Friday 1 May 2009
Sunday 26 April 2009
maximising community benefit
The conclusions of a 2006 feasibility study and masterplan commissioned by the Leith Theatre Trust concluded that the future of Leith Theatre lay in its potential as a social enterprise project harnessing its potential in the community for the community by the community as a multi-purpose community arts centre hopefully creating a virtuous circle of re-investment of its profits.
A shame then that the Public Consultation was not advertised on the Leith Theatre Trust website? For those of you who might not have seen the flyers posted at Leith Theatre on the day it was also posted on the Cockburn Conservation Trust's website for all to see http://www.conservationtrust.co.uk/cct/archives/images/leith/Poster%20for%20%20Leith%20Theatre%20Consultation%20April%202009.html, together with a publicity sheet about the project http://www.conservationtrust.co.uk/cct/archives/images/leith/Leith%20Theatre%20-%20Feb%202009%20Publicity%20Sheet.html
foundation stone - फाउंडेशन स्तोने
The foundation stone of the new Leith Town Hall and Library
The building of a new Leith Town Hall and Library was the fulfilment of a pledge given to Leith as a goodwill gesture by the Corporation of Edinburgh in 1920 at the time of the Leith-Edinburgh amalgamation.
At the ceremony to lay its foundation stone it was hailed as a 'consolation to the disappointed "diehards" of Leith', to the laughter of the assembled crowds present acknowledging the controversy that led up to this historic event.
Architect, Mr Bradshaw Gass, presented the Lord Provost, Sir Alexander Stevenson, with an engraved and inscribed trowel and mallet and the ceremony was performed by him declaring that the stone 'was well and truly laid', as reported in The Scotsman, 12 October 1929.
At the ceremony to lay its foundation stone it was hailed as a 'consolation to the disappointed "diehards" of Leith', to the laughter of the assembled crowds present acknowledging the controversy that led up to this historic event.
Architect, Mr Bradshaw Gass, presented the Lord Provost, Sir Alexander Stevenson, with an engraved and inscribed trowel and mallet and the ceremony was performed by him declaring that the stone 'was well and truly laid', as reported in The Scotsman, 12 October 1929.
Saturday 25 April 2009
'अन ऑब्लिगेशन फुल्फिल्लेद' - 'an obligation fulfilled'
Foundation stone's secrets revealed
The laying of the foundation stone was seen as 'an obligation fulfilled' to the former Burgh of Leith by the Corporation of Edinburgh. A metal cylinder, which contained copies of Edinburgh newspapers, a list of Town Council members, minutes relating to the buildings as well as various coins of the day, was also placed in the foundation stone.
Conducted by Lord Provost Sir Alexander Stevenson, the ceremony included a platform party of the Lady Provost, Mrs Stevenson, who was presented with a bouquet by Miss Gladys E Goalen; Mr Ernest Brown, MP for Leith; Balie Hay, Senior Magistrate; Treasurer Harvey; architect, Mr Bradshaw Gass FRIBA; and, Dr Rev Donald Davidson, South Leith Parish Church, who offered the prayer, and they are pictured above.
Conducted by Lord Provost Sir Alexander Stevenson, the ceremony included a platform party of the Lady Provost, Mrs Stevenson, who was presented with a bouquet by Miss Gladys E Goalen; Mr Ernest Brown, MP for Leith; Balie Hay, Senior Magistrate; Treasurer Harvey; architect, Mr Bradshaw Gass FRIBA; and, Dr Rev Donald Davidson, South Leith Parish Church, who offered the prayer, and they are pictured above.
© http://www.saveleiththeatre.blogspot.com/
Are you descended from any of these people? Do you have a story to share about them or about this occasion? All contributions gladly received and will be acknowledged, please email me saveleiththeatre@gmail.com
टाइम लाइन - time line
29 April 1920 Edinburgh Boundaries Extension and Tramways Bill before House of Lords’ Select Committee; their Lordships recommend ‘Leith to confer with Edinburgh with a view to an amicable settlement being reached’, The Scotsman, 30 April 1920
31 May 1920 After Lords’ decision to approve Edinburgh’s extension scheme the Local Government Committee of Leith Town Council decide to take another, second plebiscite, of Leith ratepayers on the question of amalgamation with Edinburgh (for the result, see 15 June 1920 below)
8 June 1920 Edinburgh Boundaries Extension And Tramways Bill [Lords]—(By Order), HC Deb vol 130 08 June 1920 cc327-50 327. MP for Leith, Captain William Benn’s Private Members Bill for a Second Reading tried the stave off the inevitable union by an Act of Parliament that joined Leith and Edinburgh as equals
15 June 1920 Another inquiry of the Edinburgh Boundaries Extension and Tramways Bill case before House of Commons Committee. The second Leith plebiscite votes 26810 against amalgamation with 4340 in favour, ‘the proportion of votes against union is over 6 to 1, while in the first plebiscite it was 5 ½ to 1’ (The Scotsman, 16 June 1920)
