Extract from one of Doris English's letters
In May 1995, Doris English of Wisbech, Cambridgeshire contacted Cinema Culture in 1930s Britain in response to a newspaper article about the project, expressing enthusiasm about the opportunity to write about her “teenage years of cinema”. One of ten children, Mrs English was born in Birmingham in 1916 and grew up there, finishing her full-time education at fourteen and spending the majority of her working life at Lucas Industries.
Later in the year, Mrs English took part in CCINTB’s postal questionnaire survey, and In a long letter attached to her completed questionnaire form recalls enjoying going to the cinema on the annual Hospital Sunday, when box-office takings were donated to the local hospital: "My dad used to say you will never go to heaven going to the pictures on Sunday – but it was for a good cause". She concludes by commenting on the happy memories evoked in answering questions about her cinemagoing and expressing delight that her memories were seen as worthy of record: “I was very pleased to help in answering all your questions […] PS It is nice to think that at my age 79 I am in some use to people like you.”