3 Days to Go

We still have a few slots to fill for volunteers particularly on the Monday and the Tuesday.

Can you help?

Gregor

N.Gregor Macgregor
Chairman, The Grand Pavilion Ltd

See our Progress: www.savethepavilion.co.uk &

Support out vision: www.thegrandpavilion.co.uk

 

Final Weekend

Cleaning the Grand Pavilion for Derbyshire Open Arts progressed well over the weekend. The Canteen is now clean and ready for use, as is the Grey Room.

We have stripped of all the carpet times in the corridor between and have nearly completed the cleaning of the exposed floor. It vas very sticky from the glue and the generations of beer that have been spilt onto it!

What has been exposed is the original Terrazzo floor, which can eventually be repaired, but is currently able to be used.

Thanks to the 15 or so volunteers who have worked so hard to get us to this stage.

Gregor

N.Gregor Macgregor
Chairman, The Grand Pavilion Ltd

See our Progress: www.savethepavilion.co.uk &

Support out vision: www.thegrandpavilion.co.uk

 

We're on the BBC!

See the linked article. So far we have done pieces for both BBC Radio and Television.

Gregor

N.Gregor Macgregor
Chairman, The Grand Pavilion Ltd

See our Progress: www.savethepavilion.co.uk &

Support out vision: www.thegrandpavilion.co.uk

 

News Coverage for the Derbyshire Open Arts

There is a fantastic piece in the Matlock Mercury. We really are moving on. The Grand Pavilion building is nearly ready to host the biggest event for Derbyshire Open Arts.

This weekend we will be doing cleaning after the more major work that has been done over the last few weeks, that starts at 10am Sat & Sun.

Next week each night at 6pm we will be gathering to get things ready for the artists. See you there!

Gregor

N.Gregor Macgregor
Chairman, The Grand Pavilion Ltd

See our Progress: www.savethepavilion.co.uk &

Support out vision: www.thegrandpavilion.co.uk

 

Preparations for Derbyshire Open Arts

We are now well ahead with preparations and have the building in good shape, it just needs cleaning!

If anyone can help phone 0777 1717 086, here are a list of tasks that we need help:

Before the Event:

Saturday 26th:         from 10am in the Pavilion, Cleaning and organising the carpets.

Sunday 27th:            from 10am in the Pavilion, Cleaning and organising the carpets.

Monday 28th:          from 6pm in the Pavilion, organising and helping the exhibitors.

Tuesday 29th:           from 6pm in the Pavilion, organising and helping the exhibitors.

Wednesday 30th:    from 6pm in the Pavilion, organising and helping the exhibitors.

Thursday 3ist:          from 6pm in the Pavilion, organising and helping the exhibitors.

Friday:                       DAY OFF, if you are a member; come to the Member’s Preview at 7pm.

The event itself:

Saturday 2nd June   PM (2.30-7.30) Bucketeer, Stage Hand

Sunday 2nd June      AM (10.00- 2.30) Stage Hand

                                  PM (2.30-7.30) Catering, Bucketeer, Stage Hand, General Help.

Monday 2nd June    AM (10.00- 2.30) Catering, Bucketeer, Stage Hand, Door Greeter.

                                 PM (2.30-7.30) Catering, Bucketeer, Stage Hand, Door Greeter, General Help.

Tuesday 2nd June    AM (10.00- 2.30) Catering, Door Greeter.

                                 PM (2.30-7.30) Catering, Bucketeer, General Help, Tidier.

The Bucketeers are giving out the brochure (attached) and asking for a donation towards our costs.

Door Greeters will work with the Bucketeers.

The Stage Hands need to be able to lift things and plug things in under instructions from Andie Brazewell.

The rest should be fairly obvious.

Gregor

N.Gregor Macgregor
Chairman, The Grand Pavilion Ltd

See our Progress: www.savethepavilion.co.uk &

Support out vision: www.thegrandpavilion.co.uk

 

Amy Meehan from Peak FM

We had a visit from Amy Meehan the newsreader and reporter from PeakFM. She was very knowledgeable about the Grand Pavilion and amazingly is the only reporter who has followed the campaign from the start! All the others have moved on to other jobs either in their original newspaper of moved to another.

