# PIONEER HOUSE, DEWSBURY-Visited Sept 2008



## sqwasher (Feb 2, 2009)

As you all know by now Pioneer House is a Victorian Grade II listed building sited on Halifax Road in the centre of Dewsbury. It was designed by the Architects Henry Holtom and George Fox and was built in 1872 for the Dewsbury Co-op society and later known as Dewsbury Pioneers’ Industrial Society. Henry Holtom, who arrived in Dewsbury in his 20's, became a town councillor in 1871 and later became Mayor of Dewsbury in 1883. Holtom and Fox designed many buildings including schools, churches and also designed the town hall!

yeh i know it's taken a while...

Looking upwards at the clocktower & former snooker club stairway at the south-east end of the building






The former hall/theatre/snooker hall





Looking through an old film reel in the projection room into the main hall





Part of the original ceiling with the stage front & rigging still evident





One of the gems of this building is the wonderful clocktower





The clock mechanism-silenced for many years & partly stripped by thieves! 





Part of the linkage to a clock face-pieces missing & stolen!





The bells remained thankfully





Some conversion building work did start here but stopped. The effect adds to the atmosphere





A view of the former restaurant/library





Blinds still hang intact & level!





Some of the beatiful (but broken) glass





This building still has many hidden suprises-old posters





A huge & empty safe!





Ornate roof parts taken from the balcony area outside the restaurant





Contrast the brightly painted archways...





...with the more decayed ones





Finally a view of the destruction & lack of historical respect that has been shown to this wonderful building!





Cheers if you've made it this far... there's more pics on my flickr​


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## freebird (Feb 2, 2009)

Here are my pics of that day way back in Sept:-
Exterior shots
















Interiors

That Amazing Hall!





In the Clock tower















Looking out at one of the heads on the clock face















That sad looking Lift Cage!










The beautiful Stained Glass doors in the Restaurant





The Roof Terrace





The old beams made a good pic





Looking down the lift shaft 










A small piece of written history





Thanks for looking.


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## infromthestorm (Feb 2, 2009)

Incredible explore & well worth the wait,imaginative shots capture the fabric of this awesome building thanks sqwasher & freebird


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## MaBs (Feb 2, 2009)

Looks a really interesting building, some fantastic pictures 
Do you know what there due to do with it?


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## Parkus. (Feb 2, 2009)

Amazing looking building that is


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## Simon-G (Feb 2, 2009)

Excellent photo's SG. It looked like you had a good day weather wise when you were there. I particuarly like the second picture of the room with the wooden roof design. was that the natural light on it or did you add some warmth to it?

Simon


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## no1rich (Feb 2, 2009)

Great report there guys. Really enjoyed that.. Cheers


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## Trinpaul (Feb 2, 2009)

Great pics. That's a fantastic building and I really like the woodwork and the ornate glass work in the doors and partitions.


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## freebird (Feb 2, 2009)

Simon-G said:


> Excellent photo's SG. It looked like you had a good day weather wise when you were there. I particuarly like the second picture of the room with the wooden roof design. was that the natural light on it or did you add some warmth to it?
> 
> Simon



Thanks for the comments. The room with the beams in was lit up really well that day. It was all natural warm light on that pic.


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## Foxylady (Feb 2, 2009)

That is one helluva gorgeous building...so many beautiful details everywhere. I love the contrast between the brightly coloured paintwork and the decayed parts.
Fantastic photos as always, you two. Excellent stuff!


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## smileysal (Feb 2, 2009)

What a beautiful building. I love all the stained glass that's in the former restaurant/library area. And the former ballroom. The ceiling in there is gorgeous. 

Excellent pics you two, it really is a beautiful place. Any idea's on what they're doing with it? Hopefully it will be restored to its former condition.

Cheers,

 Sal


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## sqwasher (Feb 3, 2009)

MaBs & Smileysal-It's got PP to convert to one & two bed 'apartments', a gymnasium, retail units on the ground floor & the 'in thing' coffee bar! There is a bit of upset at the mo apparently between the developers (Staytons) & locals about delays etc-work stopped well before the present financial climate.


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## Columbia (Mar 11, 2010)

I've been in that lift so many times when there was a working cinema/theatre in the building. My parents were in a local amateur dramatics company that always put on their shows at the Pioneer theatre, and I went to quite a few of them when I was little. Wish I could win the lottery, then I'd buy the place myself and restore the theatre, as well as making the rest of it into shops and apartments etc! I remember the department store downstairs as well. 
On the opposite side of the road is another former department store, Bickers, which is now some kind of cash convertor store and the upstairs is standing empty and sad.


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