Diary
Pavilion Past Presentation Script
Friday, September 21, 2007
Lucus:
Welcome to our Pavilion Past presentation. During the last 12months Class 5 from Westfield and HB5 & 6 from St Andrew’s have been working together on our Model Citizens Project. Our aim has been to record people’s memories of Weymouth Pavilion. We hoped to make links with new people and improve our communication skills. So how have we done? Well all these young people are going to tell you.
Here’s Lauren, Charlotte, Stephanie, Hannah and Aaron to tell you how we got started.
All:
Here’s our website: www.pavilionpast.org.uk
Hannah:
Last year Westfield’s Class 5 and St Andrew’s HB5 designed the website. They tried out different pictures and colours. Everybody came up with a name and the classes voted for their favourite. They chose ‘Pavilion Past’
Lauren:
On our website you will find a diary, news, history and lots of information.
Charlotte:
There are photos of us and photos of how the pavilion site has changed.
Stephanie:
We have used the website to tell people what we have been doing and who we have interviewed. We have written about our visit to the Pavilion and the History Centre. There’s also a report on how Maria Greenwood interviewed me for Wessex FM
Aaron:
People have looked at our site and emailed us with information. We have learnt how to email information to our website. Our website is there for you to look at. We hope you enjoy reading it.
(Website group sit down)
Lucus:
Thank you. Our next group will tell you about the Dorset History Centre. Here’s Tommy, Hugh and George.
George:
The Dorset History Centre is in Dorchester. Adrian Love came from the centre to work with us. He talked to us about the work he does and we had a busy morning looking at old documents and photos. We read old stories and had a go at using a quill pen and ink. The visit helped us understand what Adrian does at the Centre and how we can learn about the past.
Hugh
In October we went to visit the centre. We learnt how to handle old documents and how the moisture from your hands can be really damaging to old documents. We also learnt not to use pens near them in case they get marked. We saw old newspapers which told us about the Ritz burning down and how the Pavilion was used during the War.
We compared photos which were taken in Weymouth at different times and tried to guess which year they were from.
Tommy
I really enjoyed going in the strong room and seeing where all the old documents are kept. There were lots of shelves and boxes and it was quite cold. I liked looking at the pirates letter and the wax seal.
Adrian Love from the Dorset History Centre
Adrian talks about the benefits of communities investigating the past and the value of projects such as this one.
History Centre group sit down
Lucus:
Thank you boys. The next group will tell us a bit more about the history of the Weymouth Pavilion site. Elliott, Lewis, Bethan, Kenny and Courtney have a timeline to tell you about.
Lewis:
In the 1900s Weymouth became a very popular holiday resort. It needed a place for people to be entertained so the council held a competition to design a Pavilion. In 1908 the first Pavilion Theatre was opened. It was very grand and lots of concerts were held there. There was an arcade outside and a place for roller skating. The railway went right next to the Pavilion in those days and people got on boats there.
Kenny:
When the World War 2 started in 1939 the Pavilion was taken over by the army. All the area was fenced off and nobody was allowed near it. The Pavilion was used as a gunnery and for anti-aircraft training. All the seats were taken out and stored in the balcony. There was an anti-aircraft teaching dome which was a tent which looked liked the sky. The soldiers had dummy guns and practised shooting pictures of planes. They even had the sounds of planes to make it real. The gunners had to learn the sounds of the planes so they didn’t shoot their own spitfires.
The Pavilion was also used as a place where refugees from the Channel Islands were welcomed when they arrived in Dorset.
In 1943 the Americans came to Weymouth and the Pavilion area became known as HMS Grasshopper.
Elliott
After the war the army left. The Pavilion was reopened by the Mayor. It was now called the Ritz. Hundreds of people came to see the first show. It was a colourful spectacle.
Bethan
Although the Ritz had been given a makeover it was still painted every year ready for the Summer season. However on April 13th 1954 disaster struck. A painter accidentally left a blow lamp on and the woodwork began to smolder. The whole theatre was made of wood so it burnt down quickly. Fireman came from miles around but they couldn’t stop the flames. They even tried to get water from the sea. The auditorium and stage completely burnt down. Only the frontage and foyer survived. People reported seeing the smoke for miles. Children rode down to watch the scene. It was devastating. Nearly £80,000 of damage was caused.
Courtney:
The people had to wait until 1960 for the new Weymouth Pavilion to be built. It has changed a bit over the years. Lots of shows have taken place. This Ocean Room has been used for parties, weddings and is even used for wrestling.
History group sit down
Lucus:
As you have heard we have learnt so much about the Pavilion. Chris, Jamie, Jack and Joseph will now explain how we found out some of this information.
Jamie:
We wanted to make a DVD about Weymouth Pavilion. We asked people to share their memories with us.
Chris
It was difficult to find people to be interviewed. Some people read our website and gave us information. Only some people would let us film them. We interviewed people the Green Room. We also went to Ladymead Sheltered Housing in Portland and spoke to people there.
Joseph
Today we are going to show you a short clip of our DVD. We have been editing the film and it’s been difficult to choose just 15 minutes to show you. We couldn’t show every interview so we hope some people won’t be disappointed. The final DVD will be ready to give out to schools in October.
Jack
We would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who has agreed to share their memories with us and allowed us to film them. I was very nervous being filmed and I know some of them were too. Let’s give them a round of applause.
DVD group sit down whilst we all watch the film.
Lucus
I hope you enjoyed that short part of the film. As you can imagine we have all learnt a lot this year. Lily, Eloise, Poppy and Mia are now going to explain some of the things we have learnt during this project.
Lily
We have all learnt something new during this project. It hasn’t just been about the history of the Pavilion – we’ve learnt lots of new skills too. Some of these are technical skills. Some of these skills will help us with school work. Some skills will help us be better citizens in the future
Eloise
We have learnt how to use a video camera to film people. We have had to remember to switch the camera and microphone on and off and set the stand up properly.
Poppy
We have learnt about how a website is created and what it can be used for.
Mia
We have learnt how to handle old documents and how they are stored and used.
Lily
We have learnt how to find out about the past from books, the internet, old documents and most importantly - people
Eloise
We have learnt how to listen and find out more by asking good questions. We have also learnt how to think about our answers to questions.
Poppy
We have learnt how to be polite and helpful
Lily
We have learnt to be quiet and patient when people are filming.
Mia
We have learnt how to work as a team and support one another. We have learnt how to talk to different people. We have made lots of new friends - older and younger ones.
Eloise
We’ve had lots of fun working together. Everyone has learnt or enjoyed something different.
Everyone comes back onto the stage and says what they have enjoyed most doing this project.
Lucus:
We would like to finish by saying a big thank you to the Heritage Lottery Fund who gave us a grant to carry out this project.
We would also like to thank Joe who had the idea for our project and has taught us so much. We have really enjoyed working with you Joe, it’s been great.
Thank you all for coming to listen to our presentation today, we hope you enjoyed it.