I did a piece for her and later Andie arrived and did a piece, which together should give her enough material for a couple of articles.

Great to meet you at last Amy!

Gregor

N.Gregor Macgregor

Chairman, The Grand Pavilion Ltd

See our Progress: www.savethepavilion.co.uk &

Support out vision: www.thegrandpavilion.co.uk

 

 

 

Grand Pavilion Clean Up Team

Here is a photo of some of the team that have helped with the Grand Pavilion Clean-up.
From the left are; Lynn Allison (also one of our Directors), Gerry Kreibich (remember him playing Mozart!); John Colledge, Mike Frosdick, Me, and then three people who have done so much to make this project a success.
In the middle is Mick Hirstwood. Mick has been in the Grand Pavilion most important helpers in getting ready for D'Arts. Not only has he made the electrics safe but he has been there most weekends to ensure that we have a qualified builder on site whilst people are working.
Either side of him are Maureen and Tony Ball, who have been on so many occasions that I've lost count, from chopping wood at the beginning to painting now, they have been helping.
That you all!
Gregor
N.Gregor Macgregor
Chairman, The Grand Pavilion Ltd
See our Progress: www.savethepavilion.co.uk &
Support out vision: www.thegrandpavilion.co.uk

The Last Drop of Paint!

We have finished the Grey Room with the last drop of paint in the can! Here you see Fred Rosindell painting over the last bit of the horrible black paint in the Grey Room. The colour that we have left it (for the Derbyshire Open Arts) is not a clean colour, we just haven't had time. The room is now a colour that reflect much more light and makes the room feel much brighter. Later we can get the constancy right and make it "look" nice.
Anyway you are all going to be looking at the art, aren't you!
Next Weekend the Grand Pavilion is going to be having a real spring clean: Hoovers, carpet cleaners and lots of cleaning rags. We will them be able to welcome visitors for the Derbyshire Open Arts.
Gregor
N.Gregor Macgregor
Chairman, The Grand Pavilion Ltd
See our Progress: www.savethepavilion.co.uk &
Support out vision: www.thegrandpavilion.co.uk

Matlock People Story

I have linked to the story about us in Matlock People:

http://www.matlockpeople.co.uk/Matlock-Bath-s-Grand-Pavilion-set-reopen-public/story-16088307-detail/story.html

Thanks Lynn.

Gregor

N.Gregor Macgregor
Chairman, The Grand Pavilion Ltd

See our Progress: www.savethepavilion.co.uk &

Support out vision: www.thegrandpavilion.co.uk

 

Derby Telegraph Article

Great article in the Derby Telegraph;

http://www.thisisderbyshire.co.uk/Historic-pavilion-opening-doors-public/story-16118369-detail/story.html

Thanks for all your help that members have given towards Derbyshire Open Arts so far.

Gregor

N.Gregor Macgregor
Chairman, The Grand Pavilion Ltd

See our Progress: www.savethepavilion.co.uk &

Support out vision: www.thegrandpavilion.co.uk

Pavilion AGM

Last night the Friends of the Grand Pavilion had its AGM and re-elected it's committee for the next 12 months.
As promised, when people joined, I did a presentation on the past year and our expectations for the year ahead.
Two comments we made, one was the lack of Young People involved in the campaign and the other was about charging for Friends' events.
We have not addressed the issue of young people properly. We actually have a lot of younger people (say under 40) who are members. It is probably because older people have more time that we have not managed to attract many younger people to events and other functions. We agreed to put more work into this area.
We do not charge for Friends Group events as a rule as it creates much more work. The money raised will in no way help towards our £2.6m target and we want as many people to join the Friends Group. People performing, or talking, charge us nothing so it is reasonable that we do not pass on a charge to the members.
After the meeting we took about thirty members around the newly cleared areas of the Pavilion and the rest enjoyed a glass of wine and some cheese.
Gregor
N.Gregor Macgregor
Chairman, The Grand Pavilion Ltd
See our Progress: www.savethepavilion.co.uk &
Support out vision: www.thegrandpavilion.co.uk

Grand Pavilion to Reopen!

