Thursday doors – 9 January 2020

Doors 93 – The Bristol Hippodrome

The Bristol Hippodrome is part of the cultural ‘beating heart’ of the city and has been so since December 1912 when it was first opened. The history of the theatre is well worth reading about, but because this is a post about doors (and I am notoriously lazy) I would direct you to this magnificent specialist theatre history site – Arthur Lloyd.co.uk.

I have seen many great performances here including several operas by the Welsh National Opera, plays and of course pantomimes when the children were younger.

Another link I have with the old place is my mother performed here with the Sadler’s Wells National Opera in the 1950s as a principal dancer with the company. She has fond memories of the theatre and the city.

On to the doors. The feature photograph, also repeated below for those who look at these posts on smart phones, shows the main entrance to the Hippodrome. What you don’t see here is that every night after the theatre closes, several homeless people sleep in front of the doors where it is safe and dry – theatre staff tend to gently move them on in the morning as I walk past on my way to work. This is the 5th wealthiest nation in the world, something is very wrong!

So there it is, my first door post of the new decade. May I wish you all a very happy 2020.

If you like doors, you ought to take a look at the Norm 2.0 blog – the originator of Thursday Doors where there are links to yet more doors in the comments section at the end.

by Scooj