Abbeydale Picture House begins a new chapter as its basement Ballroom opens

For more than a century the Abbeydale Picture House has been one of Sheffield's best loved buildings, and in autumn 2025 it took an exciting step towards a brighter future. The Abbeydale Ballroom, in the basement of the Grade II listed former cinema on Abbeydale Road, held an industry night on the last day of September and an official soft launch on 1 October.

The venue is run by True North Brew Co, the Sheffield brewery and hospitality company behind the Forum and Riverside Kelham, which acquired the Picture House in January 2025. Owner Kane Yeardley described it as "the biggest and perhaps the most challenging project we've ever undertaken", adding: "When we heard larger national companies were interested, it only strengthened our resolve to become its custodians."

The building has quite a story to tell. It was opened by the Lord Mayor of Sheffield on 20 December 1920, and the first film shown was The Call of the Road. With 1,560 seats, it was the city's largest and most luxurious cinema, and it also boasted a ballroom and a billiard hall. Its cream and gold colour scheme, mahogany seats trimmed in green velvet and mosaic foyer floor earned it the nickname of a picture palace.

The cinema closed in 1975, and in the decades since, a string of devoted custodians, from the Friends of Abbeydale Picture House to the arts charity CADS, kept the dream of restoration alive.

The new Ballroom nods to that heritage. Sheffield Magazine reports a pool hall with nine tables and a small stage, a cosier Green Room with darts and board games, and a basement kitchen serving sourdough pizza from True North's Slice Vice. There is an art deco cocktail bar with arches and chandeliers, plus framed posters of films shown at the Picture House more than 60 years ago.

The bigger prize is still to come. True North set out plans to spend around two years restoring the building, with particular attention to the roof, before opening the rest of the venue for live entertainment.

For now, the Ballroom gives Sheffielders a fresh reason to step inside a building that has meant so much to the city. As True North put it, "here's to the past that shaped us, and the future we can't wait to share."

The Abbeydale Ballroom is open seven days a week on Abbeydale Road, and updates on the wider restoration are shared by True North.