National Army Museum identifies portrait of Black Waterloo veteran: www.theguardian.com/culture/2025... #Hstory #BlackHistory 🗃️

"Friedrich Engels ‘took creative liberties’ with descriptions of class divides in Manchester" www.theguardian.com/education/20... Article itself is #OpenAccess: www.cambridge.org/core/journal... #History 🗃️

TOMORROW NIGHT - 'In the Limelight' - A History of Black Performers in Morecambe. We look forward to hearing Kirsty Roberts, talking about the Black performers who regularly graced the town's stages—artists like Adelaide Hall, Clayton 'Peg Leg' Bates, and Cassie Walmer. Book HERE

Great visit, and wonderful archive!

Good to welcome you to the new home of the BMHS Archive & great to share these items from our collection #musichall

Beautiful collection of paintings, drawings, and prints - the Herbert & Ann Lucas Collection - at @pianonobile.bsky.social Well worth a visit #ennui #musichall #oldbedford #Sickert

Happy anniversary to the wonderful @royalcourtliv.bsky.social which first opened on this day in 1938 🎉 It is a theatre we've supported capital project advice, planning application and grants over the years Read more www.theatrestrust.org.uk/how-we-help/...

#MusicHall research down in Lambeth today at the @musichallsociety.bsky.social archive. #Dundee posters, Hetty King’s shoes, Max Miller’s hat, and the trousers of G.H. Elliott! #planning #WatchThisSpace @lambetharchives.bsky.social

Time to campaign for a Musc Hall Museum! National Lottery?

Very exciting - and the old seats from @artstheatrecamb.bsky.social were donated to one of our Theatres at Risk groups who are trying to revive the Amulet Theatre in Shepton Mallet ♻️ www.theatrestrust.org.uk/how-we-help/...

A couple of Edwardian #showgirls in the items on display last week at the @musichallsociety.bsky.social ‘Archive on Show’ at @lambetharchives.bsky.social

We are delighted to announce that we have awarded £80k in grants to 12 community theatres through our Small Grants Programme with The Linbury Trust for projects to improve access, sustainability and audience experiences 🎉 Read more about the grants www.theatrestrust.org.uk/latest/news/...

This #songsheetsaturday marks the approx. birthdate of Miss Ella Shields (born Baltimore, Maryland in 1879). Here is her 1919 Darewski number by Huntley Trevor & John Neat - 'Where Did You Find the Lady?' All about Bertie Blandford's adventures at the seaside after his demobilisation #MusicHall

Two fantastic #BMHS events this October! 🎭 📚 Archive on Show @ Lambeth Archives – Thu 9 Oct, 2pm 🎤 Kirsty Roberts Talk @ The Water Rats – Tue 21 Oct, 7pm (celebrating Black performers in Morecambe’s history) 📖 Book here: britishmusichallsociety.com/events

Looking forward to seeing this on catch up

More local advertising - this time we have a look at places to eat on Streatham High Road in 1961.

This week's #songsheetsaturday celebrates George Robey's birth #OTD 1869 with a cover of 'If I Had a Baby Like You' from the 'Joy-Bells' revue performed in this show with Shirley Kellogg. Albert De Courville's 'Joy-Bells' debuted at the London Hippodrome in March 1919 #musichall #revue #archive

🙏 @brixtonbuzz.bsky.social for the mention of talk coming up on Tuesday www.brixtonbuzz.com/2025/09/expl...

These adverts from a 1954 Streatham Hill Theatre programme give a fascinating glimpse of the local area.

As far as we know, the Change of Use application for Streatham Hill Theatre will not be assessed by Lambeth until October at the earliest. This means that there is still an opportunity to register your objection by e-mail. More information on our site - https://streathamhilltheatre.org

Thank you to @charlieholland.bsky.social @roadsw9.bsky.social @chrisabbott.bsky.social @youngalison.bsky.social Ally Wolf of the Clapham Grand and Christine Padwick for a fantastic series of lightning talks last night covering items in the BMHS Archive with a Lambeth connection #MusicHall #archives

A fantastic smorgasbord of Music Hall enthusiasts and experts, researchers, writers, performers 📚🤓😎🎩🎭 Take a look and follow! @musichallsociety.bsky.social @youngalison.bsky.social @wandaopalinska.bsky.social go.bsky.app/B9UJdQY

Stanley Holloway was the star of the music and comedy variety show Savoy Follies, opening at Streatham Hill Theatre on 12th September 1932.

And another smorgasbord of historians, experts, archives, enthusiasts Do take a look and follow! Point👇 go.bsky.app/Uf3qNwj

Congratulations to HOME and Jon Matthews Architects for winning @news.architectsjournal.co.uk Retrofit & Reuse Award for Adaptive Reuse for the fantastic HOME Arches project We were lucky enough to get a sneak preview of the space last year as part of our conference #RetroFirst

Our very first 'archive on show' morning was such a success back in August that we are running it again, on the afternoon of Thursday 9 October 2025, 2pm at Lambeth Archives. Booking details here: www.ticketsource.co.uk/britishmusic...

