SecretLeeds - History, culture and architecture in Leeds

The site of the long demolished Ritz Cinema on Vicar Lane has been derelict for many years and seemingly ignored. There has though been a security fence around it for many years. Passing by on July 11 2017 I noticed that there was some art work being put on the fence so being in the area I went to see it today (July 13 2017) and found there was more art work.

By pure chance I had taken a photo on July 4 2017 before the art work started showing the site from the top of New York Road (Vicar Lane is just out of view on the right). That is the first photo and shows some of the nice purple flowered Buddleia that has grown wild at the site. The second photo was taken across Vicar Lane today (July 13 2017) and shows the art work. The third photo is a close-up of one of the art work images. As there is a limit of 3 photos per post I shall post close-ups of the 3 other subjects in my next post in this thread. It's good to see something being done at the site.

These are the close-ups of the 3 other art work subjects that were on the security fence at the site of the old Ritz Cinema on Vicar Lane, Leeds. I took these photos today (July 13 2017).

Excellent shots as ever,Leodian.

Just noticed the second to last shot, of the carts going over Leeds bridge,is a pastiche reverse angle still from Louis Le Prince's film taken at the same spot in 1888

Image taken from BBC webpage.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/local/leeds/hi/pe ... 909911.stm

Hi TABBYCAT. Thanks for your nice comment .

Thanks also for your interesting note about the scene that is an image in Louis Le Prince's film. I had not spotted that.

Thanks for the pics Leodian, I don't get into Leeds much nowadays so updates on changes are very much appreciated.

The round sepia picture is a still from Garden Scene 1888.

Look forward to more.

Leodian wrote:Hi TABBYCAT. Thanks for your nice comment .

Thanks also for your interesting note about the scene that is an image in Louis Le Prince's film. I had not spotted that.

I'll go further and say the scenes you capture are more than something nice to look at, they are in my opinion an accurate historical record in many cases of the changing face of Leeds as it's happening.

I sincerely hope they are well preserved from a digital standpoint as they could be used as an important resource for future historians given the excellent written record (time place date etc) that accompanies them.

Leodian wrote: ... By pure chance I had taken a photo on July 4 2017 before the art work started ...

Excellent pictures as others have said. The up-to-the-minute before and after records are a valuable resource which will have an interest for others in future when they are wondering or trying to remember when these things were done. Keep it up!

I wouldn't have spotted the two Louis le Prince references had they not been pointed out. Given that another panel shows the cinema itself, it begged the question of whether the panel showing the buildings was cinema related.

The picture looked tantalisingly familiar (sure I'd seen it on here) and finally tracked it down. It shows the Hope Inn, with Sheepshank Hall in the background, which stood on the site of the demolished Ritz/ABC.

Image on leodis:
http://www.leodis.net/display.aspx?reso ... SPLAY=FULL

and the thread where it was originally on here:
http://secretleeds.com/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=3411

Thanks to all for greatly adding to the interest of this thread .

I had not originally realised that the 4 individual scenes had a connection with films. I have now found the image of the Ritz Cinema in the Leodis website where it states it was taken on 30 May 1947. This is the link to the Leodis image:- http://www.leodis.net/display.aspx?reso ... ifier=3617

This is a link to the brief movie of the Roundhay Garden Scene that was taken by Louis le Prince in 1888:- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roundhay_Garden_Scene. You have to click on the arrow on the still image to see the movie.

This is a link to the brief movie on Leeds Bridge that was also taken by Louis le Prince in 1888:- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wTlXaqG4VyE. You may have to watch an advert first, sorry!

Thanks to rikj this is the link to the image in Leodis of the Hope Inn:- http://www.leodis.net/display.aspx?reso ... SPLAY=FULL

On the 1891 map the Hope Inn is just slightly north of where the Ritz would have been built, it would have covered the large house to the right in the picture.