4 August 1920 The Burgh of Leith to became part of the Burgh of Edinburgh. A statutory requirement that the City of Edinburgh clear the slums of Leith; another stipulation, was that a hall and library at Leith was to be erected by the Corporation of Edinburgh under terms of the1920 Edinburgh Boundaries Extension And Tramways Act
1 November 1920 Leith Burgh’s last day
3 January 1924 Approval for the purchase of the site of North Leith Manse for the new Leith Town Hall and Library for £3500
20 May 1925 Lord Provost’s Sub-Committee of Edinburgh Town Council recommends competitive plans for a new hall and library in Leith
26 April 1926 At a meeting of Edinburgh Public Libraries Committee, Councillor M’Crow noted that the feeling in Leith was that the erection of a public library was ‘long overdue’ (The Scotsman, 27 April 1926)
28 October 1926 Edinburgh Town Council agreed that time now right for the erection of a public hall
4 May 1927 Reported in The Scotsman that forty-one designs had been received by Edinburgh Corporation’s architecture competition for a hall and library in Leith; the winners, Messrs Bradshaw Gass & Hope, FRIBA
16 August 1929 Town Hall and Library plans passed by the Edinburgh Dean of Guild
30 August 1929 Architect’s drawings for Leith Town Hall and Library revealed in The Scotsman
11 October 1929 Foundation stone of Leith Town Hall and Library laid
20 July 1932 Leith’s new Town Hall and Public Library opened
21 July 1932 First concert given in new Leith Town Hall by Mr Robert Burnett’s Choir in aid of Leith Hospital
14 December 1932 First play performed in new Leith Town Hall – J M Barrie’s Quality Street in aid of Leith Girls’ Club
7 April 1941 Bomb damage during a particularly severe air raid resulted in the closure of the halls and library.
1953 - 1961 Restoration, repair and refurbishment of library and halls (town hall and small hall) under auspices of Clerk of Works, Mr Robert Forbes, who survived 1941 bombing of the town hall complex
1955 Leith Library re-opens
1957 Large hall, Leith Town Hall, re-opens (but see 23 June 1961 below)
reminded of an event at Leith Theatre?...email saveleiththeatre@gmail.com
unless otherwise stated, all events listed below took place in Leith Town Hall, which changed its name to Leith Theatre in the 1970s
30 January 1958 Edinburgh Grand Opera’s production of Ruggero Leoncavallo’s Pagliacci
24 December 1958 Leith Christmas Eve Carol Service
January 1959 Edinburgh Grand Opera Company’s performance of Charles Gounod’s Faust
February 1959 Edinburgh University Savoy Opera Group present Gilbert & Sullivan’s Pirates of Penzance
22 August 1959 Gaelic Concert in Leith Town Hall
3 September 1959 Leith Town Hall hosts a Scottish concert with Elizabeth Robson, Jimmy Shand, and, Kenneth McKellar
8 November 1959 Leith Dock Commission and Granton Harbour Limited dance
February 1960 Edinburgh Savoy Opera Group present Gilbert & Sullivan’s HMS Pinafore
February 1960 Edinburgh Grand Opera Company’s production of Jacques Offenbach’s Tales of Hoffmann
23 June 1961 Re-opening of ‘this hall’ by Lord Provost as commemorated on a plaque located in the main foyer (crush hall) of Leith Theatre – was this the official re-opening of the small hall or the large hall, i.e. Leith Town Hall, or both?
August 1965 Alberto Erede conducts the New Philharmonia Chamber Orchestra in a concert of Haydn at the Edinburgh International Festival
February 1966 Edinburgh Grand Opera Group’s performance of Giuseppe Verdi’s Nabucco
January 1968 Ukranian Christmas concert
July 1970 Commonwealth Games Weightlifting Competition
January 1976 Elephant at Leith Public Library to remind people to return their books!
12 June 1976 AC/DC’s Lock Up Your Daughters tour (Current Peak album), their first ever gig in Edinburgh (‘Edinburgh, England’, as noted on the publicity of the time)!
August 1979 Thomas Morton Hall, Edinburgh Fringe Festival, Francisco Copello’s (1938-2006) production of Esmeralda (based on Victor Hugo’s novel The Hunchback of Notre Dame)
August 1985 Edinburgh International Festival, Gian Carlo Menotti's 1950 Pulitzer Prize winning opera The Consul performed by Connecticut Grand Opera
August 1986 Edinburgh International Festival, Swedish Stockholm based Folkopera’s production of Giuseppi Verdi’s Aida
August 1987 Edinburgh International Festival, Shanghai Kunju Theatre Company’s performance of a Chinese version of Giuseppe Verdi’s Macbeth
August 1987 The Chinese Shanghai Kunju Theatre company’s production of Xianzu's opera The Peony Pavilion at Leith Theatre for the Edinburgh Festival
August 1987 Folkopera’s (Swedish opera company based in Stolkholm), production of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's opera The Magic Flute at Leith Theatre during the Edinburgh International Festival
August 1988 Edinburgh International Festival, Swedish Stockholm based Folkopera’s production of Giacomo Puccini’s Turandot
Aug – Sept 1992 Edinburgh Fringe Festival, Grass Market Project's community theatre's Fringe First award winning MAD, directed by Jeremy Weller
© http://www.saveleiththeatre.blogspot.com/
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