ALLAN Mirfield was 16 when he arrived at the Gaumont to collect 40 concert tickets for Wibsey Youth Club in February, 1963.
Keen to get an autograph or two from acts on the bill, he handed a shirt to the manager and asked if anyone could sign it. “I didn’t think I’d see it again, but he brought it back a bit later,” says Allan.
The shirt was signed by all four of The Beatles, who were at the Gaumont on their first UK package tour, and way down the bill. Topping the bill was a teenage Helen Shapiro, whose autograph is also on Allan’s shirt, along with several other artists from the show. “I’ve never worn it since. I once took it to the Antiques Roadshow,” says Allan, whose signed shirt is part of a nostalgic exhibition at Bradford’s Impressions Gallery, shining a light on the vibrant history of the building that was the New Victoria, the Gaumont and the Odeon, and the people who used it.
Bringing the Beat Back to Bradford is packed with memorabilia from the much-loved building - photographs, programmes, posters, tickets, even a beautiful model of the Odeon. The items have been loaned by people who responded to a call-out by Impressions Gallery, which held drop-in events as part of a programme commissioned by Bradford Live, funded by the National Lottery Heritage Fund, exploring the building as a cinema, dance hall, music venue and bingo hall. Visitors are invited to contribute to a Memory Wall, to be added to a digital archive.
Many of the photos and souvenir programmes reflect the pop heyday of the Gaumont, when acts such as the Rolling Stones and Buddy Holly played for screaming teenagers. In one photo, 13-year-old Pauline Matthews from Little Horton is singing on stage. She went on to be Kiki Dee.
Among those at the exhibition launch were four generations of a family with a special link to the Gaumont - Sue Barker, her daughter Sarah Yates, granddaughter Megan Bowles and three-week-old great grandson Theo. Sue spent her childhood “running around backstage” at the Gaumont. Her dad, Laurie Lawrance, was the manager in the 1950s and 60s. “I used to take armfuls of my schoolfriends’ autograph books to be signed by the acts. When I was 14 I met Cliff Richard, he signed our autograph books. I don’t remember much about the concert because I sat the whole way through with my mouth wide open, gazing at Cliff,” laughed Sue. “My mum and I once walked down from our home in Great Horton for the New Year’s Eve concert. Dad got me on stage to sing, I was mortified.”
Paul Dawson and his sister, Janet Lewis, contributed a photo of their dad, Frank Dawson. “He was the drummer with resident Gaumont band, the Bert Bentley Dance Band,” said Paul. “I used to help him load the van. We called the band leader ‘Uncle Bert’.”
When the New Victoria opened in September 1930, there had “never been anything like it in Bradford before”, reported the T&A. The magnificent Art Deco venue had a ‘super cinema’, a stage, ballroom, Wurlitzer organ and restaurant. The New Victoria splendour - its grand chandeliers, elegant waitresses, VIP opening dinner - is in fine detail in photographs displayed for the first time. Taken by Leslie Overend, they were bequeathed to Steven White, who handed them to Impressions Gallery director Anne McNeill, as 10in x 8in glass negatives. Anne took them on the train to Brighton, in an old Kodak box, to be cleaned by specialists. “They were too precious to be sent down. I didn’t let them out of my sight,” said Anne.
The building’s cinema heritage is celebrated in charming photos. Kathleen Allen is pictured in a group of Gaumont usherettes in the 1950s. “She once had to dress in a white gown and lie in a coffin to promote a Dracula film,” recalled Kathleen’s son David, at the launch with his son, Matthew.
Former Odeon usherette Ann Bolton is photographed with daughters Kelly and Gemma, who presented Bond girl Caroline Munro with flowers at the opening of Odeon 3 in June 1988. “I was there 13 years, it was a lovely place to work. A few of us still meet up every year,” said Ann. “I have a lot of affection for that building. I’m looking forward to seeing it opening once again.”
Carol Duerden worked at the Odeon from 1970: “I started as an usherette and ran the fridge room, getting the ice-creams ready. My sister Christine and I ran the kiosk. It wasn’t like work; we got to see films and we danced to musicals while cleaning the aisles.”
As Anne O’Neill says: “There’s a lot of Bradford love for this building. I’ve been bowled over by the generosity of people involved with this exhibition.”
Many Odeon memories are of queuing round the block to watch blockbusters in the 1970s and 80s. The Star Wars opening weekend, December 1977, was legendary thanks to a mirrorball installed in the auditorium for the exploding Death Star scene. Odeon projectionist Tony Cutts created a shattering planet effect from the mirrorball, which is displayed along with his handwritten guide for the sequence.
Lee Craven, director of Bradford Live which is restoring the building as a new entertainment venue, said: “It means an enormous amount to Bradford people. The building is like a history of UK social life, as a dance hall, package tour venue and cinema. Even when closed for 20 years, it made its presence felt. Now it’s about to start a new lease of life - and play a new role in Bradford’s social history.”
Historian Mark Nicholson has written a new book about the building. Called The People's Palace, it is available at Impressions Gallery in City Park.
* Bringing the Beat Back to Bradford is at Impressions Gallery until March 11, 2023.
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