With regard to old cinemas in Brighton (Letters, April 3), I well remember the Regent Cinema and the News Cinema in North Street.
Very good they were too, also the Astoria in London Road.
However, they were outclassed by the Gaiety Cinema at the bottom of Hollingdean Road on the junction of Lewes Road.
Here you had a massive picture house with plenty of space for queuing when the weather was inclement, a uniformed doorman and, outside, a wonderful imposing faade. It was, of course, replaced by a supermarket which was a great pity - all that history remembered only on paper.
The Arcadia was not so well appointed and the general consensus was if you did not have fleas when you entered, you certainly would have when you left and this is why it was called The Scratch.
Of course, we still have the Duke of York's and I am surprised it is going strong, one of the few cinemas which made it while others faded away.
At 73 years of age, am I one of the few Brightonians who remember when a shilling could get you into the cinema and, afterwards, buy you fish and chips?
And, while I am at it, what about Miller's Pies in Riley Road? They were the best pies I have ever tasted. There was so much meat in one, it was all you could eat.
How things have changed.
-Peter J Self, Peacehaven
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