I’VE always loved going to the cinema.

When I was a young boy, a trip to the ‘flicks’ was a real treat.

I still think there is nothing to replace or replicate the experience of sitting in a film theatre, complete with wide screen and surround sound.

I’ve never really lost that love and to be honest, hiring a DVD or streaming a video from an on-demand service doesn’t replicate the magic of going to the cinema.

I can recall the memory of being taken to see the James Bond film Dr No like it was yesterday.

It was the first glossy, big budget movie I had ever seen and the effect on a young, impressionable mind was electrifying.

But times change and as I grew up, a combination of economics and geography conspired to make my cinema-going trips few and far between.

There was a time when the cost of going to watch a film became prohibitive, so much so that it had to be a real blockbuster before I would even consider shelling out for the cost of a ticket.

No wonder, then, that cinema attendances started to drop off. The inevitable consequence was cinema theatres became uneconomic to run.

This was coupled with the rise of the multiplex, shiny palaces with comfortable seats, multiple sceenings and ample parking.

One by one, we watched as much loved, and sometimes historic, cinema buildings were closed down to become carpet shops, bingo halls and car showrooms.

I used to walk past the Regal Cinema, in Northwich, and yearn wistfully for the return of its cinematic heyday and it was a sad day indeed when the JCBs moved in and flattened it.

But that’s the price of progress, I suppose.

At the time it was demolished, Guardian chief reporter Gina Bebbington wrote a personal tribute about her memories of times spent in the Regal and described it as: ‘An enormous ugly duckling, that’s undeniable, but it’s our ugly duckling.”

In truth, the Regal had passed its sell-by date a long time before it was pulled down and for far too long, people in mid Cheshire had to go out of town to get their fix of Hollywood magic or gritty home-produced realism.

I think many of us despaired of ever being able to go to the cinema in Northwich ever again.

But just like waiting for a bus, all of a sudden, two turn up at once.

I refer, of course for the plans for a five-screen multiplex as part of the Barons Quay redevelopment and Northwich Cinema Trust’s ambitious scheme to breathe new life into the Plaza, the Grade II listed building in Witton Street, turning it back into a bijou cinema theatre.

The Plaza project certainly does not lack for ambition.

Gillian Edwards, from the trust, said in the Guardian that she sees the Plaza and the Barons Quay ODEON multiplex complementing each other.

Gillian told the Guardian : “The two cinemas are two completely different entities which will attract different audiences.

“The Plaza will focus on heritage and the whole cinema experience.

“We will only be able to show films six weeks after their release, which gives us great flexibility to theme weekends, whereas the multiplex will be showing blockbusters as they are released in a much different environment.”

The current stumbling block is the £200,000 needed to restore the Plaza to its former glory but the Northwich Cinema Trust is confident this target can be achieved.

I, for one, hope Gillian and the trust are successful.

I have nothing against multiplex cinemas.

They can tailor their showings to accommodate big, new releases.

They are bright, shiny and modern, but perhaps they are a little soulless, perhaps they lack a little of the enchantment and fascination that a good, old fashioned cinema can bring.

It may be, of course, that I am just yearning for the cinema of my youth. It maybe that I just want an ambience that strips away the cynicism and sophistication that adulthood brings.

But I don’t see anything wrong in that. I truly hope Gillian and the Northwich Cinema Trust can, in best Hollywood fashion, battle against overwhelming odds in the pursuit of a dream, and triumph in the end.

Here’s to a happy Hollywood ending for the Plaza.