THE return of a magic lantern show to Bream next Tuesday (November 14) will bring to life memories of the village’s famous Miners’ Welfare Cinema which was gutted by fire in 1946.

The magic lantern show – much older than even the cinema – has been organised by Bream Gardening Society and will take place at the village’s West Dean Centre at 7.30pm.

It will show original plate glass photographs through an old-style projector with the theme Christmas Past.

Having a cinema was a proud boast for the village. It had originally opened in 1938 having been built as a Miners’ Welfare Hall in 1927.

The cinema was a popular venue and often packed out, and there was stunned disbelief when the building burned down in 1946.

But villagers set to, rolled up their sleeves, and in just a year completely rebuilt it.

Forest MP Morgan Phillips Price, performed the reopening ceremony in 1947 but attendances declined and the building was eventually purchased by Bream RFC in 1960.