# The Palladium Cinema - Durham 2015



## Hullbadger (Jan 11, 2015)

Another explore whilst in the area, probably covered before but here 'she' is! - we had tried throwing a few mains switches too as other explorers had reported the building to still have lighting - amazingly it did! - some history first; 
The Palladium Cinema opened on 18th March 1929 with Alice Terry in “Garden of Allah”. Seating was provided in stalls and circle levels It was the first cinema in Durham licenced to operate on Sundays. On Sundays they were restricted to one evening performance and the programme had to be approved by both the Chief Constable and the Bishop of Durham.

The Palladium Cinema was damaged by a fire on 16th January 1934. It was refurbished and re-opened on 5th March 1934 with Leslie Henson in “It’s A Boy”.

ThePalladium Cinema was refurbished in late-1967, re-opening with “The Bible-In the Beginning”. The cinema closed in 1976 and operated as a Bingo Hall until 1982 when it became a Church.

It has now stood empty since 2004.


20150108-P1060975 by Hull Badger, on Flickr


20150108-P1060988 by Hull Badger, on Flickr


20150108-P1060997 by Hull Badger, on Flickr


20150108-P1070003 by Hull Badger, on Flickr


20150108-P1070005 by Hull Badger, on Flickr


20150108-P1070007 by Hull Badger, on Flickr


20150108-P1070011 by Hull Badger, on Flickr


20150108-P1070012 by Hull Badger, on Flickr


20150108-P1070021 by Hull Badger, on Flickr


20150108-P1070028 by Hull Badger, on Flickr


20150108-P1070031 by Hull Badger, on Flickr


20150108-P1070042 by Hull Badger, on Flickr


20150108-P1070063 by Hull Badger, on Flickr


Thanks for looking guys.


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## mockingbird (Jan 11, 2015)

love this, the dusty look to it is awesome, nice shots too the close up of the "jackpot game" is really nice! cheers for sharing Hullbadger


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## krela (Jan 11, 2015)

Very nice


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## flyboys90 (Jan 11, 2015)

Love the projectors and a great set of photos.


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## HughieD (Jan 11, 2015)

That is absolutely stunning. Great set of pix.


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## projectionman (Jan 11, 2015)

love the projection room shots its a shame for alot of these machines these days most have gone to the scrap yard to be replaced with digital projectors so its nice to see some even thogh they are rusting away


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## Hullbadger (Jan 11, 2015)

Thanks guys, yes it's a shame that these projectors have been replaced UK wide by digital, we were just so happy to find the place hadn't been trashed, the spare projector bulbs were still there which gobsmacked us!


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## UrbanX (Jan 12, 2015)

That's amazing! Great find! 
Thanks for sharing


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## brickworx (Jan 12, 2015)

Good stuff mate, nice pics and great site


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## odeon master (Jan 12, 2015)

great to see, what make are the projectors? they sort of ,look like PEERLESS but not sure.
Looks like all the amps are there too.
What did you have to do to get the power on? i managed to re energise a derelict cinema long ago, but it took weeks of going in working on it to get it all working again.
It should be off by rights as no electricity bill is being payed so it should be down as a disconnected supply.

THE ODEON MAN


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## Blazinhawkz (Jan 16, 2015)

its owned by the council Odeon Master right at the very front is various supplies cement/water barrels/tool even,great to see the power is still working too. Think I might revisit here,Cracking job Hullbadger


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## Urbexbandoned (Jan 19, 2015)

Looks great, love the pic of the reels.


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## dead format (Jan 20, 2015)

just because the bill isnt being paid doesn't necesserily mean power is off. these things can be forgotten as it isn't that easy to trace a particular premises that is using electricity. The site would have been on three phase so I assume to get the lights on they would have tried a few of the smaller fuses until it all came back to life. I would assume that the main switch, at least for the domestic phase was just never turned off, probably to allow for lighting to be used during estate agen show-arounds etc back when it was first closed. This is what I've seen in my experience. Be careful what your doing obviously, as the moisture in the walls likes to conduct electricity


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