COMPARISON REJECTED

David Hambelton rejects comparison of Regal Cinema to Electric Picture House

IN reply to Hugh O’Neil’s letter (Ludlow Advertiser February 4).

Mr O’Neil drew an interesting comparison between The Regal Tenbury and the Electric Picture House Wotton. There are certain differences that make a direct comparison somewhat unfair.

The Wotton Cinema is under the umbrella organisation of the Wotton-Under-Edge & District Community Trust and run as a Cooperative Social Enterprise and were recently successful in receiving lottery funding through the UK Film Council for £100K to install a digital 3D system.

The Regal Cinema Volunteers hire the cinema from Tenbury Town Council and are dependent on them for the equipment, which they are currently arranging to be serviced. The town council is also seeking Heritage Lottery Fund money to restore the Regal to something approaching its former glory.

Mr O’Neil offers to arrange a trip to the Wotton Cinema, which he describes as warm welcoming and vibrant, to meet the group down there. We want to do better; we have invited spokespersons from Wotton to visit us to share their experiences with the hope that we can learn from them how the Regal might be better managed. We hope to announce the date of a meeting soon; perhaps Mr O’Neil will attend.

Finally the film, Walt Disney’s Christmas Carol, may not be to everyone’s liking but has grossed in excess of £200m and has been voted an average of 7/10 across the popular review sites. He should address the suitability question to the British Board of Film Censors, we are sorry that he did not think a PG (Parental Guidance) rating was appropriate, Details of film classifications, our latest listing and a history of the Regal Cinema can be found on our web site regaltenbury.co.uk

Kidderminster Shuttle Letters

MORE LETTERS FROM THE LUDLOW ADVERTISER

Margaret and John Anderson of Burford prefer help for cinema, not criticism

I READ with interest Hugh O’Neil’s letter with its cutting comparison of the Regal Cinema to the impressive Electric Picture House in Wotton-under-Edge.

I could not help but wonder why Mr O’Neil didn’t offer his services and become a Regal volunteer, thereby giving practical help and time, which is in short supply at the Regal.

He would, at the same time, gain a valuable insight into the problems associated with running Tenbury’s unique cinema. Criticism is easy.

Saturday 27th February 2010

Mike Jenner of Tenbury Wells was saddened to see Regal under attack

I WAS saddened to read Hugh O’Neil’s letter in the Advertiser.

Did he give a second thought to the effect of having this published?

The volunteers who run the cinema do it for our benefit.

Perhaps he should have read the reviews of Christmas Carol before subjecting his wife to the film.

The sound system is not wonderful but he should remember that this is a multi-purpose venue, unlike the Electric Picture House he is so enthusiastic about.

Furthermore Mr O’Neil misleads your readers by describing the two as “about the same size”. This is wholly untrue.

The auditorium at The Regal has 252 seats, twice the size of the Electric Picture House.

The Regal is in a completely different league, as a brief visit to wottoneph.co.uk proves.

Perhaps he should consider relocating to that wonderfully picturesque part of the country and leave us to enjoy the live shows, local productions, concerts and popular cinema that our bands of dedicated volunteers work so hard to produce for all of us.

Sunday 28th February 2010