Ritz Cinema
85 Skipton Road,
Harrogate,
HG1 4LF
85 Skipton Road,
Harrogate,
HG1 4LF
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Opened on 24th December 1914, the Palace Theatre was a simple cine-variety theatre with 600 seats on a single raked floor. A fairly deep stage was provided with dressing room accommodation under. There was also an orchestra pit. The entrance foyer was adapted from a terraced house on Skipton Road, and a long passage then led to the near freestanding auditorium behind. From the 1920’s film fare dominated the entertainment provided at the Palace Theatre and on 27th November 1947 it was renamed the Ritz Cinema.
It closed on the 6th October 1962 with Pietro Albani in “Prisoner in the Iron Mask” and John Agar in “Journey to the Seventh Planet”. It was immediately converted to a bingo hall, known as The Lucky Numbers Club. The building had hardly any structural alterations in its history and still retained the stage, used to accommodate some of the bingo patrons. The bingo club was closed in 2013.
In 2016 the auditorium was demolished and housing was built on the site. The former entrance and foyer have since been converted into housing.
Contributed by
Ian Grundy
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Recent comments (view all 3 comments)
Exterior photo of the Palace / Ritz – as the Lucky Numbers Bingo Club here:–
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and an interior photo here:–
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The bingo closed in 2013 and the building is now vacant.
The auditorium was demolished a couple of years ago and residential accommodation built. In 2018 the foyer is being converted into flats. I understood there was already a flat above the foyer, let on a long lease.