The auditorium of the Empire is unusual- it doesn’t have conventional boxes either side of the stage, instead, it has tiered seating that resembles staircases sweeping down to the stage, although they don’t actually go anywhere. Bizarrely, there are substantial cupola topped boxes above at upper Circle level which have zero view of the stage and way too high for those who would have gone there in order to be seen.

Back to Mervyn, who worked seasonally at the Empire for much of the 1970s and researched much history of the building. He persuaded the then theatre Manager to let him take several artifacts that were otherwise going to be thrown away and he always wished that the Theatre Museum would accept them after he died.

Alas, the Theatre Museum (in the form of the V & A) were not particularly interested but the Theatre were delighted as they have gradually been recovering some of the treasures lost over the decades. So yesterday, we returned four items from Mervyn’s collection, namely a plant stand, an occasional table, a gallery ticket box and a mirror, along with some memorabilia in the form of Box office Cards and early programmes.

Here is the car loaded for the journey. The plant stand is on the passenger seat in this photo and we rearranged it several times to ensure the mirror was protected.
The mirror is very special- there were two very large and two small mirrors in the auditorium at Circle level and if you look closely at the lower photo on the front cover of this 1913 Programme, you can see the large one on the left below the swags and you can just see one of the small ones on the wall to the left of the curved box-like arcade frontages. (Obviously there is no way of telling which side of the Auditorium Mervyn’s mirror was hung).

When I visited in the ’70s, the theatre was green and cream, it is now red and cream, as can be seen from my camera snapshot. (We stayed for the show!) Much of the fine detail has been painted out and from talking to our host any form of historic restoration sounds unlikely, although there was an extensive stage house expansion in 2004 so that the venue can take the biggest touring shows.

By the way, the term “Makem” is mildly derogatory by Geordies but the Wearsiders obviously take it in good spirit, judging by these sweets spotted in an excellent sweet shop spotted in Fawcett Street.

According to the paper, the ten year lease was due for renewal and Dennis is getting on a bit now. There are Candyman shops in nearby Dewsbury & Batley so there is somewhere to distribute the residual stock, but they won’t be interested in Morley Hall Commemorative mugs, a snip at 50p.

(The Morley Community Archives site has this to say about Morley Hall:

This stone mansion was built in 1683 by Thomas Dawson, a local textile manufacturer. It has a fine vantage but Norrisson Scatcherd who lived in the bigger Georgian Morley House claimed that it was badly planned. Clearly there was rivalry between the families, although the last Morley Scatcherd, Oliver, lived there until his death in 1905. In 1917, it was bought by Sir Charles Scarth and given to the town for use as a Maternity Hospital. This facility closed in 1972. Now, it is a listed building and a private residence.

That simple description hides a lot of latent anger- it was supposedly given to the Town in perpetuity but was flogged off by Leeds once Morley was no longer a Borough. Many Morleians  were born there so it has sentimental value at least.)

Anyway, I resisted the temptation to buy a mug, we have way more than we need anyway, as being involved with Eighteen Plus and Round Table ensured we were never short of them. The Charles and Di ones didn’t appeal either!

The book charted the social and architectural jigsaw of the rise and fall of the Cooperative Society in the town. At its peak there were five distinct sets of adjoining retail premises along with twenty-one branch shops in outlying areas, warehouses and even a pie factory.

The book can be bought at Co-op travel and Co-op pharmacy in town and you can read a review here.

There are still snippets of history around the town un-noticed to most. This photo shows where it all began 141 years ago on the corner of Albion Street and Commercial Street, the premises now belonging to a firm of Solicitors.

I thought at first that the clock had survived from a distance but I hadn’t appreciated that the faces had gone and what I was seeing was daylight through the tower. Up closer, the bitter truth becomes apparent.

The fire is regarded as suspicious by many and there is a £500 reward from local Councillors.

It is a couple of decades since your Shadester held a Tiller but it didn’t take long to get back in the groove. I ended up Skippering most of the time as the first Mate and Billie no-mates seemed to be good at zig-zagging between banks (and occasionally into them).

There were only two locks on the stretch we covered which we locked down through on the Saturday and locked up through again on the Sunday. This meant that it wasn’t too strenuous for the crew.

We headed from our base at Chirk to Llangollen on Saturday afternoon, being on the world famous Pontcysyllte Aqueduct within an hour or so of setting off.

We went up to Llangollen on the Saturday morning, winding there and returning back, cruising steadily through the day and mooring up at Ellesmere. On Sunday we chugged along a bit further to look at some wildlife sanctuaries before returning and mooring up an hour or so south of Chirk (after a brief stop for a late liquid lunch).

