Ellen's Cinema Bucket List

Ellen Cheshire
10 hours ago
6 min read

Updated: 12 minutes ago

Nestled innocently within my main cinema bucket list are four entries that could each stand as their own separate quests. Since they all share a similar goal - exploring the UK and Ireland through their cinematic venues - I’ve combined them here for convenience. These are: visiting the other six cinemas in the small chain that my local Bognor Picturedrome belongs to; ticking off all independent cinemas in Sussex; seeing films or concerts at venues with cinema organs (from the Cinema Organ Association’s list); and experiencing the 50 best cinemas in the UK and Ireland, as ranked by Phil de Semlyen in Time Out (September 2024). I have also popped in the geographic list a few other cinemas which I'd like to visit sometime.

I’ve marked which ones I’d visited prior to September 2024 with a ✅, and I’ll update the list with a 🍿 icon for the ones visited as part of my cinema bucket list quest. Each trip will be a little adventure, whether it’s for a historic film, a quirky indie screening, or a concert on a majestic cinema organ.

Picturedrome Cinemas

Picturedrome — Bognor Regis ✅
Plaza — Dorchester
Plaza — Devizes
Maxime — Blackwood
Luxe — Wisbech
Century — Clacton-on-Sea
Carlton Cinema — Westgate-on-Sea

Independent Cinemas of Sussex

West Sussex

Dome Cinema — Worthing ✅
Worthing Connaught — Worthing ✅
Capitol Cinema — Horsham
Everyman Cinema — Horsham
The Atrium Cinema — East Grinstead
Picturedrome — Bognor Regis ✅
The Hawth Cinema — Crawley
Chichester Cinema at New Park — Chichester ✅
Windmill Cinema — Littlehampton ✅
Orion Cinema — Burgess Hill
Slindon Cinema — Slindon ✅

East Sussex

Lewes Depot Cinema — Lewes ✅
Kino Rye — Rye
Picture House Uckfield — Uckfield
Duke of York’s Picturehouse — Brighton ✅
Duke’s at Komedia — Brighton ✅
Whitewall — Brighton
Electric Palace — Hastings
Kino-Teatr — St Leonard's
Towner — Eastbourne

UK Venues with Regular Cinema Organ Events

Singing Hills Golf Course – Albourne
Astoria Centre – Barnsley
Congregational Church – Beer
Tower Ballroom – Blackpool
Town Hall – Bilston
Town Hall – Burton on Trent
Pavilion Theatre – Bournemouth
Royalty Cinema – Bowness
The Grange – Cannock
St John Vianney Church – Clayhall
Thursford Collection – Fakenham
Thorngate Hall – Gosport
Fentham Hall – Hampton-in-Arden
Community Centre – Harworth
Town Hall – Henley on Thames
New Victoria Centre – Howden-le-Wear
Castle Hill United Reformed Church – Ipswich
Villa Gaiety – Isle of Man
Musical Museum at Kew Bridge – London ✅
Regent Street Cinema – London
Troxy – Stepney, London
Town Hall – Louth
The Grange Musical Collection – Norfolk
Town Hall – Ossett
Theatre Organ Heritage Centre – Peel Green
Paramount Cinema – Penistone
Burtey Fen Collection – Pinchbeck
Pollokshaws Hall – Pollokshaws
Rye College – Rye
Community Centre – Ryehope
Victoria Hall – Saltaire
Electric Picture Palace – Southwold
Organ Theatre – St Albans
Town Hall – Stockport
Pipes in the Peaks – Thorpe
Neuadd Pendre – Tywyn
East Sussex National Golf Resort – Uckfield
Leisure Centre – Woking
Assembly Hall – Worthing ✅

