Ritz Cinema

Wetherspoon have absolutely butchered the original interior and virtually nothing remains apart from the foyer ceilings. The entrance foyer walls have been stripped back to bare brick and the art deco staircase up to the circle/balcony has been ripped out. When you see the ceilings they have retained you can imagine how impressive it would’ve been if they had retained the rest of the original decor. The pub only uses the ground floor leaving the balcony and original art deco ceiling unused and sealed off by a false ceiling.The Ritz survived virtually unaltered from 1939 up until 2014 when Wetherspoon acquired and altered it. What a shame the Ritz hadn’t been listed like the ex Wallaw cinema in blyth, designed by the same architects and also now a Wetherspoon. In the case of the Wallaw the majority of the architecture/decor survives and its impressive, thank god it was listed. When you look at the Wallaw you realise how impressive the Ritz could’ve been and what has been lost

This is going to be a Wetherspoons Pub. Sadly it was never listed and looking at the proposal I understand the foyer (which has a wonderful ceiling hidden beneath) and ticket office is being demolished to create a open smoking area. I also understand that the fantastic auditorium ceiling is being hidden with a suspended ceiling :( :(

I don’t think that it was ever renamed ABC. From it’s press advertising, it would appear to have retained the Ritz name until the end. The last film to be shown was “A Kind of Loving”.