TIME was when the dale was alive to the likes of The Jolson Story, She Wore a Yellow Ribbon and the Three Stooges.

Cinemagoers in Weardale, County Durham, were spoilt for choice.

There were big screens at the town halls in Stanhope and St John's Chapel, the village hall at Rookhope, the former Barrington Hall School at Wearhead and a little green hut by the river at Wolsingham.

And if that wasn't enough, centres such as Crook, Bishop Auckland and Consett had a galaxy of cinemas.

But with the rapid decline of the mine and quarry industries and the advent of television, the cinemas started to close, one-by-one, until there were none.

But now, after 40 years, cinema is returning to Weardale thanks to the latest technology.

A £30,000 DVD cinema will open on Friday as part of the refurbishment of St John's Chapel Town Hall.

Initially, the St John's Chapel cinema, which can hold 50 people, will show four films a month catering for all ages.

Ian Scholes, chairman of the town hall committee that has spent two years raising money to transform the building, said: "We regard it as central to the development of the town hall as a centre for community life here in the dale.

"We reckon to take about £2,500 a year in entrance money from the cinema, which will cover the running costs of the hall."

Mr Scholes said that the group had decided to go ahead with the cinema following a survey among dale residents.

The DVD cinema has been modelled on a similar project at Mickleton, in Teesdale, County Durham, which has already proved extremely popular.

Mr Scholes said: "We have created that special atmosphere you can only find in the cinema, and we are very optimistic it will draw in the audiences.

"We have even installed a popcorn machine."

The opening of the cinema has brought back memories for pensioners Billy Rutherford and Gordon Brown, who were both projectionists nearly 50 years ago.

Mr Rutherford said: "We used to put on two shows a week, with a matinee on a Saturday here at Chapel in those days.

"Cowboys were the most popular movies. If you paid four pence to get into the cheapest seats, you could slide back into the sixpenny ones, which were more comfortable because they had a backrest."

Further up the dale, at Wearhead, the cinema was opened in the old Bishop Sholto Barrington schoolroom by local garage and haulage company owners Arnold and Jimmy Corbitt. It is now a private home.

Mr Brown said: "We were packed out most nights.

"I also used to operate the projector at the village hall at Rookhope. It was a portable one and we used to transport it up there in all weathers in a little Bedford van.

"I cannot ever remember getting stuck in the snow. They were grand old days."

* The first films to be shown by the Upper Weardale Cinema Club at St John's Chapel Town Hall on Friday are: School of Rock (PG) at 6pm and Open Range (12) at 8pm. Entry is £2 for adults and £1.50 for children. A year's membership of the cinema club costs £1.

To join, call (01388) 537680