97-year-old Lake District cinema faces closure after leaseholder ends tenancy

A 97-year-old cinema in the Lake District is facing closure because the current leaseholder has ended their tenancy.

The Royalty cinema in Bowness on Windermere opened in 1927.

Now Westmorland and Furness Council who own the building say they’re hoping to find someone else to take it over as soon as possible.

Charles Morris has worked there since 1992.

Charles told our reporter Katie Templeton-Knight that he will miss working at The Royalty.

He said: "The overheads, the wages keep going up and up the utilities, the gas and the electricity Horrendous.

"Now, I mean, a big building like this takes a lot of heat. We have to put the boiler in winter. The boiler has to come on about 3 hours before the public arrive.

"You can imagine the cost of that. So it is all just getting rid of it just too much or any."

Since Covid, Charles says fewer customers have come through their doors and that competition from streaming services also played their part.

He added: "In those first ten or twelve years [of working at the cinema] it was really busy.

"We had Jurassic Park and we were full every night, we were doing late shows once a week, like the Exorcist which at that time wasn't available on DVD or video."

In it’s glory days, the Royalty was also a theatre and dance hall, hosting both professional and amateur stage stars.

The Royalty is also home to one of the last working Wurlitzer organs used originally to accompany silent films.

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