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The Kozy Cinema
In 1892 a Mr John Walters and two partners  secured the premises known as Barkers  Foundry  with the intention of converting the  premises into a theatre. The theatre  opened on Monday September 18th 1893  with seating for 2,200. Its opening show  was The Fast Mail, followed by the Middle  Man, My Jack and Uncle Tom’s Cabin.   The theater was also used by none dramatic  performers such has appeared in April 1894,  Proffesor Crockers, Marvelous Educated Ponies.   Remnants of  the Foundry windows can be seen bricked up behind the  rear stage wall.  Known as the Art Picture Palace around 1911, and  then The Empire Theatre at which time the entertainment was half  pictures half talent show. Many  touring companies appeared at the  theatre as well Dame Nellie Melba,  the famous Soprano pictured right.  Maisie Hanbury pictured below  and Colonel William Cody better  known as Buffalo Billl shown left.  Other celebrities to have performed  on the stage of the Empire were Mike Hamburg a famous pianist,  Arthur Askey, Terry Thomas, Ken Dodd
Pickles Theater was situated on  Newchurch Road. In 1867 the  performances were said to be of the lowest  character with the language  used as being grossly immoral  and the ac tions of the  performers indecent. An old man sung a song that  was termed comic but was in  fact not suitable to be heard by  decent females.  
Pickles Theatre 
Choirs & Singing
Mr John Holden choirmaster of Stacksteads Wesleyan Prize Choir  winners of the first prize at Crystal Palace in 1897 pictured is the prize  shield and silver mounted ivory baton which was presented to winning  choir.4,000 singers being present on  the day taking part in the Non  Comformist Choral Festival. The  choir were described at the time as  having “much purity of tone” and  correct intonation”.  
Following a meeting held in St Johns  on February 1882, an orchestral  society was started the object of making Bacup equal with other towns  in possesing a body of instrumentalists. Thier first concert was in  November 1882 witha number of 27, conducted by WH Brearley, the  vocalist was Miss Bessie Holt, and Mr Henry Green. Four years later  they consisted of 37 members. Attendance dropped in 1859 and 1895  with the concerts lapsing. During the Great War, the depleted numbers  led to a cessation of activities and it was not until 1946 that they got  going again.  
Stacksteads Wesleyan Prize Choir.
Bacup Operatic Society
In 1934 a well known Bacupian,  was convinced that the town had talent and was capable of putting  on a show similar to those put on  in other towns. He succeeded in  getting others interested and the  Waterside Amateur Operatic and  Dramatic Society was formed.  Quaker Girl in 1935 and  Arcadians in 1936 were two highly successful productions before the name of the Society was changed to the Bacup Amateur Operatic  and Dramatic Society.  More productions until 1939 when at the  outbreak of war it became impossible to continue. Some of the pre  war shows included Katinka, Babes In The Wood the first show after  the war was No No Nanette then  The Girl Friend, Ten Little Niggers,  The Blue Goose, A Man About The House and Distinguished  Gathering  to name but a few.  
Amateur Operatics
Bacup Amatuers
The Public Hall had been built, by 1878  and consisted of  six lock up shops on  the ground floor, with six rooms at the  back for storage. The Public Hall which  was built to hold 800-900 people, held a  Skating Rink  and stage for shows and  other performances, such as those  performed by the Rossendale Theate 
Skating at the Public Hall.
Bacup Public Hall
The Kozy Cinema The Kozy showed silent films changing the progr­amme each Thursday and Monday, admission being 3d to 9d(01d money). Matinees were held Tues­day and Saturday at 2pm admission being 1d, 3d and 5d. The pictures were shown with breaks in between for the supposed spoken word to be shown and it was a succ­essful type of entertainment. Sometimes at the Kozy when films were shown with a musical background, as a special attraction local artists such as John Wille Thompson (Bass,) A Cooper (Tenor), Sarah Beswick (Soprano) were engaged to sing songs (that appeared in the picture) during the special interval, from the stage in front of the screen. This was indeed a special feature when the film was not changed, as was usual, but was on for six nights running. The Kozy and King's cinema at Waterfoot were under the same man­agement so used to join at films and this was done by showing a film at one cinema and then a lad on a bike would strap the cannister containing the film on his back and take it from one cinema to the other and vice versa. On occasions there would be a delay and people would be kept waiting for the next film. Films broke regularly passing through the projector and the lights used to go on until a repair was made. The Regal Cinema must have looked quite  stunning when it was first built by the Rossendale Land and Building Company Limited, opening on the 7th September 1931 one year after the first talking picture was shown at the Empire Cinema (Royal Court Theatre) in March 1930. Built on the site of the Bacup Public Hall and Gem Electric Picture Company, which was renamed the Kozy, 10 months after undergoing a £10,000 renovation grant the cinema closed, the last film shown on July 7th 1966 was “ The Silencers”. For 16 months from then to December 1967 the Regal operated mainly as a Bingo Hall apart from screening children’s matinees on Saturday afternoons. On its reopening, the first screening was The Family Way, starring Hayley Mills. In 1999 the cinema closed once again being sold in 2005 for £181, 000 featuring the following year on the BBC daytime TV programme Homes Under the Hammer.    
The Regal Cinema
Regal Cinema
Royal Court Theater
Working Men’s Clubs  Stacksteads Working Men’s Club In 1884 Stacksteads Working Mens Club put on its annual dog, pigeon, puktry, cat and rabbit show. It attracted  500 participants. Some from as far away as Birmingham. In additions to these types of shows the club put on shows from October to July with similar concerts at Easter Whitsuntide and Christmas. Chess Draughts and cards were a favourite indoor pastime at the Victoria Working Men’s Club. The club belonged to various card and billiard leagues. In 1895 and 1896 four members were cautioned for gambling and for acting as bookmakers within the club.
Stacksteads Working Mens Club.