Ritz Cinema

95-99 High Street West,
Wallsend, NE28 8JD

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project
project on November 10, 2015 at 12:01 pm

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

geordielad
geordielad on May 10, 2015 at 9:48 pm

Saw the building converted as a pub. Ask the features have been hidden or demolished. Posterior of entrance foyer, inner foyer and circle staircase demolished and no access, New pub is modern box within building. Traffic considering the nearby wallaw approach compared to this. Exterior is better as paint removed and resorted but grills and entrance doors gone now gates and new signage I’d not in keeping with original design

geordielad
geordielad on August 1, 2014 at 8:21 am

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 :( :(

Ian
Ian on February 20, 2013 at 1:22 am

I think you may be right JohnGn – it was referred to as the ABC Ritz, but it closed about the time the circuit was rebranded with the sole ABC name.

JohnGn
JohnGn on February 19, 2013 at 11:08 pm

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”.