Little bit scruffy - The Grand Pavilion · 2016-01-24 · Kingdom, The Heights of Abraham, The Peak...
Transcript of Little bit scruffy - The Grand Pavilion · 2016-01-24 · Kingdom, The Heights of Abraham, The Peak...
The Grand Pavilion in Matlock Bath was built in 1910 for
tourists, who used to arrive on excursion trains from all over
England and move around the area by horse drawn carriage.
Located in the beautiful Derwent valley, Matlock Bath today
is a surprising village — just 850 residents scattered over the
hillside, but with an impressive amount of shops, restau-
rants and tourist attractions.
Matlock Bath and the river Derwent have been described by
poets such as Elizabeth Barrett Browning, John Betjeman,
Erasmus Darwin, John Gisborne, William Sampson, Anna
Seward and William Smedley. Writer Nathanial Hawthorne
sums it up nicely in his 1908 statement “I have never seen
anywhere else such exquisite scenery as surrounds this
village of Matlock”.
Today’s village is vibrant, lively and colourful. Our visitors are
mainly families visiting the attractions such as Gulliver’s
Kingdom, The Heights of Abraham, The Peak District Lead
mining Museum, the aquarium, trying the fish and chip res-
taurants, pubs and eateries or walking along the promenade
by the river.
Matlock Bath is a spa village and the famous fishpond,
across the road from the equally famous Fishpond bar and
restaurant, contains koi carp swimming in naturally heated
water all year round.
Opposite the Fishpond is Matlock Bath’s biggest building,
The Grand Pavilion, which we think is the biggest invisible
building in the world!
Downstairs at The Grand Pavilion is the very successful
award-winning Peak District Lead Mining Museum with its
climbing tunnels and fun exhibits for children.
However upstairs at The Grand Pavilion is a different story.
In its recent past it was used as a nightclub and then closed
for a few years. It was left in quite a state, with the fixtures
and fittings of a nightclub (never seen at its best during day-
light), glasses of beer remains and very sticky floors and
carpets.
At that time the building was owned by the local district
council, and the cost of refurbishing it seemed huge — the
decision was made to dispose of the building when a
leaseholder could not be found.
The local parish council were told of the possible disposal
of the building and made the proposal public, to see what
the community wanted. In a very lively public meeting in
January 2010 the overwhelming reaction was ‘they can’t
sell our pavilion’.
The result was the Save The Pavilion Group chaired by
Gregor Macgregor, which, after much hard work, was
awarded a three-year lease to run the building.
Within a year or so some key decisions were made:
To set up a charity to provide security for the building’s
future and preserve it for the community — the charity is
called The Grand Pavilion Ltd
To open and use the building in its current state — the
building has been clean and safe enough to open since
April 2012
To buy the building from the council — The Grand Pavil-
ion has owned the building since August 2013
By 2012 the building was open for its first public event, a
free art exhibition with 2000 people attending. A photog-
raphy exhibition followed, with 3000 visitors.
As The Grand Pavilion Ltd realised the potential of the
building we became more ambitious. A strategy was drawn
up, based on:
Letting the building’s rooms to different groups of users
depending on the stage of renovation
Organising and putting on live music events to raise
funds from ticket and bar sales
Creating an Operations Group of local professional peo-
ple with the skills required to run the building profitably
Seeking funding for whole-building renovation, from the
various lottery and other funding bodies
The charity has been successful in implementing this strat-
egy and has made a significant impact on the way the
building looks inside. There is a lot to do and part of our
strategy has been how to decide what to do next, to gain
the most benefit. The main drivers of building work are
events. Once we have an event booked, we look at what
building changes are necessary to accommodate the
event — and prioritise those.
The other way we look at changes is to pick those which
will make the most difference. We had some help from Rolls-
Royce, who created a ‘development calculator’. This lets us
see, quickly and easily, how much it will cost to change the
decorative state of any room or space, so that we can let it to
different user groups.
And finally we look at what our volunteer working parties can
achieve easily. For example they are very good for clearance,
demolishing features not longer required, decorating and mi-
nor repairs.
In 2013 we put on around eight events from steampunk mar-
kets and private parties to a sell-out concert for Half Man
Half Biscuit. It was good to see the building full and no-one
seemed to mind that the floors were slightly grubby.
In 2014 there will be over 35 events, so we have come a
long way, and — as we mentioned before — we have also be-
come a lot more ambitious.
Until we gain funding for full
renovation we are going to remain ‘a little bit scruffy’.
We rely on you, our visitor, to help support our vision by
spending your money and enjoying our events. Thank you!
Little bit scruffy
Fun in the crawling spaces at The Peak
District Lead Mining Museum
The main hall on the day we got the keys
An Edwardian building under rescue by the local community,
operated by a charity. Help us repair, maintain, preserve and restore
this amazing building - and enjoy our events at the same time!
“When Nature had completed
Switzerland, there was left one
beautiful fragment for which she had
no further use in that country; so she
set it in Derbyshire, amid a framework
of romantic hills, and in time it came
to be called the Gem of the Peak: that
gem is Matlock.” Spencer Hall 1863
Early 2012—the windows blacked out with
steel nightclub platforms left and right
Early 2014, steel platforms removed and light
pouring in from the uncovered windows
Our vision: A beautifully restored
theatre, venue and community space
at the Grand Pavilion in Matlock Bath,
creating pride within Derbyshire Dales
Joining The Friends of The Grand Pavilion Group means:
Newsletter
Matched funding
Helping our charity
Discounts on events
Special offers
Exclusive events
JOIN for £10
on our website