Partington Theatre Club

Henry Street, Glossop, Derbyshire

01457 852066 (evenings)

On August 1st, 1914 Sir Edward Partington, MP, Baron Doverdale of Westwood laid the foundation stone of a fine building in Norfolk Square, which was to become the Liberal Club. Little did he know that 44 years later it was to be the home of a Theatre and Theatre Company bearing his name.

It all started when a group of local actors and actresses were returning from a rehearsal of "Rookery Nook" at St. Charles' Hall, Hadfield. These people, from local church and chapel societies - Charlesworth Independent, Whitfield ADS, St. Charles' ADS - had for some time been discussing forming a town society. On that car journey from Hadfield, Miss Hilda Knight, producer, said in her forceful way, "Let's get on with it then."

A preliminary meeting held at The Spread Eagle Inn, was followed by a foundation meeting at Community House to which all interested members of the public were invited. And so the Glossop "Repertory Club" was born.

The early years were a struggle. Plays had to be rehearsed and sets constructed at Community House, then the finished product staged at the Victoria Hall. But despite all the difficulties, the Society survived and fifteen plays were produced at that venue starting with the thriller "Bonaventure" in 1954.

The vision and driving energy of Hilda Knight and Vera Connor, the design and planning of Travis Collier and the cooperation and encouragement of Bill Smith, all now sadly deceased, led in 1957, to the creation of a beautiful little theatre on the second floor of the Liberal Club building, all the work being done by members of the Company. In January 1958 the society, now renamed "The Partington Players", and sporting the Arms of the Partington family as their logo, opened with the play "One Hundred Years Old".

Lack of space prevents us from quoting all the names of those who have in many ways and over the years helped us. Sadly, many, including many founder members, have passed away, but there are one or two survivors still active, and they, together with the new and enthusiastic young blood, will, we hope, continue to keep Glossop's only "live" Theatre going strong for many, many years to come.

Over the entrance on Henry Street, people now notice a magnificent life size statue of "Hamlet". This was created some four years ago by one of our long serving acting members - Stewart Garside - and was specifically designed to occupy a niche incorporated in the original building but never used to house any statue - one wonders what they had in mind at the time.

The theatre is haunted, reputedly, by the ghost of Hilda Knight - and indeed there have been some strange and unexplained occurrences involving unidentified footsteps and lights going on and off mysteriously. Many claim the ghost occasionally manifests itself in the form of a butterfly which circles the stage and auditorium during performances and has been known to alight on members of the cast. The butterfly has been incorporated as part of our letterhead design.