Cinemas’ past

Once upon a time Littlehampton had three – the Odeon, in High Street (the site is now Clinton Cards), the Palladium in Church Street, where a block of flats called Amenic (cinema spelt backwards) Court now stands, and the Regent, in Terminus Road, opposite the station, again now a block of flats.

These are but three among the many hundreds throughout the country which closed through lack of support and the change in the public’s habits.

As a youngster, I and many others could visit a cinema seven nights a week, viewing a different film each time.

Perhaps this is what is required in this day and age to keep the youngsters occupied, although perhaps not in view of the comments made by Mildred Peters (Gazette letters, August 11) about the Windmill charging extra for advance ticket sales on top of the entry fee!

For further information on the fight to save the Palladium I suggest that Carol looks up newspaper articles around January, 1986.

There is also an interesting book, Cinemas West Sussex, available in the library, covering the history of all three of our cinemas.

E. Benham,

Gloucester Place,

Littlehampton