Located in the centre of the town opposite the Town Hall, the Ritz was opened as a 1,600 seat cinema on December 3rd, 1934. It was later renamed the Essoldo in 1954 at which point the second screen was added.

 

In 1972 Classic acquired the building and added a third screen. In 1982 it was taken over by Cannon at which point it became an MGM, then briefly a Virgin and finally in 1996 an ABC. The last film was shown on Saturday October 29th 2000.

 

Since then it stood empty and was finally demolished in 2014. These photos were taken just before the demolition after the site had been fumigated and stripped out.