Ledbury  Amateur  Dramatic  Society

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 set-back.  It was a sad end to the old building, but it could have been our old poltergeist refusing to be upstaged and insisting on going out in style!  The steelwork was put up in mid-May and the keys to The Market Theatre were handed to our Patron, Richard Briers, on 10th November 1999.  From then until the opening, LADS members worked 25 hours a day fitting it out and decorating it in time to open for our first show - 'Cinderella', by John Sperinck.

The theatre building won Ledbury's annual Design Awards competition (see article from 5th May 2000 in the Hereford Times) for the best contribution to the town's built environment during 1999.

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 Market Theatre, shown to the left, which was built as a temporary church hall on the same site in 1910.   The Market Theatre is owned and run for the community by LADS,

 

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The Early Days

We are grateful to Dr. Sylvia Pinches for letting us include material from an article that appeared in the January 2009 edition of Ledbury Focus. This is included in the text that follows and the section about 19th century theatre below.

In 1935, a local group of enthusiasts set up their own film-making club.  Dorothy Tow (our President for many years) recalls that 'about half a dozen of them started this ciné society and it really did very well.  They got quite a good membership and they made lots of films but of course they couldn't accommodate all their members so once a year they decided they would do a play'.  And so, in 1938, the Ledbury Amateur Ciné and Dramatic Society was born.  When war came, film-making stopped, but plays and concerts continued throughout the duration at various venues.  Miss Charlotte Ballard staged a number of plays at her home, Abbey House, in the Homend, to raise money for children in the East End of London.  Miss Ballard later produced a number of LADS plays in the Church Room (see below).  One member recalls that 'she was a stickler for grammar, too.  You had to get it right, you know, nothing slipshod with Miss Ballard.  I remember once one of our members, Mr Postan, had to do a little love scene on the settee with this young lady and she was watching and she [said] "No, no, Mr Postan, you don’t make love like that!  Let me show you!"  And she was a spinster lady!  She was great, yes, but no slipshod grammar!'

During World War Two, the Italian prisoners held at the camp at Mabel’s Furlong rigged up a theatre in a Nissen hut.  When the prisoners were dispersed at the end of the war, LADS (they had dropped the 'ciné' from their name by then) took over the little Camp Theatre.  One lady recalled that 'of course it was a tin hut sort of thing, and when it rained you couldn't hear a word of what was being said'.  The site was taken in the early 1950s to build the John Masefield School.

Scene from 'Flare Path'.  We think this might have been in the Camp Theatre.

 
The following photograph was taken some time in the late 1950's, shortly after LADS moved into the old Market Theatre, which was on the site of the present Theatre.  At that time it was still known as the Church Room:

At that time we didn't have a raked auditorium.  This came after the town's cinema closed in 1961 and LADS was able to salvage the seating.

Also in 1961, the old Kemble Theatre in Hereford closed (in Broad Street - demolished in 1963 to make way for that dreadful monstrosity, Kemble House).  This left our little building as the only theatre in Herefordshire until 1979, when the Nell Gwynne Theatre, converted from the old swimming baths in Edgar Street, gave the city of Hereford back its own theatre.

We nearly lost the building in 1986, when a fire started by children playing in the old allotments at the back (now occupied by Harling Court) got out of hand.  It destroyed our store and rendered the back part of the building unsafe.  LADS managed to scrape together sufficient funds and was able to call on labour of young offenders to rebuild from the proscenium back, in which we were able to include toilets for patrons - but they could only be reached by walking outside down the entire length of the building - whatever the weather!  The auditorium and FoH (such as it was!) were salvaged, but considerably smoke-damaged.  The old theatre re-opened in 1988 to coincide with...

... 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!

 

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The more observant among you will have spotted that this is the same piano as in the 1950's photograph above.  It survived the 1986 fire (more damage was done by water used to put out the fire than by the fire itself).  Thus 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.

Nineteenth Century Theatre in Ledbury

In the early nineteenth century, touring companies came and performed in the town, often for ‘one night stands’.  In Victorian times the theatre was regarded as being not very respectable.  In 1857, the ironmonger, Walter Pitt wrote in his diary: 'went with a lot more to the theatre but the company was very low' and he soon returned home.  Thirty years later, the October fair drew 'perhaps the last performers of famous plays about the Murder in the Red Barn, or Shaw the Life-Guardsman.'  Later still, the assembly room at the Royal Oak (known as the Royal Hall) was licensed for theatrical performances.  Both professional touring companies and local amateur groups performed there.

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:

 

 

The New Street theatre is thought to have been near the Top Cross, in premises now occupied by 'Priority Nine'.  The Town Hall theatre was probably 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 could have been elsewhere - one can imagine the gentry wearing tails and long dresses ascending a ladder!

We are also grateful to Dr. Pinches for letting 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!

 

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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 was almost certainly 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.

Little is known of early film showings by the original Ledbury Amateur Dramatic and Ciné 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.  Sue Harling recalls: 'We used to queue up Bank Crescent because we always sat in the 1/9d.  That was when Joan and I went on our own, but when we went with my mother and father upstairs the price was 2/3d; better seats altogether.  Children used to queue in the Homend to get in for 10d, where they sat on benches.  There was a lady called Mrs. Crossley who used to run the Cinema, and she used to announce to everyone what was happening in the film.  She would shout "They are behind you" and not on our side.'  The Cinema 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.  Many of the seats were salvaged for use in the old Market Theatre.

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.

Following its closure, the town was without a cinema except for occasional showings in the Old Market Theatre and in the Royal Oak ballroom (Royal Hall) 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.  In 2009, we acquired a Blu-Ray disc player that will play the most recent High Definition discs, which will provide even better picture quality.  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.

 

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A lot happened during six years...