Ritz Cinema

Films have been shown in this building since 1912, and in the silent era the town knew it simply as Powers. The building is older still, having started life as the Thirsk and Sowerby Mechanics' Institute in the 1850s. That run makes it one of the oldest continuously operating cinemas in Britain, and it keeps going because roughly a hundred volunteers run the whole thing. It also turned up on screen as the picture house in All Creatures Great and Small, so it doubles as a Herriot stop for anyone doing the trail.

From Tea Time Cafe at 87 Market Place, leave the square by Castlegate and turn onto Westgate. You pass the Town Hall, and the Ritz is a short way along on the same side at number 16. Five minutes at a gentle pace, flat and lit the whole way, which matters when you are walking back after the evening screening.

Some listings give the address as 16A rather than 16; it is the same door. If you are driving there is dedicated accessible parking at the cinema, and the town centre car parks are all within a few minutes.

See a film. The programme mixes current releases with independent titles, and screenings run for several days, so there is no rush to catch a particular night. The kiosk sells sweets and ice cream in the old style, and it takes cash as happily as it takes cards and contactless.

Beyond the film, look at the room. The auditorium has a balcony, the interior is Art Deco, and the curtains are a small local institution in their own right. Allow two to two and a half hours for the whole outing, which leaves you time to buy sweets and find a seat without hurrying.

The volunteers are the thing everyone mentions. The hearing loop draws real praise from visitors who are hard of hearing, and Sunday subtitled screenings are the sort of provision far bigger cinemas skip. The balconied auditorium and the curtains give the place a character that no modern screen has. A refurbishment around 2020 sorted out the practical side.

Turning up and paying on the door is the normal way in here, so this is not an outing that needs planning weeks ahead. Doors are half an hour before the film in both the evening and the matinee, which is the right amount of time for the kiosk queue and a decent seat. Films stay on for several days, so if one night does not suit, the next probably will. Take cash if you want the full kiosk experience, though cards and contactless work fine. Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday afternoons are the matinee days, which makes the Ritz the obvious wet-weather answer in Thirsk. And if you are combining it with a Herriot day, do the museum in the afternoon and the film in the evening, then eat in between.