Tuesday 8 October - Hilary Byers, 'National Picture Theatre, Beverley Road - a Future for a Bombed Cinema'

Designed by architects Runton and Barry, the National Picture Theatre was constructed for the De-Luxe Theatre Company on Beverley Road, Hull and opened in 1914. 

 

The cinema was badly damaged during a Luftwaffe air raid on 18 March 1941, although none of the 150 people inside at the time were killed or seriously injured, and in 2007 it was Grade II listed for its historic interest as the last ordinary civilian building in England surviving in its bombed state from the Second World War. 

 

The National Civilian WW2 Memorial Trust has been working for over 20 years to save the cinema and is currently working with Hull City Council in a bid to develop the site as a memorial to the impact of the Second World War on the city. 

 

Town planner and trustee Hilary Byers will talk about the early years of the cinema and the fateful night of 18 March 1941. She will also explain why it has survived, concealed for many years behind a hoarding, and how its historic significance finally came to be appreciated.

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