Sutton Bridge cinema opens at Curlew Centre thanks to efforts of Melvyn Philpott

A film lover’s hobby finally came to fruition with the opening of a new village cinema.

The doors to Sutton Bridge Cinema were thrown open last Saturday evening, with visitors being treated to a screening of Sunshine on Leith.

A five metre-wide screen has been installed, as has an impressive surround sound system.

The new attraction, which is based at the Curlew Centre on Bridge Road, has been made possible thanks to the hard work of Melvyn Philpott (78).

Mr Philpott moved to the village in 2010 with his partner - and the pair often collected and watched films together.

However, after they passed away, Mr Philpott was inspired to put a plan they hatched together into action as a mark of respect.

He said: “When I was approaching retirement, I decided to collect as many DVDs as I could of all the top rated films - all the four and five star films.

“It was so when I did eventually retire, if I’ve got nothing to do at least I could watch a few films. We never actually got to watch them all. The idea was born about four or five years ago. The rest, as they say, is history. That was the idea, and here we are.”

The new cinema will start off by showing one film a month - with a screening of comedy drama The Duke up next on October 15.

Mr Philpott hopes to offer viewers a mixture of genres - and was happy when the new Elvis movie turned up last Friday.

He admitted he had some ‘nervous excitement’ before the big opening night.

“It’s taken a lot to get together,” Mr Philpott added

“With something new like that in a small village, I don’t think it’s going to be an overnight success. We’re going to have to build up the audience, people are going to have to get to know us.”

The funeral of Queen Elizabeth II was also set to be screened at the Curlew Centre venue yesterday.

Now, Mr Philpott is excited to see how far he can take the project - and hopes to host birthday parties and business meetings in the future.

He said: “The idea is for people to come out, mix with others, watch a blooming good film and when they come out of the theatre, say ‘I enjoyed that’.

“If it’s got a film involved, we can do it.”