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Proud of centres of excellence


ART plays a big part in the Ribble Valley t and spearheading tne area’s campaign for national


recognition are Clitheroe’s Platform Gallery


and Stonyhurst’s Centenaries Theatre. Both have hosted the work of nationally recog­


bling shell of Clitheroe Railway Station, left empty after the trains vacated the Ribble Valley back in 1963. However, life was breathed back into the station


nised artists and performers, a move which has helped to boost the popularity of these two centres around the ■ North-West. The Platform Gallery was born-out of the crum­


when it was announced that the trains were making a return and the station, which had been briefly used as an artist’s workshop, was reopened.


for rail passengers, the station is host to the Plat­ form. Gallery, where exhibitions are held on a regu­ lar basis. Dating back to 1870, the building is the perfect set­


Apart from serving as the gateway to Clitheroe


ting for an intimate art gallery, with its high ceil­ ings, rimmed with plaster mouldings, and cosy Vic­ torian fireplace, found in the waiting area. Its restoration was recognised when the borough


CLITHEROE’S Platform Gallery is proving ju s t the ticket witl a r t lovers


Arts spotlight on Brockhall project


council was presented with a certificate of merit in the Colonel Saunders Environmental Awards, which pro­ mote conservation projects offering lasting benefit to the community. Since opening, the gallery has held a variety of


exhibitions, starting with “Linking Threads”, a highly- acclaimed display of tapestries, embroidery, batik and fabric painting. Many local artists have exhibited their work at the


sculpture trail at Brungerley Park, where artists have created free-standing sculptures and carved sculptures in dead trees. The ground is littered with wooden mushrooms and


art; it held a football exhibition of memorabilia from local clubs Blackburn Rovers, Burnley, Preston North End and Accrington Stanley. Apart from the gallery, Clitheroe also has its own


who showed equestrian artwork. However, the gallery has not just restricted itself to


hollowed tree trunks, as well as the mammoth sculp­ ture, “Saving Sheep”, a huge wooden carving of a shep­ herd rescuing a ram from the river. The latest addition, “As the crow flies”, depicts the


flow of the river between two bridges in an ornately- carved 10ft. sculpture. A few miles up the road from Clitheroe is another


feather in the artistic cap of the Ribble Valley — Stonyhurst College’s Centenaries Theatre. Built to mark the college’s 200 years, the theatre is a lasting tribute to the school’s proud history. This 260-seat building is located in the grounds of Stonyhurst’s pre­ paratory school, St Mary’s Hall, although the theatre is for the use of the entire Ribble Valley. Since the curtain was raised on its first production,


the theatre has seen its stage packed with international pianists, brass bands, guitarists, choirs and even the occasional cookery demonstration and talk from a famous chef. The theatre has quite literally made a name for


gallery, including Brockhall Village artists who showed their sculptures and Whalley artist Miss Joanne Taylor


THE arts world has been focus­ ing a watchful eye on the Ribble Valley in recent years — and for good reason.


ing a mecca for the visual and perform­ ing arts in the North-West.


on our doorstep at the Brockhall Vil­ lage development, set to be completed by 1998, the area will be guaranteed a place on the art world map. . The centre’s aim is to develop Brock­


And with plans for an film, centre


hall Village, Old Langho, as a day lei­ sure destmation for , the 7.16m. people who live within an hour’s drive of the village and a national and international centre of excellence for sculpture. At the heart of the concept is a mag­


nificent new building, to be funded by the Arts Council, which1 will provide world-class facilities for about 100 sculptors to carry out their work at the former hospital site. Apart from a light and airy collective


studio, there will be all the specialised shops th a t they need, a forge, a foundry, wood and metalwork shops. And, most importantly, the building


itself, with its unusually titled concerts — hotpot, meat and potato, and cream tea. All these seasonal concerts derive their names from the food served in the intervals and have been extremely successful in entic­ ing the crowds in for a feast of music and food.


sculpture to people like my mum and persuading sculptors to come down from their ivory towers is a Hercule­ an task, but I feel sure that we have developed the right formula.” Fufilling this objective will be ■


ator, Helen Pemberton, explained, the arts centre will provide an opportunity. for everyone to enjoy art, not just the elite few. Ms Pemberton said: “Opening up


will be designed to allow the public to see what is going on, to watch the pro-' cess of creativity. As the village’s arts project co-ordin­


achieved by allowing the public to become involved in the creation of art. They will watch the artists at close


For the Ribble Valley is fast becom­ S


the culmination of several years’ hard work to transform an idea put forward


uarters and, perhaps, even take up le challenge of art and participate in short sculpture courses. Once complete, the centre will mark


by the village’s owner, Mr Gerald Hitman. . The centre has its root in the Brock­


" ing students to visit the village and lis­ ten to his plans for the colony. Within a short time, news of the.


village for promising young sculptors. t Mr Hitman initiallv sent invitations


o art colleges around the country, psk-


work at the colony and some of their work has been displayed in the village’s grounds and in Clitheroe’s Platform Gallery. The artists, whose numbers are


artists on British tun; inquiries have been coming from as far afield as the Czech Republic and Germany. More than 30 artists now live and


colony spread on the college grape­ vine and artists from all over the coun- try took up Mr Hitman’s invitation. Interest has not ju s t come from


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the surrounding countryside. Visitors will be able to roam through the west­ ern woodlands of the .village and view sculptures'set in' magnificent natural surroundings.


, out a promising future for the former hospital site — a future that will keep the arts world spotlight on the Ribble Valley for many years to come.


. With these plans, Mr Hitman and his. Brockhall Village team are mapping'


, ‘


be a marketplace, in which visitors can' have a drink and eat a meal, while see­ ing the sights.


At the centre of the development will ‘ - Z j/ie


56 King Street, Clitheroe Tel: 01200 25151


expected to grow to 80, all live in the former nurses’ home and use the huge redundant laundry as a workshop. . Another aspect of the new centre is ■


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hall Arts Institute, or the “artists’ colony”, which was established at the


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