Time Out’s Top 50 Independent Cinemas

The Stella Cinema Rathmines — Dublin, Ireland
Glasgow Film Theatre — Glasgow, Scotland
BFI Southbank — London (South Bank) ✅
The Cinema in the Power Station — London (Battersea)
Hailsham Pavilion — East Sussex
Odeon Luxe Leicester Square — London (Leicester Square)
HOME — Manchester
Cameo Picturehouse — Edinburgh, Scotland
Zeffirellis — Ambleside, Cumbria
Prince Charles Cinema — London (West End) ✅
Queen’s Film Theatre — Belfast, Northern Ireland
Curzon Soho — London (Soho)✅
Savoy Cinema — Penzance, Cornwall
Duke of York’s Picturehouse — Brighton, East Sussex ✅
Light House Cinema — Dublin, Ireland
Everyman Bath — Bath, Somerset
The Birks Cinema — Aberfeldy, Scotland
The Electric Palace — Harwich, Essex
Aldeburgh Cinema — Suffolk
Ultimate Picture Palace — Oxford, Oxfordshire ✅
Genesis Cinema — London (Mile End)
Hyde Park Picture House — Leeds, West Yorkshire ✅
Peckhamplex — Peckham, London
The Rex — Berkhamsted, Hertfordshire
Irish Film Institute — Dublin, Ireland
Lewes Depot Cinema — Lewes, East Sussex ✅
Barn Cinema — Totnes, Devon
Dome Cinema — Worthing, West Sussex ✅
Ciné Lumière — South Kensington, London ✅
The Magic Lantern — Gwynedd, Wales
The Hippodrome — Bo’ness, Scotland ✅
Picturehouse Central — Piccadilly Circus, London ✅
Broadway Cinema & Theatre — Letchworth, Hertfordshire
Strand Arts Centre — Belfast, Northern Ireland
Cube Cinema — Bristol
The Lexi Cinema — Kensal Rise, London
Broadway Cinema — Nottingham, Nottinghamshire
The Palace Cinema — Broadstairs, Kent ✅
Highland Cinema — Fort William, Scotland
Everyman St John’s — Manchester
The Station Cinema — Richmond, North Yorkshire
Rio Cinema — Dalston, London ✅
The Odyssey Cinema — St Albans, Hertfordshire
Screen on the Green — Islington, London ✅
Showroom Cinema — Sheffield, South Yorkshire
Phoenix Cinema — East Finchley, London ✅
Close-Up Cinema — Shoreditch, London
The Castle Cinema — Homerton, London
La Charette — Gorseinon, Wales
Lynton Cinema — Lynton, Devon

UK & Ireland Cinema Bucket List — Fully Combined & Geographic

England

London & Surrounds

BFI Southbank — South Bank, London ✅
Curzon Soho — Soho, London ✅
Prince Charles Cinema — West End, London ✅
Phoenix Cinema — East Finchley, London ✅
Genesis Cinema — Mile End, London
Ciné Lumière — South Kensington, London ✅
Picturehouse Central — Piccadilly Circus, London ✅
Close-Up Cinema — Shoreditch, London
Screen on the Green — Islington, London ✅
The Castle Cinema — Homerton, London
Rio Cinema — Dalston, London ✅
Regent Street Cinema — London
Troxy — Stepney, London
Musical Museum at Kew Bridge — London ✅
The Cinema in the Power Station — London (Battersea)
Peckhamplex — Peckham, London
St John Vianney Church — Clayhall, Ilford

Sussex

Dome Cinema — Worthing ✅
Worthing Connaught — Worthing ✅
Capitol Cinema — Horsham
Everyman Cinema — Horsham
Bognor Picturedrome — Bognor Regis ✅
The Hawth Cinema — Crawley
Chichester Cinema at New Park — Chichester ✅
Windmill Cinema — Littlehampton ✅
Orion Cinema — Burgess Hill
Slindon Cinema — Slindon ✅
Singing Hills Golf Course — Albourne
Lewes Depot Cinema — Lewes ✅
Kino Rye — Rye
Rye College — Rye
Picture House Uckfield — Uckfield
East Sussex National Golf Resort — Uckfield
Duke of York’s Picturehouse — Brighton ✅
Duke’s at Komedia — Brighton ✅
Whitewall — Brighton
Electric Palace — Eastbourne
Hailsham Pavilion — Hailsham