On Monday morning, an early start gave us a clear run through the Chirk aquaduct & tunnel before returning the boat to Black Prince, intact other than a broken glass from the washing up and a few extra scratches on the hull (& a light coating of brick dust on the roof- those tunnels & bridges are tight…)

Bucyrus Erie B-E 1150-B was never steam powered, it used electricity and rather a lot of it. The mains cable was three phase 6,600 Volts and David was amazed how heavy a short section of it was.

This enormous beast is American in origin, something which speeded up its demise as it couldn’t readily run on UK power without further conversion. It was constructed in Milwaukee in late 1948 and used for four years in West Virginia before being shipped to Britain with two others.  It was used in the Leeds Swillington area at St. Aidan’s open cast coal site (by “sunshine miners”) from the early seventies until 1988 when it was prematurely retired due to the site being flooded out. A local preservation Society was formed to save it and it needed to be (partially) restored in 1999 in order to move it to its current resting home some fifty yards from where it was abandoned.

It is called a dragline because of what it does- a huge bucket is dragged along the ground until it is full of spoil, then raised and tipped nearby (or into lorries).  It is a walking dragline because it can slowly walk itself in any direction using two enormous footpads on eccentric cams. (In practice it is revolved so that the jib faces away from the direction of travel and then it walks backwards at 0.2 miles per hour.

The Leeds one has been silent for a decade now and is unlikely to ever move again. It also looks rather ungainly as the jib has been lowered to near horizontal position in order to release the tension on the various jib supporting ropes. As you approach the site, you can’t miss it and the machinery room is enormous. Inside strings of lights fed from a generator illuminate the substantial internal space which is filled with various motors, winches and electrical sets.  Substantial fans around the walls suggest this was a very hot room to work in and videos of the final move also suggest it was very noisy as well!

Up a steep iron gantry ladder you find yourself in the driving Cab. Here, from a comfy seat, and with wide visibility, the skilled operator worked the machine in a similar manner to JCB operators everywhere, using two large hand controllers. When visiting, it is also possible to walk along the narrow jib walkway, a journey that would have been much more difficult when the walkway was inclined 30-40 degrees upwards. (It may well have been stepped or even been a cat ladder and has now been replaced with catwalk flooring and a staircase at the far end).

More pictures tomorrow.  It is open on Sunday 13th as well, details here. Future open dates are on their website.

Sat 08 Aug 2009     Whitby Swing Bridge 100 Celebrations
Lots of events today to celebrate our grand old lady’s 100th birthday.
From 12.30  Swing Bridge paintings exhibition in Pannett Art Gallery.
Entertainments from the Tourist Information Centre to the Swing Bridge:
Cleveland Police Band, Marske Fishermens’ Choir, Saltburn Victorian Society,
Stakesby School Steel Band, Coblers Monday Folk Group, etc.
3.30 pm Civic leaders assemble at the bridge.
4.00 pm  Bridge opens and William Riley lifeboat leads Regatta through.
Speech and Blessing as they sail past.
4.25 pm  Bugle fanfare as plaques unveiled by Whitby Town Mayor and
Scarborough Borough Mayor. Fanfare, National Anthem,
Bridge closes for parade across the bridge.
Organised by Whitby and District Tourism Association, WTC, SBC & NYCC.

In the meantime, we decided to revisit the town on Monday and take in a bridge talk in the evening. Sadly, the museum closes Mondays, although we got a glimpse of it (and the famous Hand of Glory) on the way to the talk.

The talk was by the modern equivalent of the Borough Engineer and was somewhat technical in nature which was fine by me of course. It was all too brief and followed by a question and answer session which exposed much of the petty rivalries and frustrations of various eccentrics in the Town Civic Society. (My Mum said that two old dears next to her were indulging in a muttered bitchfest during the Q&A, much enlivening it for her in the process).

The bridge is in two parts which can rotate independently, although the northern leaf has to be moved first as there is a curved arc in the road where they move (and lock together with a pin mechanism underneath) and the curve is convex north, concave south.  They are based on a cantilever principle, with a long slender roadway counterbalanced by a shorter, thicker section landside. The mechanisms are hydraulic rams driven by electric pumps, with fallback diesel engines as backup.

The bridge leaves are controlled by a panel on the bridge pavement underneath one of the streetlamps on each side. When all is well, the operator simply presses one button and the leaf moves automatically. Sometimes, though, things don’t work properly, in which case the bridge can be moved manually by pressing various buttons in the right sequence.

Reliability of the control systems has been a recurring problem, so they are in the process of upgrading all of the equipment to IP 68 standard, i.e. it could be fully immersed and still work OK.

One thing we weren’t told is how they decide to open the bridge. It is quite simple really, it is manned either side of high tide and opened on the hour or half hour by request of shipping- on VHF maritime radio.

Anyway, I have a few photos but I can’t seem to upload them at the moment, I’ll do it when I can.

Happy birthday, Whitby Swing Bridge.

