The Benn Hall is a conference, seminar, exhibition, concert and party venue located in Rugby, Warwickshire, England. The hall, along with the town hall which is located next to it, was opened on 5 July 1961 by Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother. It is named after George Charles Benn who in his will of 1895 left £6,000 to the local council to construct a building that would be useful to the town. [1] The first of these buildings was opened in 1900 as a town hall. There is another Benn Hall, also dedicated to George Charles, in the village of Grandborough a few miles south of Rugby.
In the 1960s Benn Hall became renown as a venue which attracted some famous names in the world of contemporary music: Some of the acts which performed there included John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers, John Lee Hooker, The Small Faces, Pink Floyd, Status Quo, The Searchers, The Foundations, The Kinks, The Animals, and The Bee Gees. The Beatles had been booked to perform at Benn Hall in February 1963, but did not honour the date, as by then they had become national stars. [2] [3]
The building itself has two storeys. The main hall can hold up to 480 people, the smaller Rokeby Room 100 and the smallest room, Caldecott Room can hold 20. [4] Dressing rooms are located beneath the main stage on the lower ground floor level and there is a bar located in the Caldecott Room. Parking for the hall is found in the pay and display car park next to it and Caldecott Park is to the rear of the hall.
Cheltenham, also known as Cheltenham Spa, is a spa town and borough on the edge of the Cotswolds in the county of Gloucestershire, England. Cheltenham became known as a health and holiday spa town resort, following the discovery of mineral springs in 1716, and claims to be the most complete Regency town in Britain.
The Royal Albert Hall is a concert hall on the northern edge of South Kensington, London. One of the UK's most treasured and distinctive buildings, it is held in trust for the nation and managed by a registered charity which receives no government funding. It can seat 5,272.
Rugby is a market town in eastern Warwickshire, England, close to the River Avon. In the 2021 census its population was 78,125, making it the second-largest town in Warwickshire. It is the main settlement within the larger Borough of Rugby which has a population of 114,400 (2021).
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Southbank Centre is a complex of artistic venues in London, England, on the South Bank of the River Thames.
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Long Lawford is a village and civil parish in the Rugby borough of Warwickshire, England, located just west of Rugby, around 1.75 miles (2.82 km) west of Rugby town centre. In the 2021 census, the population of the parish was 4,545, a significant increase from 3,180 at the 2011 census, and 2,863 in 2001.
Brisbane City Hall, in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia, is the seat of the Brisbane City Council. It is located adjacent to King George Square, where the rectangular City Hall has its main entrance. The City Hall also has frontages and entrances in both Ann Street and Adelaide Street. The building design is based on a combination of the Roman Pantheon, and St Mark's Campanile in Venice and is considered one of Brisbane's finest buildings. It was listed on the Register of the National Estate in 1978 and on the Queensland Heritage Register in 1992. It is also iconic for its Westminster chimes which sound on the quarter-hour.
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Portsmouth Guildhall is a multi-use building in the centre of Portsmouth, UK, located on a pedestrian square close to the Portsmouth and Southsea railway station. Constructed in 1890, the building was known as Portsmouth Town Hall until 1926. It was heavily damaged by bombing during the Second World War and largely rebuilt during the 1950s by the English architect Ernest Berry Webber. It now operates as a concert, wedding and conference venue. It is a Grade II listed building.
City Hall has been the seat of local government in Bristol, United Kingdom, since 1956. It is situated on College Green, opposite the Cathedral and at the foot of Park Street in Bristol city centre. Throughout its history it has been home to Bristol City Council. Designed in the 1930s but built after the Second World War, it is a grade II* listed building.
Leeds Town Hall is a 19th-century municipal building on The Headrow, Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. Planned to include law courts, a council chamber, offices, a public hall, and a suite of ceremonial rooms, it was built between 1853 and 1858 to a design by the architect Cuthbert Brodrick. With the building of the Civic Hall in 1933, some of these functions were relocated, and after the construction of the Leeds Crown Court in 1993, the Town Hall now serves mainly as a concert, conference and wedding venue, its offices still used by some council departments. It was designated a Grade I listed building in 1951.
Brentwood is a town in the Borough of Brentwood, in the county of Essex in the East of England. It is in the London commuter belt, situated 20 miles (30 km) east-north-east of Charing Cross and close by the M25 motorway. In 2017, the population of the town was estimated to be 54,885.
Burnside College is a coeducational secondary school and sixth form located in Wallsend, North Tyneside, England.
Caldecott Park is an urban park located in the centre of Rugby, England. Most of the land was purchased by the Rugby Urban District Council in 1903 from Thomas Caldecott, the last lord of the manor. There was additional land purchased to the north of the original park in 1911, bringing the park to its current size of 10.6 acres (43,000 m2).
Halifax is a minster and market town in the Metropolitan Borough of Calderdale in West Yorkshire, England. It is the commercial, cultural and administrative centre of the borough, and the headquarters of Calderdale Council. In the 15th century, the town became an economic hub of the old West Riding of Yorkshire, primarily in woollen manufacture. Halifax is the largest town in the wider Calderdale borough. Halifax was a thriving mill town during the industrial revolution.
Bournemouth Winter Gardens was a theatre located in Bournemouth, England. It was first constructed in 1875 as an exhibition centre, but reopened in 1893 as a popular classical music venue. It was demolished and replaced just prior to World War II and became a popular rock music venue in the 1960s. The Gardens has been closed since 2002 and the site is currently awaiting redevelopment.
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