OVER the decades Keighley has had eight cinemas – though never more than six at once – but the last, which opened with the classic Lost Horizon in 1938, was our art deco 'super cinema', the Ritz.

Designed by Keighley-born architect A Heslop Antrum, seating 1,500 and guaranteed "absolutely fireproof", the Ritz set out to "lead the way in luxury cinema construction and accommodation".

With a staff of nearly 40, it boasted a resident organist, a hundred-seater cafe open for ten-and-a-half hours a day and (a sign of changing times) a car park for patrons. There was even a stage and dressing-rooms to cater for variety turns.

Its decorations were in "a warm shade of pink", while the pay-box, in a spacious vestibule, was supplemented by a second "to cope with any abnormal rush". Approximately a million bricks had gone into its construction.

It closed in 1974. Despite attempts by local councillors, an educational services committee and Keighley Amateur Operatic and Dramatic Society to acquire the building for use as an arts centre and theatre, it converted to bingo.

Notice the Leeda's Ices van belonging to a well-known former business on the opposite side of Alice Street.

Both Alice Street photographs are from the collection of Kevin Seaton, of Shann Lane, Keighley.