THE recent furore over York's Odeon cinema made me recall the plushier days of the city's cinemas, before the advent of TV and the newer cinemas.

Friday evenings saw the family ritual of "going to the pictures". Then there were school trips, my school being a stone's throw from the Odeon.

We were taken to see Laurence Olivier as Henry V, but were not allowed to venture forth to his Hamlet.

This was because our headmaster (quite rightly) stated our behaviour as a class had been "despicable".

I often felt sorry for the form teacher who was frequently red in the face and driven to the verge of tears. Later I went with a friend to see Hamlet.

Sometimes, my friend, Juliette, and I would take sandwiches and sit through countless performances of unsuitable films.

I can only conclude that our mothers were glad of the peace (there were no sleepovers).

We would accost some poor, unsuspecting adult and ask to be taken in if the film had an A certificate, especially if the swashbuckling Douglas Fairbanks Junior was on offer.

Later still, on a half-day off from work at the Central Library, I saw Gone With The Wind at the "Loppy-de-luxe" as the Electric was called by local boys.

Margaret Lawson, Marjorie Waite Court, York.