Ellen's Cinema Bucket List
- Ellen Cheshire
- Aug 2
- 7 min read
Updated: Aug 9
Nestled innocently within my main 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). These lists are below. For planning purposes I have combined them all in a geographic list, in which I've sneakily added a few other must-visit cinemas.
I’ve marked which ones I’d visited prior to the publication of Time Out's September 2024 list with a ✅, and I’ll update the list with a 🍿 icon for the ones visited as part of this cinema bucket list quest. Each trip will be a little adventure, whether it’s for a classic 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-Se
Carlton Cinema — Westgate-on-Sea
🎞️Independent Cinemas and Film Clubs of Sussex
West Sussex
Dome Cinema — Worthing ✅
Worthing Connaught — Worthing ✅
Worthing Film Club — Worthing✅
Capitol Cinema — Horsham
Everyman Cinema — Horsham
The Atrium Cinema — East Grinstead
Picturedrome — Bognor Regis ✅
Great Takes Film Club, Regis School of Music — Bognor Regis ✅
Tulleys Drive In Cinema — Crawley
Selsey Cinema Club — Selsey
Windmill Cinema — Littlehampton ✅
Orion Cinema — Burgess Hill
Ropetackle Film Club — Shoreham
East Sussex
Luxor Revival Cinema — Lancing
Lewes Depot Cinema — Lewes ✅
Whitewall — Brighton
Fabrica — Brighton✅
Hurst Village Cinema — Hurstpierpoint
Kino Rye — Rye
Picture House Uckfield — Uckfield
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 🔝 ✅
Curzon Soho — Soho🔝✅
Prince Charles Cinema — West End🔝 ✅
Odeon Luxe Leicester Square — West End
Phoenix Cinema — East Finchley🔝 ✅
ArtHouse Cinema — Crouch End ✅🍿12/12/25: It Was Just An Accident
Genesis Cinema — Mile End🔝🍿13/4/26: The Drama
The Lexi Cinema — Kensal Rise, London🔝
Ciné Lumière — South Kensington🔝 ✅
Picturehouse Central — Piccadilly Circus🔝 ✅
Close-Up Cinema — Shoreditch🔝
The Arzner — Bermondsey ✅🍿9/1/26: Peter Hujar's Day
Screen on the Green — Islington🔝 ✅
The Castle Cinema — Homerton🔝 ✅🍿13/12/25: The Muppet Christmas Carol
Rio Cinema — Dalston🔝 ✅
The Nickel Cinema - Clerkenwell [From Time Out's Top 100 cinemas in the world list]
Regent Street Cinema — West End ♬
Troxy — Stepney ♬
Musical Museum at Kew Bridge — Kew ♬
The Cinema in the Power Station — Battersea🔝
Peckhamplex — Peckham🔝✅🍿29/7/26: The Invite
St John Vianney Church — Clayhall, Ilford ♬
The Well Walk Theatre — Hampstead [suggested by Deborah Goodman]
Sussex
Dome Cinema — Worthing🔝🎞️ ✅
Worthing Connaught — Worthing🎞️ ✅
Assembly Hall – Worthing ♬✅
Worthing Film Club — Worthing🎞️ ✅
Luxor Revival Cinema — Lancing 🎞️
Capitol Cinema — Horsham🎞️
Everyman Cinema — Horsham🎞️
Bognor Picturedrome — Bognor Regis🎞️ ✅
Great Takes Film Club, Regis School of Music — Bognor Regis 🎞️ ✅
Tulleys Drive In Cinema — Crawley🎞️
Chichester Cinema at New Park — Chichester🎞️ ✅
Selsey Cinema Club — Selsey 🎞️
Windmill Cinema — Littlehampton 🎞️✅
Orion Cinema — Burgess Hill🎞️
The Atrium Cinema — East Grinstead🎞️
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 🎞️✅
Fabrica — Brighton🎞️✅
Whitewall — Brighton🎞️
Ropetackle Film Club — Shoreham🎞️
Hurst Village Cinema — Hurstpierpoint🎞️
Towner Eastbourne🎞️
Electric Palace — Hastings🎞️
Kino-Teatr — St Leonard's🎞️
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 ♬
Thursford Collection – Fakenham, Norfolk ♬✅
The Grange Musical Collection – Norfolk ♬
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 [Looks interesting, fairly local to me]
Leisure Centre – Woking ♬
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🔝
The Station Cinema — Richmond, North Yorkshire🔝
Everyman St John’s — Manchester, Greater Manchester ♬
HOME — Manchester, Greater Manchester🔝
Theatre Organ Heritage Centre — Peel Green, Greater Manchester ♬
Town Hall – Stockport ♬
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 ♬
Broadway Cinema — Nottingham🔝
Community Centre — Harworth, Nottinghamshire ♬
Burtey Fen Collection — Pinchbeck, Lincolnshire ♬
The Kinema In The Woods — Woodhall Spa, Lincs [Suggested by John Ashbrook]
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🔝
Zeffirellis — Ambleside, Cumbria🔝
Scotland
Glasgow Film Theatre — Glasgow🔝
Pollokshaws Hall — Pollokshaws, Glasgow ♬
Cameo Picturehouse — Edinburgh🔝
The Hippodrome — Bo’ness, Falkirk 🔝✅
Highland Cinema — Fort William, Highland🔝
The Birks Cinema — Aberfeldy, Perth and Kinross🔝
Montrose Playhouse - Montrose [On the BIFA Cinema of the Year 2025 shortlist]
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.
As of 28 July 2026:
Total cinemas: 126
Visited: 32
Still to visit: 94
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