Eltham Little Theatre | |
Location | Eltham London, SE9 United Kingdom |
---|---|
Coordinates | 51°26′58″N0°03′01″E / 51.4494°N 0.0504°E |
Public transit | Eltham |
Owner | Theatre members |
Type | Community theatre |
Opened | 12 November 1943 |
Website | |
Official website |
The Bob Hope Theatre is a community theatre in Eltham in the Royal Borough of Greenwich, England. [1] The theatre is owned and run by the members of Eltham Little Theatre Company. The theatre's own repertory members present approximately 11 shows each year, including a pantomime every January, and an annual musical. A variety of other companies also perform at the theatre throughout the year – about 15 additional productions.
Eltham Little Theatre (ELT) Company was formed on 12 November 1943, to promote drama, music and allied arts in Eltham and its immediate vicinity. During the early years, it was without a permanent home but early in 1946, ELT was able to arrange an annual lease on Eltham Parish Hall (the current theatre). [2] Eltham Parish Hall (built in 1910) was unavailable earlier as it was being used as a military furniture store for the duration of the Second World War. [3]
During the period from 1948 to 1950 there were some 600 individual members and 25 affiliated societies, and a production was staged every other weekend throughout the season. [2]
Throughout this time, the theatre's management aimed eventually to purchase the building. Members were continually engaged in fund-raising activities to that end. By 1957, however, it became apparent that the asking price was beyond reach, and a sub-committee memorandum was submitted to the Borough Council with a recommendation that the building be acquired as an artistic centre for Eltham. While rejecting the recommendation, the council awarded the theatre a grant in aid, towards running expenses, in the sum of £150. This grant, increased to keep step with inflation, continued until the 1980s. [4]
The Bob Hope Theatre is a member of the Little Theatre Guild of Great Britain.
During the late 1970s, several commercial concerns expressed an interest in the building for such purposes as a video recording studio, a sports centre and a multi-entertainment complex. None of these came to fruition for one reason or another. However, in 1979, the owner of the theatre wanted to sell the land and so would not renew the lease and without funds to find another base, members were widely resigned to the closure of both the building and the company. [4]
By chance, Bob Hope, who was born in Craigton Road, Eltham, was in the UK to promote the Bob Hope British Classic Golf Tournament when he heard about the plight of the theatre.
Hope resolved to do what he could to help, and raised £58,000 through the 1980 and 1981 golf tournaments. [5]
Hope was assisted by celebrity friends in fund-raising for the theatre. While negotiations for the purchase of the building continued, Dickie Henderson (vice-chairman of the Bob Hope British Golf Classic) gave a benefit performance of his one-man show at the theatre to raise funds towards refurbishment. This was a tremendous evening of entertainment, enhanced by the presence in the audience of several star personalities, including Max Wall. [4]
In November 1982, the purchase of the freehold was completed and Eltham Little Theatre was renamed The Bob Hope Theatre. [4]
In September 1982, Hope became co-honorary president of Eltham Little Theatre Company along with former President of the United States Gerald Ford, who was heavily involved with the Bob Hope Classic Golf Tournament. [5]
In August 1991, Hope donated £28,000 from the benefit performance he staged at the London Palladium to raise money directly for the theatre. [4]
Francis Alick Howard, better known by his stage-name Frankie Howerd, was an English actor and comedian.
Blackheath is an area in Southeast London, straddling the border of the Royal Borough of Greenwich and the London Borough of Lewisham. Historically within the county of Kent, it is located 1-mile (1.6 km) northeast of Lewisham, 1.5 miles (2.4 km) south of Greenwich and 6.4 miles (10.3 km) southeast of Charing Cross, the traditional centre of London.
The Royal Borough of Greenwich is a London borough in southeast Greater London, England. The London Borough of Greenwich was formed in 1965 by the London Government Act 1963. The new borough covered the former area of the Metropolitan Borough of Greenwich and part of the Metropolitan Borough of Woolwich to the east. The local council is Greenwich London Borough Council which meets in Woolwich Town Hall. The council's offices are also based in Woolwich, the main urban centre in the borough.
Mottingham is a district of south-east London, England, which straddles the border of both the London Borough of Bromley and the Royal Borough of Greenwich. It is located south west of Eltham, 1.5 miles. It was historically within the county of Kent.
Woolwich is a town in southeast London, England, within the Royal Borough of Greenwich.
Greenwich is a town in south-east London, England, within the ceremonial county of Greater London. It is situated 5.5 miles (8.9 km) east-south-east of Charing Cross.
Leslie Townes "Bob" Hope was a British-born American comedian, centenarian, actor, entertainer and producer with a career that spanned nearly 80 years and achievements in vaudeville, network radio, television, and USO Tours. He appeared in more than 70 short and feature films, starring in 54. These included a series of seven Road to ... musical comedy films with long-time friend Bing Crosby as his partner.
Eltham Palace is a large house at Eltham in southeast London, England, within the Royal Borough of Greenwich. The house consists of the medieval great hall of a former royal residence, to which an Art Deco extension was added in the 1930s. The hammerbeam roof of the great hall is the third-largest of its type in England, and the Art Deco interior of the house has been described as a "masterpiece of modern design". The house is owned by the Crown Estate and managed by English Heritage, which took over responsibility for the great hall in 1984 and the rest of the site in 1995.
