What’s on at the pictures today?

Nothing.

No films are being shown, at present.

The page turned on a chapter of St Andrews life on when the New Picture House held its final screenings as a three-screen cinema on September 2024. The NPH has been a cultural staple of St Andrews since opening in December 1930. Generations of locals, tourists and university students have viewed its billing. My first memory is the Sound of Music in 1964. My wife and I enjoyed the Chariots of Fire re-release in July 2024…. (a key part filmed on the West Sands), it’s about Olympics etc 1924, a hundred years earlier. Within weeks, after almost 94 years as an independent picture house, the venue closed its doors for a major refurbishment.

The project is underwritten by Tiger Woods and Justin Timberlake. The premises are being transformed into a "premium sports and entertainment gastropub." The Category B Listed Building is “a major example of its particular period, style and building type;”there was much controversy and public representation during the planning process. The final outcome sounds like a good compromise - the venue will retain two refurbished cinemas, incorporate the new facilities, and be sensitively addressed. It’s due to open this summer.

A little bit of fence painting was done either side of being in town. It wasn’t warm.