THE NEW 'GREAT HALL' following the reconstruction
of the main building after the fire of 1979.
THE GREAT HALL prior to the fire of 1979. The
three state chairs seen on the stage were
introduced in 1929. In 1934 oak panelling at the
ground floor level was made to cover the original
brickwork.
It was from this hall that the BBC orchestras
made many broadcasts during the years of WWII and
a more detailed description is given in the pages
of 'Bedford in the 1940s', an associated
'Travelling Days' website. (Please click here to view the site.)
The original ground floor is now enclosed to form
offices and classrooms. The ground floor of the
new building has been constructed at the level of
the old lower gallery.
HUMFREY GROSE-HODGE (right) photographed while
sitting in one of the state chairs mentioned
above. The chairs were destroyed in the 1979 fire
as were the oak chairs with rush seats that
filled the main body of the hall. More
information about the life of Humfrey Grose-Hodge
may be found by
clicking here.
THE GREAT HALL is used for many school music
events as well as for school assemblies. A
temporary stage has been erected to accommodate
the house singing competitions.
The console of the recently renovated Copeman
Hart digital organ is situated in the alcove
behind the stage. The alcove was originally above
the entrance to the Great Hall from the northern
playing fields.
THIS OAK table has stood in the western corridor
of the main building for at least 65 years. It
was on this table in the 1940s that text-books
ordered from and supplied by the town booksellers
(F.R. Hockliffe, later taken over by W.H. Smith)
were piled at the beginning of each term. The
difficulties in finding ones own order were,
frankly, enormous. Hopefully a different system
is now in place!
EXTENSIVE PLAYING FIELDS lie to the north of the
main building. The Sports Pavilion shown in the
photograph was built and extended during the
1920s and 1930s.
