Keighley Rugby Union star Ellie Kildunne, the owner of the Picture House cinema Charles Morris, and the Keighley woman who heads Bradford 2025 UK City of Culture, Shanaz Gulzar, have been recognised in the New Year Honours.
Keighley-born Ellie, who scored the opening try in England’s World Cup final, has been appointed an MBE, along with Charles and Shanaz.
Kildunne began her playing career with Keighley Albion rugby league team and the Keighlians rugby union squad, and now plays for London club Harlequins.
She was runner-up in the BBC Sports Personality of the Year, and was named World Rugby Women’s 15s Player of the Year in 2024.
Ellie was awarded the MBE for services to Rugby Union Football.
Charles Morris gained his award for his services to cinema in the North of England.
Mr Morris reopened the North Street venue in 1996 after the co-operative that previously ran it went out of business.
His company, Northern Morris Associated Cinemas, also owns and runs the Plaza in Skipton, the Rex in Elland, the Cottage Road Cinema in Leeds and the Roxy in Ulverston.
A native of the Wirral, he now lives near Grange-over-Sands in Cumbria.
Mr Morris developed an interest in cinema at an early age after seeing the film Lady and the Tramp at his local cinema, the Winter Gardens, in his home town of Hoylake. He was allowed to visit the projection room aged nine and began helping behind the scenes, projecting his first film unassisted to a paying audience at the age of 15. He later successfully defeated plans for that cinema to be turned into a bingo hall.
While at university Mr Morris was made a life member of the students’ union for services to the Film Society, then initially pursued a career in engineering but maintained his interest in cinemas as a part-time projectionist in 12 different cinemas over the years.
With the encouragement and active participation of his late wife Judy, he ran a pilot venture at the Victoria Hall, Settle, for two months in the summer of 1986.
Two years later he reopened the derelict Rex cinema in Elland, together with his friend Peter Berry and his wife. He gave up engineering in 1992 to take on the Royalty, Bowness and followed this with the cinemas at Keighley and Skipton.
In 2003 he reopened the recently closed ABC cinema in Lancaster (the former Odeon) which he renamed the Regal and ran it till the promised multiplex cinema eventually opened in 2006.
In 2005 he saved the Cottage Road Cinema, Headingley, from closure and similarly rescued the Roxy, Ulverston the following year.
Mr Morris said: “It is a great honour to receive the award, but it is very sad that my wife Judy, who was equally deserving of it, should have missed the announcement by just three months.
“We both worked extremely hard building up and running this little group of cinemas, though it has been fun for a lot of the time. We hope for and rely on the continued and increased patronage of our customers to keep the enterprise going.”
Ellie and Charles are among more than 40 local people who will feature in an upcoming photographic project, K-Town People, produced by professional photographer Bob Smith as part of the Bradford 2025 UK City of Culture Our Patch community programme.
The creative director of Bradford Culture Company Shanaz Gulzar, which has run the City of Culture events, was also appointed an MBE.
The Keighley-born visual artist has a degree in fine art and was appointed to head the year-long creative celebration of the Bradford district.
Keighley woman Jo Quinton-Tulloch was appointed an OBE for services to the arts. She is director of the National Science and Media Museum in Bradford.
She has a degree in biological sciences and a master’s in science communication and has worked at the Science Museum in London, as well as the National Maritime Museum in Cornwall. She moved to Bradford in 2012.
