Tammy Scale was Bloxwich's carnival queen in 2003, the first queen after a 10 year break. She talked to me about her experiences and memories of the day, and shared her photos of the time, including some of the Pat Collins rides in King George's Park.
Are you interested in appearing in an artist's film? Meet at the Artists' Studio this Thursday (31st July) at 12 noon.
I will be filming in the studio and at locations within the town centre on Thursday and would love to work with people interested to take part! The original 1951 script of the Pageant of Walsall, detailing the history of Walsall through a series of plays or tableau will be the source of the monologues.
No experience necessary! No need to book, just turn up!
The History of Walsall Pageant Script, 1951. Script on loan from Walsall Local History Centre
Join myself and the students working on the project for a sharing event this Saturday in the studio, from 2 - 4pm. Find out more about our research, chat about the project, and contribute!
Andy Hoccom, an art student from Walsall College who is working on the project with me, saw that the Clifton Cinema in Great Barr on the Walsall Road was being re-developed, with signs of construction happening on site. I went along to find out more and spoke to a couple of the owners who were happy to show me round and tell me of plans for the building, which is a large site, and a prominent feature in the area. They are in the process of turning it into a function room and are very close to completion of phase 1 of the project. The balcony area has been cordoned off with a wall, and will converted into a restaurant in phase 2. I was also able to see the projection booth, and they are happy for me to return later on to photograph some more.
I am happy to announce the start of my two week residency at New Art Gallery Walsall. Work has commenced today, and starting from tomorrow I will be in residence in the Artists' Studio working on the project 'We are illuminated'. Stop by to find out more about the project and remember, contributors are wanted, so if you are from Walsall, or live here now, and have memories and experiences of Walsall leisure get in touch!
Carnival Memorial Park, Willenhall, c.1926 (ref. 7844) Reproduced by permission of Walsall Local History Centre
A day of exploration around Walsall, looking to see if we could locate the former sites of cinemas and theatres in the town centre. Students from Walsall College and I met up at New Art Gallery, and researched the cinemas in the library, before walking around Walsall centre to explore locations, and try and see if we could determine the sites of many of the former cinemas.
The Imperial Cinema, Walsall, now a Wetherspoons pub
After researching possible locations in a book about Black Country cinemas by Ned Williams, we viewed the location of Her Majesty's Cinema, which then became the site of the Imperial, and where now sits Poundland. This is right next to the New Art Gallery. Looking at the building, we wondered if the design of the building is based in part on the original theatre design. After looking for a cinema location nearby, we viewed the Imperial, which still stands and is now a Wetherspoons, looking inside at the fixtures and design features that remain. After looking for another cinema site, now not apparent, we went up to Walsall museum and looked at the materials available there, including books, discussing next steps for the project
I met with four students from Walsall College at the Walsall Local History Centre. We had an interesting morning looking through the photographs at the archives, pulling out relevant images and exploring the books on leisure life in the collection. We looked at the newspaper microfilm from 1951 and unearthed some interesting information about the pageant opening.
Microfilm print out from Walsall Local History Centre
Microfilm print out from Walsall Local History Centre
Microfilm print out from Walsall Local History Centre
A selection of materials relating to my research has been installed at New Art Gallery, Walsall, in the display case outside the library. This includes copies of photographs from Walsall Local History Centre, and a copy of the History of Walsall script from 1951, detailing a series of tableau telling the story of Walsall. Snippets of my notes accompany the images. This case will be regularly updated with materials as research continues up to my residency in July. If you have any thoughts or information, get in touch!