Playhousecinema thelast to go

Of Bexhill’s four original cinemas - the Gaiety, disposed of by the Luftwaffe; the Savoy, lost after a fire in the projection room, and the Ritz, demolished to make way for a new telephone exchange - the Playhouse will be the last to go.

The Playhouse was my favourite cinema as my best friend’s father was the front-of-house commissionaire and so, of course, we got free entry.

One of the films most in my memory was ‘Pygmalion’. Wendy Hillier, who played the lead, was an old Bexhill schoolgirl. I also remember the vestibule being decorated top to bottom with violets.

DAVID PALMER

Church Vale Road

Bexhill-on-Sea