Ritz Cinema

Hi davbrad. Do you have any photos of your mum or Tom Bradbury at the Roxy? If so, I would love to see them. The projectors, one of which is now fully restored and in regular use in my garage cinema, were installed in 1947, so I am running a machine that your mum and Tom Bradbury worked on all those years ago. If you send me your email address, I can email you some photos of the machines in the Roxy/Ritz before I removed them and of the one in my cinema. And, if you are ever in the area (I live a couple of miles from Surbiton in Hinchley Wood), you are VERY welcome to visit for a show. You can even operate the projector your mum worked on. My private email is .co.uk (For some reason, this site does not like the .co.uk, so you will need to type the whole address and not just click on the link)

I played bingo there in the 6 months leading up to closure. The Manageress tried very hard to keep it open, but dwindling numbers (there were two nationals in Kingston, Top Rank and Coral, to compete against) and rising costs forced closure. On one night near the end I remember donating a case of bubbly to supplement the prizes as there was so little prize money! Shame, as it was a friendly club.

I have converted the arc lamp to take a 36volt 11 amp halogen bulb. I did so by fixing the lamp holder to the front carbon guide, so that I can use the original arc mirror, periscope and arc alignment card, and I even have carbons in place. Now that my son has left home and I have his bedroom, which overlooks the back garden, I intend to have a couple of projectors (I have several more vintage machines waiting to be reassembled) pointing into the garden for outdoor shows. I will then be running carbon arcs. I have a couple of single phase mercury rectifiers.

Yes, I rebuilt one projector and have kept the other for spares. My second machine came from the Premier, Enfield, which is also featured on Cinema Treasures. Unfortunately, this site is not accepting pictures, but if anyone is interested in seeing photos of my garage cinema, please email me on .co.uk Likewise if you are in the area (I am near Esher, Surbiton and Kingston) and would like to come for a show, just email me.

A little info about its bingo days and some pics here.

View link

I heard that “The Ritz Club” may also have had problems due to the London hotel of the same name objecting to the use of the name.
Slightly off topic regarding it’s cinematic heritage but of architectural / historical interest. A swimming pool was created in the basement of the building and still mostly exists. The beer cellar is in the pool itself, with the lower half of the walls still clad in small ceramic tiles. There are a number of hatches in the upper half of the wall giving access to the poolside which is largely untouched. A hatch in the cold cellar opens into one end of the pool where the round spa or jacuzzi can be seen.

Some current photographs of the Coronation Hall:
Exterior
http://www.flickr.com/photos/kevp/322477051/
View link
Auditorium (decorated for Christmas):
http://www.flickr.com/photos/stephad/3257110428/
Another couple of interior views:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/kevp/349183592/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/kevp/322477053/