The first Theatre in the World to open in Y2K!
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The first Theatre in the World to open in Y2K! |
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After much negotiating and fund-raising by Ledbury Amateur Dramatic Society (LADS), Ledbury's new Market Theatre was opened on 19th January 2000 by the Mayor of Ledbury, Cllr. Spencer Lane.
Work started on 30th March 1999, commencing with
demolition of the much loved but decrepit 'tin shed' that had been our home
for over 40 years. That evening, a fire was started in the remains of
old shell in 'suspicious circumstances', but it didn't prove to be a
A substantial grant from the Malvern Millions was committed to the project, and LADS raised a further considerable sum by its own efforts. Generous support has been given by local people, businesses and trusts, all of which has enabled us to achieve our goal. Please help LADS to continue to provide for Ledbury a considerable asset that will enrich the lives of everyone.
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Ledbury Amateur Dramatic Society, a member of The Little Theatre Guild of Great Britain, is a registered Charity (no. 505202), and was formed in 1938. For over 40 years, LADS produced plays in the old
The Market Theatre is owned and run for the community by LADS, |
The original Ledbury Amateur Dramatic and Cinematographic Society was founded in 1938. The Society performed its early plays in the Camp Theatre, which was in an old Nissen hut in the WW2 prisoner-of-war camp. This site is now occuped by the John Masefield High School.
The following photographs were taken some time in the late
1950's, shortly after LADS moved into the old
Scene from 'Flare Path'
The old stage before we even had a raked auditorium.
The Society celebrated its fiftieth anniversary in 1988, when a number of the old plates from the Church Room were hand-annotated to commemorate the event:
A few shots of the old theatre before it was demolished in
1999.
Much of the rest of the area was equally decrepit, as the following
photo taken in October 1998 shows:
Market Street was more potholed than most roads in Eastern Europe!
The old foyer was so tiny we had to breed especially small cats...
Likewise the kitchen - eat your hearts out, hygiene inspectors!
A ladder by the door (to the right of the photo above) led to...
... an equally cramped control room, from which we couldn't get a decent view of the stage owing to beams supporting the auditorium roof, right in the field of view. Our sound kit consisted of an old cassette machine and ghetto blaster - lighting was controlled by an analogue desk (bottom right) This shot was taken during one of our pantomimes - I still use the DX7 synthesiser (left) for musical shows. Note the Black and Decker Workmate - partly visible to the bottom left - needed then to support the left side of the keyboard!
However, this was luxury compared with the arrangement we had before 1984 (of which I do not have any photos). We didn't even have electronic control of stage lights until then, so the old resistive dimmers had to be where the power was - behind the stage! Blackouts were achieved with broom handles across the dimmer sliders...
Then, finally it happened... We had sufficient funds to build a new Theatre.
Work in progress...
Foyer from the balcony
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Foyer from the south lobby |
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Painting the auditorium |
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Sewing the traverse curtains
Handing over the keys to our patron, Richard Briers, 10th November 1999.
In March 2005, after being awarded a grant from the Ledbury
Area Regeneration Partnership,
LADS decided that the time had come to replace our old piano.
The more observant among you will have spotted that this is the same piano as in the 1950's photograph above. It was with some regret that we parted company with the last remaining artifact from the old theatre, but it simply wasn't practical to keep on heaving a quarter of a ton of cast iron and wood onto the stage and then back down again, as required by the increasingly varied shows we now host (not to mention the risk to piano and personnel). So we splashed out on a new Yamaha Clavinova digital piano (one third the weight). We're glad to say the old lady has been given a home by one of our members where, no doubt, she is receiving loads of Pledge and TLC.
LADS is very grateful to the Ledbury and District Society Trust, who managed to acquire the following 19th century posters advertising theatrical events in Ledbury. The Trust has very kindly let us have them on permanent loan for display in the Foyer. They are reproduced below:
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The New Street theatre is thought to have been near the Top Cross, in premises now occupied by 'Priority Nine'. It is unknown where the Town Hall theatre was, though it might have been the half-timbered Market House. However, the staircase was not added to the Market House until 1865 - before then, access was through a trap door (evidence of which is still visible) in the centre of the floor. The dates of 1807 and 1832 therefore imply the Town Hall theatre was elsewhere - one can imagine the gentry wearing tails and long dresses ascending a ladder!