When Love Creeps in Your Heart is our tune for this week's #SongsheetSaturday. It was written by A.J. Mills and Bennett Scott, and sung by both Dorothy Ward & Evie Greene, We're sharing both versions here - it's surprising how similar they are.

The Friends are giving a presentation on the SHT and our campaign to the Equity South London Branch meeting on Saturday 20th September 1-3 pm at Brixton House and online. Our London Equity member supporters are welcomed by the branch as guests.

Our Archive page now features a guide to using the BMHS Archive and our Collections Policy for potential donations. We constantly update ARCHIVES HUB - you can explore more at: britishmusichallsociety.com/archives britishmusichallsociety.com/archives

A rare chance to see the bar in the basement of Streatham Hill Theatre. For more brilliant photos and video of the interior of this magnificent building, see our Blog Page on urban exploration teams here - https://streathamhilltheatre.org/urban-explorers-visit-sht-📺

Coming up #LambethHeritageFestival month. 3.30pm Sat. 6th Sept. as part of Local History Fair day I’ll be at Clapham Library talking Four-legged performers, just one of them on brochure cover. www.lambethlocalhistoryforum.org.uk/wp-content/u...

Virtual visit the current & past exhibitions here www.glynnvivian.co.uk/visit/take-a...

Another great exhibition from @glynnvivian.bsky.social www.glynnvivian.co.uk/whats-on/tig...

One for @misterslang.bsky.social ... the term 'flapper' remembered as being used of young milliners out for a dance in the 1850s/60s or thereabouts (Caldwell's seems to have closed in the early 1870s) [source from 1909 archive.org/details/remi...

This week’s contribution for #songsheetsaturday is “Good-Bye-Ee!” 🎶 A 1917 WW1 hit by Weston & Lee, and the last song Miss Florrie Forde sang before her passing in 1940. Decades later, it lent its title to the unforgettable final Blackadder Goes Forth episode #MusicHall

Ever wondered about what Streatham Hill Theatre looks like on the inside? On our Blog, we have amazing video from Urbandoned and stunning photos from 28 Days Later. See them both here - https://streathamhilltheatre.org/urban-explorers-visit-sht-📺

Streatham Hill Theatre is on our #TheatresAtRisk Register and this group is working tirelessly to find a way to bring it back into performance and community use Go along to the online meeting to find out more

Want to update your theatre's office furniture, but don't have the budget? We may be able to help... University of Oxford has identified some surplus furniture to be recycled and it would great if it would go to good use in a theatre ♻️ Find out more www.theatrestrust.org.uk/latest/news/...

#OTD 1808 the first Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, burned down. Opened in 1732, it was then known as the Theatre Royal. Reopened 1809 & burned again 1858. A frequent 19th-century hazard. Hope someone shouted "fire!" @bho.bsky.social @theatrestrust.bsky.social @theatreresearch.bsky.social

#OtD 8 Aug 1842 a general strike of 500,000 workers in the UK began. The strikers, fighting wage cuts and for universal suffrage for men, sabotaged equipment and set up committees to provide essential services. The govt sent in troops but some mutinied stories.workingclasshistory.com/article/1076...

Did you know Gravesend Town Pier is the oldest surviving iron pier in the world? It opened in 1834 and re-opened following restoration in 2002. I was there today for a seaside-themed pop-up event talking about my Seaside 100 book with a backdrop of amazing views across the Thames

On 17th August 1942, Felix Mendelssohn's Hawaiian Serenaders appeared in Streatham. Credited with popularising Hawaiian music in Europe, this London based troupe included hula dancers as well as the musicians and numbered up to 50 people on stage!

After yesterday's post, we have more from French Architecture student Sixtine Compin. These sensational models show a possible future for Streatham Hill Theatre.

Today is the 150th anniversary of Florrie Forde's birth in Melbourne. With an Irish father & American mother, she began her career in 1893 and was in London by 1897. For #SongSheetSaturday, we revisit her 1908 hit "Oh Oh Antonio," about a girl and her elusive Italian ice cream vendor #MusicHall

Want to know more about what we do? Then please join us at our next Campaign Meeting on 8:00pm on Wednesday 27th August. Details on how to join us on Zoom are here: https://streathamhilltheatre.org/events

A Somerset council is proposing to increase residents’ taxes in a bid to refurbish the closed Octagon Theatre 👇

Very hot and no air really.

Discover our latest blog entry, "Coronation Street and the Music Hall," by Rod Taylor from the archive of our journal, The Call Boy. Read the full article here: britishmusichallsociety.com/history/coro...) #CoronationStreet #BMHS #MusicHall #BlogUpdate #History

Obituary: John Styles — Magician and light entertainer who was a leading authority on the history of Punch and Judy 👇