IN less than two years, The Witham is to celebrate its 175th birthday. The venue, which was originally called the Witham Testimonial Hall, was built to commemorate philanthropist Henry Witham.
Money was collected by public subscription and the venue, which added a music hall 20 years later has hosted a wide variety of events over the last century and a half including dances, banquets, auctions and council meetings. Since the £3.2million refit five years ago the grade II-listed, 250 seat venue and art gallery has attracted a host of comedians through the club, Funny Way to Be Comedy, put on a number of cinema screenings and regularly holds designer makers’ craft fairs. As the arts venue’s managers seek to make the facility more popular and increase venues, the Teesdale Mercury went out in Barnard Castle and see what people on the street would like to see at the historic building.
Kelly Hughes, 44, of Churchill Road, said: “I’d like to see a revival talent show with as many different previous winners as possible. Possibly like a’Witham’s Got Talent. There are so many young, talented people in the town – it would be great to have a showcase for them.”
Music teacher Katie Bottomley, 44, of Hall Street, said: “I think it would be really nice to see more performing arts in The Witham, stilt walking workshops that sort of thing.”
She added comedian Iain Lee, who competed in the TV show I’m a Celebrity Get Me Out of Here, was looking to do a live broadcast show and she thought The Witham would be the perfect venue for this, adding she “would definitely buy tickets for that” .
John Rackham, 41, of Victoria Road, said: “The Witham was built in memory of Henry Witham and I don’t know many people know just how much he did for the people of Teesdale. I think some sort of history event to highlight just what a philanthropic man he was would be really interesting.”
Mr Rackham added he had lived at Lartington Hall, the home of Henry Witham, for 30 years. He said: “It would be a shame for his legacy to be forgotten.”
Helen Nicholson, from Somerset, was visiting relatives in the area said she thought “male strippers” would be a great idea for a one-off event. Kenny Walker, who runs Chocolate Fayre on Horsemarket, said he enjoys the comedy put on at the Witham and wished he could attend more.
He added: “I would really like to see more for teenagers.
“I know there is The Hub but they don’t do late night events and The Witham is a prefect venue in the centre of town. A really good idea would be a Headphone Disco, it’s something I used to organise in Glasgow and was really popular. It’s a great way to keep the sound down and not annoy the neighbours.”
He explained two DJs would play simultaneously but the sound would only be heard through headphones handed out to attendees. They could then switch frequencies depending upon which DJ they wished to dance and singalong to.
Another Barnard Castle resident thought there should be more mainstream live music events such as tribute band nights.
