Thanks to the BBC’s fantastic Genome project, it is possible to trace some of Scarborough’s history via radio and television broadcasts. A number of performances from Floral Hall were broadcast, and this post will examine some examples from the 1930s and 1940s.
The earliest mention of Floral Hall comes on March 5, 1936, and features one of the venue’s most successful acts – the Fol-de-rols. You can read more about them here and here. According to the Radio Times, the group had spent over twenty years performing at Floral Hall as well as other UK seaside venues, and gave their first broadcast in May 1934.
In 1937, the Rolling Stones (not to be confused with the well known rock group) were broadcast from Floral Hall by the BBC National Programme. These ‘Rolling Stones’ were directed by Richard Jerome. The line-up included comedian Frank Monckton, theatre and cabaret performer May Goring Thomas and Farleigh Price. For Kitty Prince, theatre was very much a family affair – her sisters Elsie and Edna were also performers. Doreen Season appeared in numerous BBC broadcasts and along with Fraser Rogers directed ‘The Six Dancing Debutantes and The Regent Orchestra’. Jack Stanford, Edna Moncrieff, Eddie Kelland and Kenneth Blain also appeared.
The Rolling Stones would make numerous subsequent appearances at Floral Hall and on BBC Radio broadcasts in the years to come.
A gap in relevant records on Genome coincides with the Second World War, and the next entry comes in 1949, with a performance by Geraldo and his Concert Orchestra, featuring Archie Lewis , Eve Boswell, Diana Coupland and Reg Dixon. This interesting line-up included some big names in entertainment at the time.
Geraldo Bright led a highly successful big band and concert orchestra from the 1930s onwards. A graduate of the Royal Academy of Music in London, he provided piano music for silent films before leading ensembles in UK-wide tours.
Archie Lewis was a Jamaican singer who enjoyed great popularity in the 1940s – he migrated to the UK to work in munitions during WWII, and was a regular on BBC radio, as well as appearing at the London Palladium and touring in the US, Canada and Europe. He worked regularly with Geraldo at the time of the broadcast.
Eve Boswell was born in Hungary and later became a successful pop singer during the 1950s. Her parents were also professional musicians and she even had her own radio show at one point.
Diana Coupland hailed from nearby Leeds and started out as a singer, which is presumably the role she undertook for this performance. However, from 1959 she switched to acting and appeared in television and film up until her death in 2006.
The Reg Dixon credited here is probably Coventry-born comedian Reg Dixon, but he shared a name with a well known organist (and Blackpool Tower resident performer).
The 1950s and beyond brought an increasingly diverse array of entertainers to Floral Hall, including Harry Corbett and Sooty. Check back soon for more on this….
In the meantime, if anyone knows more about these performers or performances, please get in touch!
Stories From Scarborough 