For the first time since the “Pav” closed in 2008, the Grand Pavilion Matlock Bath is to re-open, this time as an arts venue. From the 2^nd to the 5^th of June the Pavilion will be the largest venue in the county for the Derbyshire Open Arts exhibition, featuring 11 artists, as well as music, dance and audio-visual displays.

The Pav closed as a nightclub in 2008 and up until now the “lights have been out” at the Grand Pavilion, with the future of this key local landmark in doubt. However, the local charity The Grand Pavilion Ltd put forward a persuasive business case resulting in Derbyshire Dales District Council awarding them a three year lease. The charity is currently applying for grants to fully renovate and modernise the Grand Pavilion as a 400 seat theatre, arts and community venue. Part of the plan also includes creating a Heritage Centre for Matlock Bath.

This first event, Derbyshire Open Arts, is a countywide project to display contemporary arts in unusual spaces all over Derbyshire, from cathedrals to village halls, free of charge to visitors. The Grand Pavilion has been chosen as a venue and has the greatest number of artists under one roof, in all of Derbyshire. As it is Jubilee weekend, the Pavilion will also be providing music, dance, poetry, storytelling and video to visitors, along with a display about the renovation, refreshments and a bar.

Exhibition organiser, Mark Crowfoot, said; “this is a tremendous showpiece for what the Grand Pavilion can do. We will offer visitors a whole range of arts, that you can look at, hear and watch. I hope that our venue will become the flagship for Derbyshire Open Arts in the future.”

An enormous amount of work has been done to get the Grand Pavilion ready for this event. Grand Pavilion Building Officer, Dave Mowle, said; “this has been a tremendous commitment from people who really want to reopen the Pavilion and restore the venue to its central position in the Matlock area. Over 500 hours of time has been devoted to this by over 50 volunteers. We have done all the necessary work without having to spend any money on skips. All the surplus materials that we have taken from the building have been sold for scrap. We have actually made a profit from recycling old iron and wood!”

Grand Pavilion Ltd Chairman, Gregor Macgregor, said; “When the proposal to host Derbyshire Open Arts was first made I had some doubts as to whether we could pull it off. Now with just a few days to go before the event, we have shown what hard work and good will can do. Thanks again to all those who have given time. We now have a fantastic venue that is attracting attention from all over the Region – look out for us in East Midlands Today!”

Andie Brazewell, the Chairman of the Friends Group supporting the renovation of the Grand Pavilion said, “We are delighted to throw open the doors to the public for  this amazing event over the Jubilee weekend, which will be completely free for everyone to enjoy!”

The Grand Pavilion Programme: https://www.dropbox.com/s/h4en1tq4rrzzvja/Programme.pdf

Derbyshire Open Arts website: http://www.derbyshireopenarts.co.uk/about

Gregor

N.Gregor Macgregor
Chairman, The Grand Pavilion Ltd

See our Progress: www.savethepavilion.co.uk &

Support out vision: www.thegrandpavilion.co.uk

 

Matlock Civic Association

I gave just done a presentation to the Matlock Civic Association. It went well and there were about 30 people there. There were some informed questions, as you would expect from such an organisation.

Many of the 30 were supporters of out Grand Pavilion campaign and a number were members of our Friends Group. I think we will get a few of the rest to join as a result of the presentation.

Gregor

 

Derbyshire Open Arts Brochure Published

The Grand Pavilion’s Brochure for Derbyshire Open Arts is going to the publishers early next week. The Front pave is visible with this post.

It will be given to everyone who arrives and become a souvenir that people can take back with them. It will list all the artists and musicians who are playing over the weekend.

