THE big screen could soon return to Settle.

Optimism is high that a cinema could be established in the town after a well attended meeting asked for volunteers to help make it happen.

"It is a case of deciding in what way and on what scale now. The people who came to the meeting were interested and happy to help," said project leader Ann Ambrose.

"We are going to develop a questionnaire to ask people locally what kind of films they would like to see, what price they would be willing to pay and so on."

The group's main question is whether to provide mobile cinema equipment based at Settle's Victoria Hall so village halls around the district could borrow the facilities, or have a more permanent cinema.

A large proportion of those at the meeting felt it was important for other villages to be able to use the screen and projection equipment in their own halls.

This issue will now be addressed in the feasibility study.

"Although there's a lot of enthusiasm, there is not much knowledge about the practicalities of it," added Ann.

"We need to go and look at other places that have done this, like the Elite cinema in Leyburn.

"We want to talk to someone who has expertise in projection equipment, someone with specialist knowledge," she said.

A film club could also be set up, and this idea is being explored.

The group is meeting again on February 19, and anyone interested is welcome to attend.

Settle's last cinema - the Nuvic - was custom built in the building which now houses the Co-op.

It was one of a number of cinemas owned and run by Arthur Graham, the others being at Kirkby Lonsdale, Ingleton and Sedbergh, explained his daughter, Beth Graham.

At one time he also operated cinemas at Grassington, Bentham, Milnthorpe and Pateley Bridge.

The first cinema in Settle, The Picture House run by Robert Dale, opened in 1915 in the Assembly Rooms in Bishopdale Court. A Mr R Haworth later took it over followed by Tanny Jerome.

In 1919 Mr Jerome, who was also a bookie, moved the Picturedrome, as it was then called, into the Victoria Hall.

The opening programme included Bobbie: The Revue Girl featuring Stewart Browne, and topical news. Children under 14 were not admitted.

Mr Graham's uncle, John, took over in the Twenties and was in due course joined by his nephew.

"We used to open on Christmas Day and Boxing Day. It was popular entertainment.

"There were some wonderful news reels and serials and people would come to see the next episode the following week," said Beth, who is a well known local councillor.

She remembers a cinema which was not as comfortable as today's buildings, but it did feature double seats where many a local couple will have done their courting!

One of the last films to be shown at the Nuvic - so called to distinguish it from the Victoria Hall which was the Old Vic - was about Robin Hood and starred Richard Greene.

Beth remembers propaganda films during the war, including pictures about the fighting in the desert, brought out when the dust on the battlefield had barely settled.

"We had four changes a week and had to go to Leeds to pick up the films. It was convenient to have one pick-up and use our films four times in the different cinemas," Beth recalled.

The onset of television heralded the decline of cinema audiences, and the Nuvic showed its last film in the Fifties.

After that the Grahams used the building for bingo and roller skating among other things.

Referring to the plans to open a new cinema in Settle, Beth said she would prefer a permanent picture house to a mobile arrangement, as this would add to the whole cinema-going experience.

"I don't think mobile equipment is quite the same as the experience of going to the cinema," she said.

"On the other hand, we do go to village halls to see things which are tremendously interesting to us, and if you were a film enthusiast you might go a long way to see a really famous or old film."

"They will have to do a really careful feasibility survey," she added.