I was interested to read Roy Jameson's comments (Letters, March 27) concerning his childhood cinema visits in Brighton.

I was brought up in Hastings, and remember visiting the Ritz, Gaiety and De Luxe, plus the Regal and Kinema in St Leonards.

The Ritz and Regal both belonged to the ABC group, and, like Roy, I attended ABC Minors performances at the former cinema.

However, I must query his statement that the ABC Minors' song was sung to the tune of the Knightsbridge March, which was the signature tune of the popular radio programme "In Town Tonight".

I think the music was actually the march Blaze Away by Sousa. It was certainly sung with great gusto at the Ritz.

The Ritz was the finest cinema in Hastings and I used to enjoy performances of the Wurlitzer organ, which would rise from a pit, changing colour at the same time as the organist played the introductory music.

This would be part of a continuous performance which included a second feature film, often a cartoon, a newsreel, a trailer for the next week's film, advertisements during the interval for purchase of ice creams, etc and ending with the main film.

There were occasional personal appearances and I remember seeing Anna Neagle and Michael Wilding on stage before the showing of Maytime In Mayfair.

The cinema was eventually demolished to be replaced by a Sainsbury's store. The last time I saw it, the site was an ESK shop.

Apart from the Ritz, the only other cinema I visited regularly was the Gaiety in Queens Road and I believe it was there I saw my first wide-screen film, The Robe.

Apart from being in Cinemascope, it also had stereophonic sound. I nearly jumped out of my seat when a clap of thunder echoed around the theatre.

It is the only one of the above cinemas still in existence as a picture theatre, although it is now called the Odeon.

-Ian Vaughan, Shoreham