We are grateful to Dr. Sylvia Pinches, who has let us see a photograph taken in 1885 of the Market House with a chimney pointing out through the middle side window (though I have also seen a photo taken during the 1860's renovation that does not show a chimney). Health and Safety was not on the agenda then - 'Good Fires' would have been decidedly dangerous! Unfortunately, we are not permitted to reproduce the photograph here since the copyright is owned by English Heritage's National Monuments Record at Swindon. Their website has some photos of Ledbury, including a good aerial shot taken in 1951 (which unfortunately does not show the old theatre), but there are none of the Market House. This might change as they make more of their collection available on-line. English Heritage's reference for the photo of the Market House with a chimney is AL0192/23/02.
Nineteenth century shows must have gone on for a very long time, given the number of items in each of the examples above and below. The next image is one that LADS acquired some time ago, the original of which is also in the foyer. Note that, although this specifically states the venue as being the Market House, it also predates the staircase by some 30 years!
One wonders if audiences were beginning to tire of the redoubtable Mr. Dyer and his wife....
The following is a cleaned-up Xerox copy of another
poster.
The original of this was printed on silk, which must have been creased when it
was first copied.
Two early twentieth century theatrical events in Ledbury follow. Miss Bickham, who lived at Underdown, trained fifty girls to take part in performances of 'The Pied Piper' to raise funds for the proposed Parish Room building. (This might well have been the Church Room, which became our old Theatre.) The Pied Piper was played by Mr. C. Bedford, whose 'ability was far above average' according to the local paper, which described the show as being 'one of the finest performances ever seen in Ledbury'. The Mayor was played by Mr. J.H. Yeo, and the orchestra was led by Miss Masefield. The newspaper was equally complimentary about Miss Hilda James, who played Hans. She had 'a very large part and in every particular she proved a star. Her acting was perfect.' After the last curtain call, there were shouts for Miss Bickham, who appeared and was given a bouquet. The gross receipts were nearly £100 of which almost £60 went to the Parish Room building fund.
The cast of The Pied Piper, which played to full houses at
the Royal Hall from November 1st to 4th 1909.
The rats used in the play were sold as souvenirs after the last performance:
Daddy Rats for 6d, Mummy Rats for 6d and Baby Rats for 3d.
In 2008, LADS acquired this Tilley's postcard from 1910.
It had never been used, but is now framed and on display in the Theatre.
Little is known of early film showings by the original Ledbury Amateur Dramatic and Cinematographic Society. If anyone has any details of our early shows, live or cinema showings, please make contact.
Ledbury had a dedicated cinema in the Homend, near its junction with Bank Crescent, which is shown on the 1926 Ordnance Survey map of the town. It was very popular until 1961, when it closed following the decline of cinema nationally. It reopened after about six months for a short while, and then closed for good.
Two programmes from the old Ledbury cinema follow. The first is an August programme, thought to have been from the 1950's. This would have been 1954 since the days of the week match the dates for that year. The second is for June 1960. LADS is grateful to Dave Grimes, who lent the originals. His grandmother, Mrs. E. Grimes, was manageress in the earlier programme, and his father was manager in 1960. Dave's grandfather was the projectionist in the 1950's.
Note the seat prices were the same in 1960 as they were in 1954!
Following its closure, the town was without a cinema except for occasional showings in the Old Market Theatre and in the Royal Oak ballroom on 16mm projection equipment. There were more frequent showings in the early 1990's when LADS hired equipment (again 16mm) and films from 'Reels on Wheels', which was the predecessor of 'Flicks in the Sticks'. 'Flicks' is the current organisation, part of Arts Alive, which brings films to rural venues in Herefordshire and Shropshire.
Shortly after the new Theatre opened, LADS joined the Flicks in the Sticks circuit - using their mobile DVD and VHS equipment. Then, in late 2002, with the help of generous grants from Advantage West Midlands and Ledbury Town Council, LADS was able to purchase its own Sanyo XP46 projector and a 6 metre wide Harkness-Hall roll-down screen. The latter is permanently mounted above the stage and can be lowered for film showing as required. The house sound system was extended to accommodate the multi-channel surround sound that is encoded onto most current DVDs. We also have an SVHS player for those films that are still on videotape. We maintain our association with Flicks in the Sticks, who provide us with most of our films.
Market Street, February 1999
Market Street, February 2005
The whole of Market Street was considerably improved between 1999 and 2005. Our Theatre started the ball rolling - the new Community Hospital (left) was built on the site of the former Cattle Market during 2001/2, and Old Market Court (centre back) was built on waste ground during 2004.
Last updated Aug 5th 2008.
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