For the first time in more than thirty years, the village of Thornby has its…

For the first time in more than thirty years, the village of Thornby has its own cinema again. The Regent, which closed in 1992 when most families started watching films at home, reopened last Friday after a two-year campaign by local residents.

The building had been empty for decades and was in poor condition. Volunteers spent every weekend for eighteen months repairing the roof, painting the walls and cleaning the old red seats. A local carpenter rebuilt the wooden stage, and a group of retired electricians installed new lighting for free.

The cinema now has 120 seats, fewer than the original 300, because the volunteers removed the back rows to make space for a small café. It shows films four evenings a week, from Thursday to Sunday, with a special children's film every Saturday morning.

Tickets cost £6 for adults and £3 for children, about half the price of the large cinema in the nearest town, which is a forty-minute drive away. The cinema is run as a charity, and any money it makes after paying its bills will be used to keep the building in good condition.

The opening night was sold out within an hour. Many older residents came to see the first film, a comedy chosen by a public vote. Eighty-two-year-old Margaret Hughes said she had her first date in the same building in 1961. "I sat in row G," she said, laughing. "I wanted to sit there again tonight, but it was one of the rows they took out for the café."

The organisers hope that the cinema will also be used for community events, such as quiz nights, local film clubs and talks by visiting authors.