A home cinema was built by myself and two friends, sadly no longer with us - Denis Early, who went on to become an Odeon manager, and Leslie Stott, who was an architect.

I managed the Gaiety Cinema in Brighton from 1959 to 1967.

The 25 seats of the cinema were purchased from the West Pier at sixpence each in old money, two-and-a-half pence in today's currency.

They were repainted and re-seated.

The Mayor and Mayoress of Hove, Councillor Victor Hudson and Mrs Hudson, accepted our invitation to the private opening performance in 1936.

We screened The Lost World as our feature and included in the programme a Laurel and Hardy comedy and a Fox newsreel. These items were hired from a 16mm film library.

-Bert Hobden, Brighton