One year, I’ll visit the Tyne Swing Bridge on heritage weekend. (I don’t know about this year, Uncle Nobhead is visiting again).

By co-incidence, we were there exactly 82 years later and we signed up for a “VIP Tour”, a chance to see “backstage”.

Of course, it isn’t really backstage at all, or even behind the scenes, as we didn’t go anywhere that the paying public would not also be able to access. It was a chance, however, to have a guided tour round the foyers and a quick peek into the auditorium, as well as the “VIP lounge” in the nearby Mann’s Chinese 6 (a modern multiplex) and a sit in a D-Box chair, theme park meets flea pit!

Our knowledgeable guide handed out headsets with belt packs and my first thought was that it was some form of recorded commentary. It was actually a radio based personal PA system so we could hear everything he said to us over his boom Mic (unless we lagged too far behind).

The cinema is unusual in that it has a frontage set back from the road forming a large paved elliptical area. It is designed as a Chinese temple and I’m not certain that Syd Grauman actually indended it to become the tourist trap it is today with the “Forecourt of the stars” (Intended or not, it was a brilliant piece of marketing though, even if it does sound like a celebrity petrol station).

Having seen the Disney reconstruction in Florida, I can remember visiting the Hollywood one some 12 years ago and being somewhat disappointed to see a rather out-of-place rectangular opening hacked into one of the side walls, with a cheap sign above showing the way to the car park. That opening is still there but it has been much played down architecturally as it only leads to a fire exit corridor and the wall of a large construction site to the left of the Cinema. To the right, a large shopping centre has now been built, which also houses the Manns Chinese six.

Entering the lobby of the theatre, a rather visually jarring refreshment counter betrays that it was formerly part of the back stalls, with richly elaborate fibrous plaster cross-shaped medallions on the ceiling.

We were led quietly through the darkened auditorium- Wolverine was showing on the huge 90′ screen! It was much bigger than I was expecting, although it now only seats 1,200 or so. (It doesn’t have a balcony, but did/does  have private boxes upstairs).

They let me come back later in the interval though, to take this snap.

Whilst it has lost much detail over the years, what remains is still very striking.

Much more of the history and vintage photos here.

Apparently Cushy Butterfield was a music hall song based on a real person, a big girl, a minger, liked her drink and was a bit of a slapper.  Some Geordie girls try to keep up this tradition to this day, so I’m told…

She’s a big lass, she’s a bonny lass and she likes her beer…

and they call her Cushie Butterfield and I wish she was here!

(Words slightly de-Geordified so they can be read by non-northumbrians.You can see the lyrics on Geordie Life.com)

If you are wondering what the tune is, here are some Rugby Clubbers singing it.

Leslie retired in 1983 and died six years later, bequeathing his vast (not too well sorted) collection to Stephen White. his journalist colleague from the Observer days.

Stephen devoted eighteen months to producing a retrospective of the 1960s from the collection, launched in September 1992.

Stephen started sending a weekly picture to the Morley Observer the following year, frequently eliciting responses and recognition of people, helping Stephen index the collection in the process. Sixteen years later, the following decade hit the streets.

Stephen is the deputy editor of the Bristol-based Western Daily Press but will always be a Morleian.

“After years of doing very little with Leslie’s vast collection of negatives I decided to archive them properly.
“That task took me about 18 months. Then, last Christmas (2007), I launched the website www.leslieoverend.com in tribute to Leslie and his work.

“When this was complete I realised that some 16 years had elapsed since the first Overend’s Morley book – and I was asked when I was going to do another.”

“The last Overend’s Morley book proved hugely popular as a Christmas present. I’m confident that this will be the same – and bring back lots of happy memories for lots of Morley people.”

The book can be bought from the Morley Obtiser offices in Queen Street or can be ordered, post free, direct from Stephen, details on his website. Of course, if you are an exiled Morleian abroad, postage will not be free!

He also tells me that he still has about thirty copies of the original book for sale and they can be bought post free at a much reduced price.

Whilst I don’t know any of the faces in the books, the street scenes, furniture, clothing and haircuts are a fascinating social history of this town I call home.

(Update- retirement year corrected)

17th – 29th November – Bradford Civic Playhouse Exhibition

Bradford Central Library foyer will host an exhibition on the Bradford Civic Playhouse, featuring the collections of WYAS. Many famous actors started their careers at the Playhouse including Bernard Hepton, Gordon Kaye and Billie Whitelaw. J B Priestley, the author, was the first President of the Playhouse and many of his plays received their world premiére there. Come along to find out more about Bradford’s Playhouse.

Originals on display in the archive office on the 6th Floor on 26th November – 9am to 1pm

It was fortuitous that I went today as I was able to see and handle the origiinal documents. (I was going to go yesterday but it was cold and drizzling so turned back after five minutes).

