Designed by the cinema specialist Percy L Browne, this Art Deco-style building has long been a feature of High Street West. The Ritz had seats for 1,636 patrons and first opened its doors on 15 May 1939, with a screening of The Gangster’s Boy, starring Jackie Cooper. The last film show at The Ritz was on 8 September 1962. The building soon reopened as a bingo hall – which eventually closed on 9 October 2011.

A photograph and print of Robert Stephenson

The text reads: Robert Stephenson was born in Willington Quay, Northumberland, in 1803 and was an early railway engineer. The son of George Stephenson, the ‘Father of Railways’, Robert built on the achievements of his father. He spent three years working as a mining engineer in Columbia. When he returned, his father was building the Liverpool and Manchester Railway, and Robert developed the steam locomotive ‘Rocket’. He was appointed chief engineer of the London and Birmingham Railway in 1833, and by 1850 Robert had been involved in a third of the country’s railway systems. With Eaton Hodgkinson and William Fairbairn, he developed wrought iron tubular bridges such as the Britannia Bridge in Wales and was eventually commissioned to build railways in many other countries. In 1847, he was elected Member of Parliament for Whitby, and he held the seat until his death in 1859. Roberts’ death was widely mourned, and his funeral cortege was given permission by Queen Victoria to pass through Hyde Park, an honour previously reserved for royalty. He is buried in Westminster Abbey.

A photograph and text about Sting

The text reads: Rock star turned film star Sting was born in Wallsend. Autograph hunters besieged him when he returned to the North East to shoot scenes for his film Stormy Monday in and around Newcastle’s quayside.

A photograph of the filming of Get Carter at Wallsend in 1970, with actors George Sewell, Ian Hendry and Sir Michael Caine

Some of the bingo-inspired artwork within the pub

The text reads: After the last showing in The Ritz picture house in September 1962, the cinema reopened as a bingo hall operated by Mecca. During the 1960s, bingo callers attached names to the numbers, such as ‘Golden Gate’ for ball 8 and ‘Man Alive’ for ball 5. The Mecca bingo hall lasted nearly 50 years. ‘Full house’ was last heard on 9 October 2011.

The pub still has the original cinema seating and features

External photograph of the building – main entrance