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Aston hippodrome

On the Birmingham Hippodrome heritage site there is a ref to Sandy McNabb and company performing 'The Egyptian Mummy' sketch in 1909.
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1955. I appeared in a show at the Aston Hipp. It was put on my my auntie, who was Madge Jenks. Madge ran a dancing and musical school on Gravelly Hill, and we performed our show there every year. This was the Walk-Down ( or as we called it, The Who Was Best....) Finale. That's Madge at the mic. Showtime finale.jpg
 
i lived around the corner never went there. i found more enjoyment muching around the house that jack built
 
1955. I appeared in a show at the Aston Hipp. It was put on my my auntie, who was Madge Jenks. Madge ran a dancing and musical school on Gravelly Hill, and we performed our show there every year. This was the Walk-Down ( or as we called it, The Who Was Best....) Finale. That's Madge at the mic. View attachment 131423

My only memory of this apart from pinching some of the wood when it was being demolished in the 70/80's for a garden fence . Way back in the 50's my Mother took me there to see some sort of a variety show , one of the acts was a trapeze , the flyer as they are called was in mid air and never got to the desired position and fell straight on the stage , my mother was beside herself she felt ill after witnessing it . I on the other hand was ok as I was only about 5
 
We lived by the hippo and walked a thousand time passing it only went in once and that was a young lady teacher from the infants side went around and came to our houses and asked would she let her take us in there to jack and the bean stalk
there was about 12 kids i was about 8 years old and she bought us all ice cream and never been in since
 
Didn’t know Aston Hippodrome was pulled used to go to wrestling there early sixties my aunt lived in New st opposite
 
I only remember it as a bingo hall but I do remember my mum telling me that she and my dad was playing bingo up in the gods which was called that because it was so steep upstairs where they were seated one night that the bingo was stopped because they announced that JFK was just assinated .
 
I only remember it as a bingo hall but I do remember my mum telling me that she and my dad was playing bingo up in the gods which was called that because it was so steep upstairs where they were seated one night that the bingo was stopped because they announced that JFK was just assinated .

Went there in the late 50's a man in a high wire act , fell straight on the stage , they ended the programme we had to go home , I didn't realise they played bingo there in those days , I lived up the road from it 1976-96 , when they converted it into a bingo hall . When they were stripping it out I had some of the wood to make a garden fence , I must say though , in The Barton Arms early one evening I overheard the privious nights goodies I don't think the prizes were all that good playing for bags of sugar etc
 
Went there in the late 50's a man in a high wire act , fell straight on the stage , they ended the programme we had to go home , I didn't realise they played bingo there in those days , I lived up the road from it 1976-96 , when they converted it into a bingo hall . When they were stripping it out I had some of the wood to make a garden fence , I must say though , in The Barton Arms early one evening I overheard the privious nights goodies I don't think the prizes were all that good playing for bags of sugar etc
It was definitely a bingo hall in the late 60s as we lived round the corner in bracebridge st till 1972 and my mum and auntie were always in there ! Also the second photo that astoness sent down of the hippodrome if you expand the photo you see one of the billboards says super jackpot .
 
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Interesting to see that Fred Butterworth was the M.D. for that period. Fred had his finger in many pies in Bournemouth and owned the Boscombe Chine Hotel amongst several other enterprises. By the time I played there for a few months in the late 1960s / early 1970s, his son John had taken over. Fred owned a total of 18 theatres throught out the UK, including the local Boscombe Hippodrome, which was more recently being run as a club. Fred died in 1992.

Maurice :cool:
 
Interesting to see that Fred Butterworth was the M.D. for that period. Fred had his finger in many pies in Bournemouth and owned the Boscombe Chine Hotel amongst several other enterprises. By the time I played there for a few months in the late 1960s / early 1970s, his son John had taken over. Fred owned a total of 18 theatres throught out the UK, including the local Boscombe Hippodrome, which was more recently being run as a club. Fred died in 1992.

Maurice :cool:
Thank you Maurice for this information, certainly explains the adverts on the front covers of the Aston Hippodrome for the period 1946-59
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Now in January 1945, Cyril Naylor was the Manager, with Specialities by Tom Moss,
when you went to see Dick Whittington you were handed an extra addition to the programme,
so that you could join the Pantomine Choir for the singalong

And it seems to me to be very appropriate for the area of the Aston,
so all together now ..........


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