Other South East & East England

Organ Theatre — St Albans, Hertfordshire
The Odyssey Cinema — St Albans, Hertfordshire
Broadway Cinema & Theatre — Letchworth, Hertfordshire
The Rex — Berkhamsted, Hertfordshire
Aldeburgh Cinema — Aldeburgh, Suffolk
Electric Picture Palace — Southwold, Suffolk
Castle Hill United Reformed Church — Ipswich, Suffolk
Luxe — Wisbech, Cambridgeshire
Century — Clacton-on-Sea, Essex
The Electric Palace — Harwich, Essex
Carlton Cinema — Westgate-on-Sea, Kent
The Palace Cinema — Broadstairs, Kent ✅
Thorngate Hall — Gosport, Hampshire
The Living Room Cinema — Liphook, Hampshire
Town Hall — Henley on Thames, Oxfordshire
Ultimate Picture Palace — Oxford, Oxfordshire ✅

South West England

Savoy Cinema — Penzance, Cornwall
Everyman Bath — Bath, Somerset
Barn Cinema — Totnes, Devon
Lynton Cinema — Lynton, Devon
Cube Cinema — Bristol, Gloucestershire
Plaza — Dorchester, Dorset
Plaza — Devizes, Wiltshire
Pavilion Theatre — Bournemouth, Dorset
Congregational Church — Beer, Devon

Midlands & North England

Hyde Park Picture House — Leeds, West Yorkshire ✅
Victoria Hall — Saltaire, Shipley, West Yorkshire
Town Hall — Ossett, West Yorkshire
Showroom Cinema — Sheffield, South Yorkshire ✅
Astoria Centre — Barnsley, South Yorkshire
Paramount Cinema — Penistone, South Yorkshire
Everyman St John’s — Manchester, Greater Manchester
HOME — Manchester, Greater Manchester
Theatre Organ Heritage Centre — Peel Green, Greater Manchester
Town Hall — Bilston, West Midlands
Fentham Hall — Hampton-in-Arden, West Midlands
The Grange — Cannock, West Midlands
Town Hall — Burton on Trent, Staffordshire
New Victoria Centre — Howden-le-Wear, County Durham
Community Centre — Harworth, Nottinghamshire
Burtey Fen Collection — Pinchbeck, Lincolnshire
The Kinema In The Woods — Woodhall Spa, Lincolnshire
Town Hall — Louth, Lincolnshire
Community Centre — Ryhope, Sunderland, Tyne and Wear
Pipes in the Peaks — Thorpe, Derbyshire
Tower Ballroom — Blackpool, Lancashire
Royalty Cinema — Bowness, Cumbria

Scotland

Glasgow Film Theatre — Glasgow
Highland Cinema — Fort William, Highland
The Birks Cinema — Aberfeldy, Perth and Kinross
The Hippodrome — Bo’ness, Falkirk ✅
Cameo Picturehouse — Edinburgh
Pollokshaws Hall — Pollokshaws, Glasgow

Wales

The Magic Lantern — Tywyn, Gwynedd
Neuadd Pendre — Tywyn, Gwynedd
La Charette — Gorseinon, Swansea
Maxime — Blackwood, Caerphilly

Isle of Man

Villa Gaiety — Isle of Man

Northern Ireland

Queen’s Film Theatre — Belfast
Strand Arts Centre — Belfast

Ireland

The Stella Cinema Rathmines — Dublin
Irish Film Institute — Dublin
Light House Cinema — Dublin

That’s the list! It’s already an incredible collection of independent and historic cinemas across the UK & Ireland, but there are always hidden gems out there waiting to be discovered. If you know of a quirky, charming or must-visit indie cinema that I’ve missed, get in touch.