a packet.
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As well as a grand stage, original features - such as tiles, lighting and décor - also sit entwined in the many rooms and tiers of the building.
Stairs lead guests up to a number of hidden rooms, all of which show off some unique or original features from when the cinema first opened in 1904.
The Theatre Royal brought live entertainment to Halifax when it opened in the early twentieth century (Facebook/UK Urbex)The 1,900-seat auditorium was believed to have been spread over four levels when it was built, but was turned into a two-tier 2,200-seat cinema when it was refurbished in 1937.
In the late 1960s the cinema closed and building became a bingo hall.
By 1999 the 1,058 square metre theatre had been converted to a themed entertainment cafe called La Mania, later adapting to become the Club Platinum nightclub, with much of the interior being lost at this point.
One pack costs just £5.90 on the old cigarette machine (Facebook/UK Urbex)Its final incarnation to date was as the Theatre Nightclub, which closed in 2007. According to planning documents submitted last year, it has remained empty since.
RK Hotels Ltd applied to Calderdale Council for permission to convert the former theatre into a Holiday Inn Express budget hotel in 2022.
Earlier this year, an urban explorer rediscovered an old art deco cinema in another part of the UK which had delighted and amazed thousands of people for more than 70 years.
Stairs lead guests up to a number of hidden rooms (Facebook/UK Urbex)Youtuber Urbanexboi managed to gain access to the former art deco cinema, which closed in 2019.
Sadly the abandoned cinema has fallen into a state of disrepair, as mould and damp can be seen growing on the walls and the old screens in recent photographs.
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It has also been attacked by vandals since closing down.
The explorer said: “I would describe the old cinema as the heart of Plymouth and not just another "cinema" where so many buildings like this get torn down or are left to be destroyed by nature or by local councils.