We now have 20 adverts in it and they have gone a long way towards paying for all the printing that we have done for the event.

We are now starting to paint some of the interior of the building ready for the artists to set up inside. This will take much of the three weeks left before we open. Anyone wanting to help; please contact me to give some time towards this.

Gregor

N.Gregor Macgregor
Chairman, The Grand Pavilion Ltd

See our Progress: www.savethepavilion.co.uk &

Support out vision: www.thegrandpavilion.co.uk

 

John Gill Ignites the Temple

A fantastic night was had by all at the temple last night. John Gill and Please Y'self finished off an evening of great entertainment which included Basement Jack Gill (photographed) and a number of other performers of all ages.
Performers ranged from Mitch, aged 12, to Basement Jack who will be 90 this year. All of them have been trained by John Gill and what we provided was a proper concert audience, rather than the small audience they get in the Pub. If you want to see them, they are at the Princess Victoria every 2nd and 4th Sunday in the month.
We filled the Panorama Room and had a successful Raffle, which enabled us to show a good return for the evening. We also signed up 8 members on the night and took one guest fee on the door.
Gregor
N.Gregor Macgregor
Chairman, The Grand Pavilion Ltd
See our Progress: www.savethepavilion.co.uk &
Support out vision: www.thegrandpavilion.co.uk

Derbyshire Open Arts Advertisements

I have just finished the adverts that I have collected and the Mining Museum’s one that I ended up designing. There are attached to this Blog post, please use these supporters of the Grand Pavilion when you visit Matlock Bath.

Gregor

N.Gregor Macgregor
Chairman, The Grand Pavilion Ltd

See our Progress: www.savethepavilion.co.uk &

Support out vision: www.thegrandpavilion.co.uk

 

49 Reservations for John Gill!

I have just received a further 10 reservations and this evening is going to be a big one!

John is a great performer and with his young musicians, he is sure to produce a great evening.

I can also confirm that Basement Jack will also be there, so it will be an all-age event.

Gregor

N.Gregor Macgregor
Chairman, The Grand Pavilion Ltd

See our Progress: www.savethepavilion.co.uk &

Support out vision: www.thegrandpavilion.co.uk

 

Kylie Pentelow

This afternoon I went on to Nottingham Castle not to see the Sheriff but Kylie Pentelow! Kylie is our newest Patron and was really positive about our plans for the Grand Pavilion. She has a number of ideas of thinks that can help us. For instance she thinks a film production group she knows may be interested in following our progress towards getting the Pavilion re-opened. I think we have made a great decision by making Kylie one of our patrons.

She has just returned from a 14 day holiday treck in the Himalayas. This means that she has another interest in common, I will be off to the Alps this summer for the third leg of a tour of Val D’ Aosta, all-be-it nothing to do with the Pavilion.

We will keep in close contact from now onwards and maybe we will see her at Derbyshire Open Arts!

Gregor

N.Gregor Macgregor
Chairman, The Grand Pavilion Ltd

See our Progress: www.savethepavilion.co.uk &

Support out vision: www.thegrandpavilion.co.uk

 

Simon Fitch from the Arts Council

This morning we had a visit from Simon Fitch of the Arts Council. He is the Senior Manager, Funding Programmes of the Arts Council England, based in Nottingham.

He arrived at 11am and gave us an hour and a half of his time. We showed him the inside of the Grand Pavilion as well as Charles Beresford’s presentation of the history of the Pavilion.

We had a long talk about organisation and operation of the Grand Pavilion. I think we were able to impress him that this plan is viable and will happen, with help for some of the funding bodies.

We will talk again soon and I hope the outcome will be the start of an application for finance from the new fund being launched in the next couple of months.

Thanks also to Les Small and Laura Smith for helping to add to this successful visit.

Gregor

N.Gregor Macgregor
Chairman, The Grand Pavilion Ltd

See our Progress: www.savethepavilion.co.uk &

Support out vision: www.thegrandpavilion.co.uk

 

Theatres Trust Conference

I have just booked a place for the Theatres Trust Conference on the 12^th of June.

