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Club Update October 2023

This month we celebrated our 36th Charter, the anniversary of when the club was formed.
President Kathy Kings invited Andrew Tucker to be our guest speaker, he was formerly the
cultural services manager of the Palace Theatre Mansfield, also responsible for the
management of the museum for arts, events, and festivals around the town. Andrew gave us a
very interesting talk about his life and how he came to Mansfield and also the history of how
theatre has played a big part in the building of the town. The first venue Victoria Hall/Palais
was built in 1790 and was thought to be the centre of its day. After the First World War, it fell
into disrepair until1929 when it was revamped into a ballroom and known as the Palais de
Danse. Over the year’s it has been a Bingo Hall a nightclub. The Palace Theatre was
originally a cinema that ceased to operate in 1954. The building was then renamed as the Civic
Hall showing more films than live shows. In 1971 the façade of the building was modernised,
and it became the Civic Theatre. In recent years the name Mansfield Palace Theatre which
continues to serve the town. Over the last 100 years the town has had as many as 15 venues
for theatre and screen.
We have also participated with the Rotary Club reviving The Walk in the Woods. This took
place on Saturday, October 7th. Fortunately, the weather was kind, after the walk lunch of
soup, a roll, and apple pie was enjoyed by walkers and helpers. Thank you to all who
supported us at this event, hopefully we will bring it back again next year!