Goodbyes paid to an old friend on last night of Light House cinema
To people walking by, it would have seemed like an ordinary night at the cinema.
People were buying their tickets, enjoying a drink or coffee at the bar, taking their goodies up to the studio screen and sitting down to the 7.50pm screening of a Colin Farrell film.
However, for those who knew, it was a night to commiserate and say goodbye to a long-standing institution in Wolverhampton city centre as the Light House Cinema and Cafe opened its doors to film lovers for the last time.
The screening of The Banshees of Inisherin on Thursday evening was the last film to be shown at the Light House, following an announcement that the cinema, bar and exhibition space would be closing after 30 years of trading.
For the more than 50 people coming to watch the film, the whole occasion felt strange, akin to the funeral of a friend or the loss of something close to them.
They crowded the Lockworks Bar before the screening to enjoy a last glass of Merlot, pint of beer or cider or a coffee from the machine and chat with the staff and volunteers, who were still taking in the impending closure of the bar.
Victoria Natton, who worked behind the bar, said it was very sad to see something that resonated with so many people set to close down.
She said: "I feel like things could have been different and it didn't have to come to this, as this place has been a refuge for creative types, workers, lonely and vulnerable people and so many people from the heart of the community.
"It's been more than a cinema, it's been a part of people's lives for so long and it really feels like the end of an era."
Among the chatter in the bar and the concourse outside, there were people taking a moment to take in the surroundings one last time, with some coming over emotional as they said their hellos to the staff.
Sarah Girling had been going to the cinema for 10 years from her home in Kingswinford and said that she wanted to be there after getting a text to say the cinema was closing.
She said: "I had planned to be here anyway, but the text I got just sort of brought it home to me that this would be the last night and I rang up to make sure I could get a ticket as I didn't want to miss out.
"It's just really sad as I've been coming here for years and I can't imagine it not being here at all."
Although the word had got out as widely as it could about the cinema closing, there were still people who turned up to buy their tickets who still didn't know, causing shock among those just finding out.
The studio cinema on the upper level of the Light House is a small and intimate setting and the atmosphere among the 50 people who paid to see the film had an electric feel to it.
Those watching seemed to laugh louder, feel the emotion of some of the harder bits of the film and enjoy the colour of the film more, perhaps registering the impending loss.
One person on the way out said it was a part of the fabric of the city and was a real loss, while another said he wasn't sure whether he'd ever go to another cinema after the Light House closed.
As the numbers dwindled a small core was left with Light House CEO Kelly Jeffs, who said she was taking some time to repair herself and see what the future brings.
The end has come for the Light House Cinema, but what will the future hold for a city institution? Film lovers everywhere will wait with bated breath.