The conference Blurb says:

“Delivering Sustainable Theatres

The challenge of achieving the triple bottom line

Conference 12 looks at the sustainable design, development and operation of theatre buildings in relation to environmental, economic and social disciplines, and the challenges of delivering sustainable theatres for future generations.

We will explore how theatre buildings have addressed the sustainability agenda and introduced new technologies and adapted to meet rising energy costs, tougher environmental building standards, economic constraints and the expectations of audiences – and see what lessons have been learnt.

And we will be sharing the experiences of the 48 London theatres on The Theatres Trust ERDF funded ECOVENUE project.

We will look at what sustainable development now means for theatres, what opportunities exist for theatre buildings in the new National Planning Policy Framework, how funding programmes are now promoting more sustainable capital development of theatre buildings, and what is needed to ensure theatres can meet the triple bottom line head on and continue to thrive.

Conference 12 will be of interest to those trying to maximise economic, social and environmental returns from their theatre buildings through redesign, adaptation or new builds. It provides the opportunity to discuss these issues with other theatres, government and arts policy makers, theatre consultants and architects and take part in the debate.”

I think the Grand Pavilion will benefit because it will give us a great chance to see what other Theatres are doing.

Gregor

N.Gregor Macgregor
Chairman, The Grand Pavilion Ltd

See our Progress: www.savethepavilion.co.uk &

Support out vision: www.thegrandpavilion.co.uk

 

Ashover May Day Carnival

Today I had the stall at the Ashover May Day Carnival. To be honest I was not expecting too much, it was some distance from Matlock Bath and I had no idea how well organised it would be. I certainly had to arrive early; we had to be there at 8.30am!

It has turned out to be one of the best Carnivals / Fetes / Fun-days that we have visited, it was well organised, there were lots of lovely stalls, the food was good (well done Duncan Davies) and there were lots of fun events. There was the carnival procession, tug of war, live entertainment and a fun-run.

We did well and signed up no less than 15 members on the day. I feel sure that there will be as many again, in the post, as people complete the forms that I have given out.

Gregor

N.Gregor Macgregor
Chairman, The Grand Pavilion Ltd

See our Progress: www.savethepavilion.co.uk &

Support out vision: www.thegrandpavilion.co.uk

 

D'ARTS Brochure Advertising

I have just sold £560 worth of advertising for the D’Arts Brochure!

Attached are a couple of the advertisements that I have created for people who have paid.

This enables us to put on a 12 page brochure rather than a limited 8 pager.

Derbyshire Open Arts 2-5 June in the Grand Pavilion is going to be a success!

Gregor

N.Gregor Macgregor
Chairman, The Grand Pavilion Ltd

See our Progress: www.savethepavilion.co.uk &

Support out vision: www.thegrandpavilion.co.uk

 

John Gill & Friends on Friday

Our next event at the Temple Hotel is John Gill and Friends, it will be a great event introducing some of the young artists that John has been coaching.

Even John’s father will be there!

The event will start at 7.30pm on Friday at the Temple Hotel. Arrive early if you want to eat before the event.

Gregor

N.Gregor Macgregor
Chairman, The Grand Pavilion Ltd

See our Progress: www.savethepavilion.co.uk &

Support out vision: www.thegrandpavilion.co.uk

 

Christina Massey from the Matlock Mercury

I have just met Christina Massey from the Matlock Mercury. She is the new reporter for the newspaper and has taken an active interest in the development of the Grand Pavilion.

I took her around the building and explained how our plans will work out.

She admitted that she had visited “The Pav” in the old days, so she remembered some of the features in the Ballroom.

The Matlock Mercury has long been a supporter of the Pavilion, With Christina now on board at the Mercury we hope to take this to a new level.

Gregor

N.Gregor Macgregor
Chairman, The Grand Pavilion Ltd

See our Progress: www.savethepavilion.co.uk &

Support out vision: www.thegrandpavilion.co.uk