Shooter's Hill is a district in South East London within the Royal Borough of Greenwich. It borders the London Borough of Bexley. It lies north of Eltham and south of Woolwich. With a height of 132 metres (433 ft), it is the highest point in the Borough of Greenwich and one of the highest points in Greater London. Shooter's Hill also gives its name to the A road which passes through east to west and is part of the A207 road, the A2 road, and also Watling Street.
Eltham is a district of southeast London, England, within the Royal Borough of Greenwich. It is 8.7 miles (14.0 km) east-southeast of Charing Cross, and is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London. The three wards of Eltham North, South and West have a total population of 35,459. 88,000 people live in Eltham.
Oxleas Wood is one of the few remaining areas of ancient deciduous forest in Eltham in the Royal Borough of Greenwich, in southeast London. Some parts date back over 8,000 years to the end of the last ice age, the Younger Dryas. It is part of a larger continuous area of woodland and parkland on the south side of Shooter's Hill: other parts are Jack Wood, Castle Wood, Oxleas Meadows, Falconwood Field, Eltham Common and Eltham Park North. Eltham Park North includes the ancient Shepherdleas Wood.
Eltham is a constituency in Greater London created in 1983 and represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 1997 by Clive Efford of the Labour Party.
Greenwich Theatre is a local theatre located in Croom's Hill close to the centre of Greenwich in south-east London.
Alston Moor, formerly known as Alston with Garrigill, is a civil parish and electoral ward in the Westmorland and Furness district, in the ceremonial county of Cumbria, England, based around the small town of Alston. It is set in the moorlands of the North Pennines, mostly at an altitude of over 1000 feet. The parish/ward had a population of 2,088 at the 2011 census. As well as the town of Alston, the parish includes the villages of Garrigill and Nenthead, along with the hamlets of Nenthall, Nentsberry, Galligill, Blagill, Ashgill, Leadgate, Bayles and Raise. Alston Moor is part of the North Pennines Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB), the second largest of the 40 AONBs in England and Wales.
Well Hall is a place to the north of Eltham in the Royal Borough of Greenwich in southeast London, England, with no present formal boundaries and located 13.5 km (8.4 mi) east-southeast of Charing Cross. In the past Well Hall was the grounds of a manor house, and then a hamlet. Today it is a largely residential suburb and housing estate absorbed by the development of Eltham and London. It is centred on the main road between Eltham and Woolwich, on which many shops and businesses are located. Several major A roads including the South Circular Road and A2 road pass through the area, as does a railway line, serving Eltham station which is located in Well Hall. The Postcode that covers Well Hall and most of the Eltham area is SE9, and the 020 dialing covers the entire Royal Borough of Greenwich. Well Hall is split across two electoral wards, Eltham West on the west side of Well Hall Road, and Eltham North on the east side of Well Hall Road. In 2015 the population of these two wards combined was recorded as 24,621, although the wards cover a larger area than just Well Hall.
Woolwich Town Hall is an early 20th-century town hall located in the historic Bathway Quarter in the centre of Woolwich, South East London. Until 1965 it was the seat of local government of the Metropolitan Borough of Woolwich, after which it became the headquarters of the Greenwich London Borough Council. It is a rare example of an Edwardian Baroque town hall in London and is a Grade II*-listed building.
The Church of Holy Trinity is a Church of England parish church in Eltham, Royal Borough of Greenwich, London. The church is a grade II listed building. It is the location of the Gallipoli Memorial Chapel, which was dedicated in 1917 to those who had died in the Gallipoli Campaign.
The Tarn is a 9 acres (3.6 ha) site on Court Road between Mottingham and Eltham, in the Royal Borough of Greenwich, southeast London, United Kingdom, consisting of a public garden, a bird sanctuary nature reserve and a lake amongst woodland. The woodland and lake, which was historically known as Starbuck's Pond, were previously the southern part of the Great Park, one of three parks belonging to the estate of Eltham Palace and used as a royal deer hunting park for several centuries up until the English Civil War. As a garden The Tarn opened in 1935, after the Metropolitan Borough of Woolwich acquired the site from the adjacent Royal Blackheath Golf Course. The Tarn remains largely unchanged since the 1930s and contains several shelters, benches, a public toilets building and a circular path which crosses a wooden footbridge spanning the lake. There is also an 18th-century ice house in the garden, which is a listed structure.
Horn Park is a 16 acres (6.5 ha) public park within Horn Park in the Eltham area of the Royal Borough of Greenwich, southeast London, United Kingdom. It has a mixture of grassland and woodland, children's playground, football pitch, outdoor gym and the first skate park in the Royal Borough of Greenwich. Historically Horn Park was one of three deer hunting parks belonging to Eltham Palace, over the centuries it was also used as grazing farmland and a fruit orchard. The park today is some of the last remaining open space of the original park, a public park next to the Horn Park housing estate which was completed just after the Second World War.