High Street, Royalty Cinema

Opened on 17 October 1934. The architects were Marshall and Tweedy, the owners were E.J. Hinge, S. Bamford and Norman Chapman. The cinema had 1384 seats. The façade of the building was white. It had a dome on the roof which was lit inside with coloured lights and there were scarlet, yellow, green and blue neon tube lighting. The foyer was accessed through wide swinging doors and up a flight of stairs. The interior décor was shades of flame red fading into cream. The walls were rose-pink and cream with green and gold bases and there were rows of pink lights on the tiered celing. The aisles had luxuriously deep green and orange carpet. In the mid 1970s the owners proposed to demolish the cinema and replace it with a five-storey entertainments complex. The scheme was turned down. In June 1978 the Royalty was bought by Whitley Bay Entertainments (the owners of Spanish City). Plans to convert it into a bingo hall were opposed. By May 1980 the cinema was owned by Paul Burton, manager of Dexy's Midnight Runners. The Royalty held occasional pop concerts. The cinema licence was not renewed in October 1981 and the Royalty closed. The cinema was demolished in May 1984 and flats built on the site.