Last night I went to the wonderful Westway Cinema for the first time (*blush*). It was the recent fire, and the call for helpers to clear the rubble – in true Frome-spirit, dozens of townspeople came to the rescue (watch Frome.tv’s film about it here) and the mess was swiftly cleared – that reminded me I must support my local, independent cinema.
The Westway re-opened this week and so Rich and I headed down last night for the 8pm showing of One Day. Walking into the foyer of the cinema, we were greeted by a dark wood piano – lid up – calling to be tinkled. I resisted the urge and we headed up the art-lined staircase to the ticket desk. This week only – tickets are £2.50 – any film. *Amaze* And so we bought our tickets, then sidled over to the bar (the cinema is licenced – meaning alcohol is permitted in the auditorium. Again – *amaze*). And so I purchased a reasonably-priced mini bottle of Merlot for myself, and a pint of draught Veltins for Rich – then we went to find our seats.
It’s a decent size – much bigger than it looks from the outside – and the chairs are suitably old-school, of the red velvet variety, with the same material lining the walls.
After some rather retro graphics and a couple of trailers, the lights came up for the intermission and a tiny kiosk opened next to the screen – selling icecream. Very quaint. Then the lights dimmed again and I sank down into my comfy seat, sipping delicious red wine and feeling so pleased to be living in Frome.
We didn’t enjoy the film hugely (I’d read the book recently and was disappointed that it had been cut down so much to make the film) but the experience as a whole was super-duper. Can’t wait for our next outing to my new favourite cinema.
