A Brief History -
The Ritz opened in 1937 and was operated by the Union Cinemas circuit. The cinema was taken over by ABC later that year.
It underwent refurbishment in the 50's and was later renamed 'ABC', as with many other cinemas across the UK.
The cinema closed as the ABC on 29th October 1977 with the film "Exorcist II", and was reopened the next day as 'The Ritz'. Shortly after, the cinema was divided into two separate screens.
In the 80's, a small fire caused some damage to screen 2, but it was cleaned up and reopened shortly.
In 1984, The Ritz closed as a cinema, and was purchased by new owners, who then operated the building as a bingo hall, under the name - 'The Ritz Bingo Club'.
It remained as a bingo hall until its last days, when it was last operated as a 'Gala Bingo' branch.
Our Visit -
Visited with @AndyK
After checking out some leads one Sunday, we were off to McNaldo's before heading home after the days efforts, when we drove past this place purely by chance.
A quick google search revealed the potential niceness that was inside, and a report on here from 2008.
It was definitely worth a shot, seeing as it seemed that explorers hadn't been inside in quite some time, and that it may have had some time to 'mature' so to speak.
We returned the following weekend, and after some time, we'd got inside. It was apparent that some kids had got inside maybe a few years years ago and caused some damage, put some shit graffiti on the walls, etc.
But the place was still largely intact, and indeed worth taking some photos of. Peely paint has started to appear, and sadly, water damage has too. Hopefully this place will get another lease of life, but it's not really looking hopeful at the moment.
I didn't take many photos in here due to the lighting situation, and to be honest, besides the auditorium and the entrance there wasn't really a lot to see, though it's a really nice building in itself.
We did see the old projector room from its cinema days, but any equipment was long gone.
Shots -
Balcony -
Bingo'd t'fuck -
Stalls -
Etc -
View from the stage -
Entrance Lobby -
Stairs joining the lobby with the balcony level -
Cheers
The Ritz opened in 1937 and was operated by the Union Cinemas circuit. The cinema was taken over by ABC later that year.
It underwent refurbishment in the 50's and was later renamed 'ABC', as with many other cinemas across the UK.
The cinema closed as the ABC on 29th October 1977 with the film "Exorcist II", and was reopened the next day as 'The Ritz'. Shortly after, the cinema was divided into two separate screens.
In the 80's, a small fire caused some damage to screen 2, but it was cleaned up and reopened shortly.
In 1984, The Ritz closed as a cinema, and was purchased by new owners, who then operated the building as a bingo hall, under the name - 'The Ritz Bingo Club'.
It remained as a bingo hall until its last days, when it was last operated as a 'Gala Bingo' branch.
Our Visit -
Visited with @AndyK
After checking out some leads one Sunday, we were off to McNaldo's before heading home after the days efforts, when we drove past this place purely by chance.
A quick google search revealed the potential niceness that was inside, and a report on here from 2008.
It was definitely worth a shot, seeing as it seemed that explorers hadn't been inside in quite some time, and that it may have had some time to 'mature' so to speak.
We returned the following weekend, and after some time, we'd got inside. It was apparent that some kids had got inside maybe a few years years ago and caused some damage, put some shit graffiti on the walls, etc.
But the place was still largely intact, and indeed worth taking some photos of. Peely paint has started to appear, and sadly, water damage has too. Hopefully this place will get another lease of life, but it's not really looking hopeful at the moment.
I didn't take many photos in here due to the lighting situation, and to be honest, besides the auditorium and the entrance there wasn't really a lot to see, though it's a really nice building in itself.
We did see the old projector room from its cinema days, but any equipment was long gone.
Shots -
Balcony -
Bingo'd t'fuck -
Stalls -
Etc -
View from the stage -
Entrance Lobby -
Stairs joining the lobby with the balcony level -
Cheers