I also took a look at their accessible local history site nowthen.org but I was rapidly turned off by all of the politically correct box ticking that this site achieved. (Take a look yourself to see what I mean. they even provise a tagsearch cloud to show how inclusive they are). To me, archives whilst the Cinderella service of the libraries and are about capturing local history to make it as accessible as possible, not promoting togetherness or celebrating diversity. You do get an interesting range of banner photos though if you refresh, I like the Alhambra Theatre on best.

I recently snapped a poster promoting a diversity event which has been or gone. I’ve been to a couple of these and they are rather tedious in my view. Of course, the righteous will tell you that you never get tired of seeing how to put on a turban and their food is simply delicious (whilst they are spending taxpayer money of course) but I beg to differ, I prefer to take people as I find them, not how I am told to perceive them.

Police Inspector Gadget also lambasts the complete and utter waste of time that promoting diversity is on his watch- Celebrating Christmas may provoke minority groups.

Remember our PC Orchestra that came to play the Proms in Morley? Here is the poster for their Christmas Concert, No-one told them not to use the “C” word.

17th – 22nd November – The Grand Theatre and Opera House Leeds Exhibition

Grand Theatre and Opera House, Leeds

Open 10am to 4pm and an hour before performances

The Grand Theatre will be hosting an exhibition featuring the collections of WYAS. This exhibition will be interactive and feature oral history recordings, costumes, plans and documents amongst the vast array on display.

(Unfortunately, the advance publicity in the Theatre Brochure didn’t mention the hour before performances bit, otherwise I could have saved myself one of the two trips!)

On approaching the Grand Theatre, I was delighted to see all of the scaffolding gone and the exterior pretty much complete. The exhibit was in the Grand Hall, a large lofty rectangular space above the foyer of which the five arched windows admit light to it.

Inside, I was first struck as to how much the room had been transformed. I knew it was going to become the lobby area for the newly reconstructed Assembly Room with a bar built under the balcony staircase but I wasn’t expecting black mahogany lined with mirrors and satin pink bands on near white wallpaper above, nor the two enormous crystal chandeliers. The light fittings may well be original to the room but it was very much Indian restaurant before, red flock wallpaper, red velvet drapes, red patterned carpet. Now, it is stunningly light and bright, a surprising contrast to the tiled & marbled sombre stairwells that lead to it.

The exibition itself wasn’t overly extensive and I was a little disappointed on my first quick walk round. On reading the display panels, however, I became much more engrossed. Here was the original Director’s register from the 1860s before the building was even built. An inventory of all the building assets showed arcane records such as four wire gas globe guards in a room under the stage and there were photos of the Queen gracing the Royal Box. (I was much more interested in the Front of House stage lighting enclosure above which appeared to contain Strand Pageants or possibly Furse Frencas). If you donned a pair of white gloves, it was possible to examine a selection of very old programmes as well as the archives of the Leeds Amateur Operatic Society. There were also photos and plans, including the proposals from the 60s to demolish the place and replace it with a huge mixed development (which fortunately never happened!)

An unexpected historical object was the 1980s lighting desk, a Strand Gemini (I noticed it had a White Light asset tag on it, perhaps it was on loan). It was powered up but the monitor was off and as there weren’t any lights connected to it I resisted the temptation to do a few cross-fades.

On my way back out again, I wandered to the old Assembly Room/Plaza Cinema entrance. The new area was modern and stark but some tiling from the original staircase had been preserved. I suspect this might become the new Stage Door entrance as this is now underneath the stage end of the Assembly Room, the interior having been reversed.

One very welcome improvement is the removal of the Carbuncle from the roofline. Contrast this view with my exterior photo from January last year!

We returned that evening to see LAOS’ production of Oliver! It was really good and there was little to fault. I felt they overlit some scenes and used way too much smoke, but that is just my opinion, being a bit of a Prince of Darkness when it comes to atmospheric stage lighting.

LAOS join MOAS on our must see list, we are looking forward to The Producers in May.

(Update- it is the Grand hall, not the Royal hall, text corrected. In fact, it is called the Emerald Grand Hall, presumably a sponsor as the main house is called the Yorkshire Bank Auditorium).

Well, the Sky Broadband stopped working late on Friday night and it didn’t start again until the early hours of this morning, so it is a good job I went away for the weekend!

We spent seven hours in Bruges (or Brugge, as they call it) on Sunday, travelling overnight there and back on P&O North Sea Ferries. The weather disappointed a little as it drizzled some of the day, but the city did not. In that time, we visited the Belfry, the chocolate museum, the lamp museum, the Brugs Bier Festival and took a walk round the shopping areas, getting some Belgian chocolate to take back.

I looked for one photo to sum up the day and I chose this one- a pop up tableau chocolate box.