Newsletter No. 8 June 2009

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1 1 Friends of The Bowl of Brooklands Inc. Hi everyone. Newsletter No. 8 June 2009 Welcome to our eighth Newsletter. We are looking forward to meeting you again at our next ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING when we will bring you up-to-date with our progress. At 2pm on Friday 24 TH JULY, 2009 at FITZROY HALL, BEACH ST. FITZROY. Our Guest Speaker will be MRS ADRIENNE TATHAM, a granddaughter of Newton King. Adrienne will be telling us about the recent 75 th Anniversary Celebrations of the handing over of the Newton King property (including the present Bowl site) to the then New Plymouth Borough Council. It will be interesting to hear firsthand what this area was like in her childhood! AGENDA We have a short Agenda to take care of usual business, including Election of Officers Chairman s Report Financial Report Report progress on Book Discuss Friends Membership fee etc. - Reduce to $15? Future of The Friends

2 2 AFTERNOON TEA will be served followed by another treat of entertaining old footage of McAlpine films which Chris has organized for us. We look forward to seeing you there. Tribute to Departed Friends Since the last Newsletter we have sadly lost the following Friends and we offer our sincere condolences to their families and friends:- Judith Walker Margaret Gudopp Shailer Cottier John Murphy Scotty McGrath Dr Peter Van Praag If there are any that we haven t been notified of we include them in our kind thoughts too. Shailer Cottier - Narrated by Glen Fergusson In late October 2008, Shailer Cottier, a Friend of the Bowl of Brooklands died in Auckland. He last appeared on the Bowl stage at the recent reunion Many will remember Shailer for his appearances in a number of productions at the Festival of the Pines. He will be remembered, not only for his fine performances but his bright and sunny sense of humour - and for two remarkable stories involving the lake. His likeness for and his ability to pun was cause for the first episode. During a break in rehearsal for the Crucifixion there he was, punning away as usual, to the extent that Harry Lavington said if you pun again I will throw you in the lake. Shailer s reply just one pun apun another and into the lake he went. We all gathered round as a dripping figure emerged and said I suppose you will be leaving town after that!!!

3 3 The second splash-down occurred during a final rehearsal of A Midsummer Night s Dream. Shailer played Bottom and had to make an entrance on a bicycle and pedal into the lake. On this occasion, however, he asked that he not do it as he was dressed in a natty suit because, after rehearsal he was going to meet his future in-laws for the first time (he and Jenny later married). Alan de Malmanche agreed. So, on cue, in he came, at speed, his trouser cuffs tucked into his socks. Too late he found that the bicycle didn t have any brakes and the inevitable happened. I believe it was one occasion his sense of humour was dented! The Brookettes - Robin Dean. (from an interview with Robin in New Plymouth 2 nd Feb 2009) On 11 th May 1962 I was appointed as Secretary to the Public Relations Office in Currie Street. We were also the office for the Festival of the Pines, this being held over about 10 days, at the Bowl of Brooklands. In November 1962 a Mrs. Nell Gregory was offering to teach a group of young ladies some dancing for the Festival of the Pines. I applied for this opportunity whilst employed in the PRO. Tap dancing was taught with varying arm and body movements to show off the various costumes. There were two costumes, one had a body like togs, and a chiffon half circle attached to our wrists, which we did various dancing moves with. My Mum was part of the wardrobe sewers making the costumes. The second outfit was a sort of cowboy outfit, a shirt with green and white check, and red skirt, short and circular plus a cowboy hat. Mrs. Gregory, our tutor, was a lovely lady and we girls were around 16 to 19 years old. There were about twenty of us and we had to get changed in the trees at the back of the stage as there were no proper changing rooms. We just had to go amongst the trees and shrubbery.

4 4 There were no walls on the sides of the stage, just posts, no artists storage or a place for props. Very simplistic, but the whole effect from the audience s view was wonderful. Rehearsals were in the Trades Hall in Powderham St. and the Trust would have supplied funds for the costumes which were made in the Operatic Rooms. The Brookettes in miniature 1963 Nostalgia by Chris Rickards * Roger Whittaker CAME, SANG, CONQUERED Taken all round, Roger Whittaker would probably be the entertainer who has made the nicest impact on the Bowl audiences over the years. He was a little worried about what he had let himself in for, as he had heard from previous performers about the reserve and politeness of Taranaki audiences, and was ready to accept that a quiet audience which clapped politely at the end of a number were not in fact a cold and disinterested audience. Then he saw the Bowl and wondered how he was going to reach his audience after all, most of his work had been in pubs and small venues. In fact he wasn t then the widely known singer that he was later to become.

5 5 The last person who ever needed to worry about how he would perform at New Plymouth was Roger Whittaker. The response that he got from the 5000 crowd was the most fitting tribute to his ability. By the second song he had the audience right with him. He revelled in making close contact with the audience. With his remarkable resonant voice he was able to talk quite intimately with even those back on the hillside. He didn t beg them to join in, he taunted them. The audience taunted him back. The reputation of Taranaki audiences as being truculent creatures was washed well and truly down the drain. Few other singers before or since have managed to get among an audience quite like Roger Whittaker. QUEEN ELIZABETH THE SECOND at the BOWL 1970 Royalty at the Bowl On March 20 th 1970 Queen Elizabeth II visited the Bowl with the Duke of Edinburgh, where they were welcomed by a rapturous crowd, of an estimated 5000 people, in fine sunny 1979 Miss Brooklands Michelle Dravitski conditions. The first sight of the Royal couple was when their Rolls Royce appeared at the Brooklands Bowl entrance, the Royal Standard flying from a staff on the mudguard.

6 6 They were greeted by New Plymouth s Mayor D V Sutherland complete with Mayoral chain, and his wife. After alighting from the car, and formal introductions complete, the Royal visitors were taken on a walkabout tour amongst the hand-clapping crowd, stopping frequently to talk and shake hands with the people who were very close to the VIP visitors. After a tour of the Bowl complex, Her Majesty the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh, together with their escort were lead to front seats for a fifteen minute concert sung by two hundred wide eyed school pupils. Having completed the concert programme the Royal Party was escorted by Denny Sutherland on to the stage for introductions to many of the assembled choir. Then it was handshakes all round before being escorted to their waiting limousine which departed for their next destination Sunday Express editor, Murray Moorhead, remembered the visit in a 21 st anniversary publication for the Bowl. No entertainers before or since could have sung on the Bowl stage with greater pride than the two hundred school children who made up the massed choir for a short but memorable concert, he wrote. Movie films taken by Mary Robinson and Malcolm McAlpine show how well received were the Royal couple. They also show a lineup of Boy Scouts all dressed up in the uniform of the day. Close fitting short shorts with long socks and shoes, shirt and hats with badges Bowl of Brooklands, a lovely setting Sheila Connell Secretary Friends of the Bowl of Brooklands (Inc) 20 Manu Crescent Vogeltown New Plymouth (06) shecon@xtra.co.nz