As part of our project to bring the Town Hall back to life, we asked a number of people who have sued the building in the past to give us their memories
Hopefully it will get you thinking about how it could/should be used in the future. We would love to hear your feedback.
Thanks to everyone who turned out for the Christmas in Glossop events over the past couple of weeks.
Both of the Glossopdale Trust events (Lights Switch on and the All is Calm performance in old Glossop) were packed out. With over 200 people watching All is Calm last Sunday Evening, Old Glossop Church was filled to capacity. Success of events like this go to demonstrate the need for a bigger venue in Glossop for this type of performance.
Together with the Christmas Market on 29th Nov and the Victorian Market on 7th Dec, hopefully you will agree that this was a great way for the community to get together to kick off the Festive season.
Thanks to Anthony McKeown for some great photographs from the switch on and Christmas market. You can see them here on his Flickr feed.
This year,We have teamed up with other groups in Glossop (Totally Locally, Glossop Nightstop and the Glossop markets) along with High Peak Borough Council to bring a series of events to kick of the Christmas Festivities.
You will find details of all of these events on the www.whatsoninglossop.com website. but here is a summary of whats going on.
Download a PDF of the programme for Christmas In Glossop 2014
It’s been a busy summer since the spring newsletter back in March, with things moving forward on all fronts. We have had a number of outings as Bankswood Music, and the Halls project is moving forward steadily (if slowly).
One the down side, a lack of resources meant that we had to forgo running the Art in the Window Event in 2014, but we have hopes that it can rise again for 2015.
Bankswood music
Bankswood Music has had a number of outings this summer.
July, saw us working with HPBC and GALA to entertain the crowds with live music in Manor Park after the Tour de France when it skirted the town.
Later in the summer the 4th Bankswood music festival joined forced with the Inspire Festival to create the Bankswood Inspire festival in Bankswood park, on the August Bank Holiday. A great weekend, which was blessed with great weather, and arguably the best line up yet.
Our final outing was just last weekend when again we brought live music to the annual Manor Park Bonfire Spectacular which was once again, expertly organised by the Glossop Round Table.
Glossop Halls
We often hear criticism for how slowly this project is moving. It is a large and complex project that can not be rushed, but rest assured it is moving forward, with some significant steps being taken over the summer.
Firstly, and very significantly, The Glossopdale Trust have now officially been named by HPBC as the partner organisation for the Halls project, and they have formally acknowledged their intention to transfer the Halls to us (subject to a workable & sustainable plan for the future of the buildings). This step has opened the door for us to apply for funding to support the project. This application is now in, and we are awaiting news.
We are currently starting work on quantifying the size of the project and looking for sources of funding, including the preparation of a submission to the Heritgage Lottery Fund.
As this project moves forward, we are very keen to involve the whole community in developing a future for these buildings. Looking to inspire this involvement, we have created a video exploring some of the history of the town hall through the memories of people who have used the hall in the past. This video will be available on Youtube and our website in the coming weeks.
Looking forward
Looking forward, we are heavily involved in the Christmas celebrations in Glossop, with events on 29th November and 7th December as part of the “Glossop at Christmas” event in the run up to Christmas. (More information can be found on www.whatsoninglossop.co.uk).
Looking further ahead, we will continue to work on the Halls project, are already starting to plan Bnakswood Inspire 2015, and resources permitting, would like to see Art in the Window Return next year.
As always, if you or anyone you know would like to get involved, or simply show your support, head along to www.glossopdaletrust.org.uk website and sign up.
The Bankswood Inspire festival took Place over the August Bank Holiday weekend, and feedback suggests that it was the best yet.
Helped along by the beautiful weekend weather, this years festival saw over 15 bands perform on the 3 festival stages along with dancers, speakers and a puppet show to create a great atmosphere over the 2 days.
Thanks to everyone who supported the festival and came along. We would love to hear your feedback, good and bad, so that we can make it even better next year.
Watch this space for more photos as they come in and follow BankswoodMusic on Twitter and Facebook to keep up to date with news of next years festival.
After lengthy discussions and consultations, we are now delighted to announce that The Glossopdale Trust has been named as the preferred partner to work with High Peak Borough Council to bring Glossop Town Hall, Market Hall and the Municipal Buildings into community ownership, creating a vibrant heart for the town.
The Glossopdale Trust is a Social Enterprise with an open membership policy that was set up in 2012 with the objective of:
“Supporting the economic development of Glossop
through the promotion of music and the arts”
It was quickly identified that one issue was that Glossop lacked a central focal point, and that the Public Halls complex presented an ideal opportunity to create this. It was this thinking that led the Trust to open discussions with HPBC about a possible future for the halls.
The Trust has a vision that the halls will become:
“A NEW CULTURAL & COMMERCIAL CENTRE FOR GLOSSOP – OWNED AND MANAGED BY AND FOR THE BENEFIT OF THE COMMUNITY OF GLOSSOPDALE! NOW AND INTO THE FUTURE.”
The decision by the Council to partner with the Trust brings this vision a step closer to reality.
The next step is to look at funding options for the project and, with this in mind, we have created a joint project board comprising key members of the Trust working alongside HPBC to develop a bid to the Heritage Lottery Fund, and to explore other avenues for funding the project.
“These buildings are in desperate need of development, and we are keen to work with the community, and with current occupants to create a facility that benefits both them and the wider community of Glossop”, explains Duncan Wright, Chair of the Glossopdale Trust. “Our vision is to exploit the commercial opportunities presented by the Municipal Buildings and to work with the current occupants in the market to create a vibrant retail destination, integrating arts and crafts into an expanded high quality market, owned and run by the traders. We can then utilise the economic benefits realised by this plan to support the less commercially orientated community aspects of the complex.
The final part of the plan is to develop the currently derelict Town Hall into a modern, inviting community space that can be used for a wide variety of activities including music and drama performances, exhibitions, weddings, parties and other community events.”
The Trust is keen to engage with all members of the Glossop community on this project and anyone interested in getting involved, or wanting further information on the Trust’s plans for the Glossop Halls can contact The Glossopdale Trust via the website www.glossopdaletrust.org or email Duncan personally on duncan@glossopdaletrust.org.