MANY a happy time will have been had at the former Regal cinema, in Keighley Road.

The date guide on the old photo is 1960 so the showing of the film It Only Rains on Sunday, starring Googie Withers and Jack Warner, must have been a popular re-run as it was released in 1947.

The cinema is understood to have opened in 1928 as the Morrisseum, named after the owner Mark Morriss. It was renamed Regal in 1932 and later became an Odeon. It ceased to be a cinema in 1988 when it became a bingo hall.

The premises was also used for the annual Ermysted's prize-giving ceremony as the old assembly hall at the school was said to be too small. By this time the cinema had been renamed the Odeon.

The ground floor housed a number of businesses including a stationers and typewriter sales and repair business and an outfitters.

Today the premises is a nightclub named Kooky and the ground floor is home to a home furnishings shop and a bar.

Sadly, the third lockdown we are currently going through has closed the doors temporarily.

The old photograph is reproduced by kind permission of the Ellwood family, Mrs V Rowley, North Yorkshire County Council and Skipton library.