Links in a Chain - the Mayors of Bolton
Links in a Chain - The Mayors of Bolton
The Mayors of BoltonOnce upon a townA municipal palaceA (very) grand openingElephants and lionsTime for everyoneThe sincerest form of flatteryA place to gather togetherA new beginningAlso starringThe Albert HallsThe Festival HallThe Festival Hall CorridorThe Hall of Remembrance
The Banqueting HallThe Blue RoomThe Reception RoomThe Council ChamberThe Mayor's Parlour

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The Festival Hall

The Festival Hall is the unexpected phoenix that rose from the embers of the 1981 fire. A new space was created from the lower level of the original Albert Hall which is now used for large functions, dinners, wedding receptions and other events.

The remodelling of the building also allowed for the introduction of several other bars and function rooms: the Dido Suite below the Halls (doubling as the Town Hall staff dining room), the Lancaster Suite, the Bolton Artillery Suite and the Loyals Lounge flanking the Festival Hall and the Elizabethan Lounge on the Albert Hall level.

There is a plaque outside the Festival Hall marking the date of the fire and the reconstruction work undertaken afterwards.

 

Festival Hall

 

Click for larger image View of the Crush Hall and entrance to the Festival Hall.

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Click for larger image The entrance to the Festival Hall features an impressive brass plaque listing the names of local men who took part in the South African (Boer) War of 1899-1902.

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Click for larger image Caravezza marble bust of King Edward VII (who as Prince of Wales had opened Bolton Town Hall) by George Frampton.

Funded by subscription and unveiled on 19 December 1912.

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Lord Leverhulme

Every picture...

On the left hand wall of the Crush Hall hangs a large portrait in oils of Lord Leverhulme as Mayor of Bolton (1918-19) by Sir William Orpen.

Leverhulme - the so-called "Soap King" and one of the wealthiest men in Britain at the time - famously haggled with the artist about the agreed price after the picture was delivered. He had wanted a life-size, standing portrait but Orpen insisted that a seated pose would be better. The latter format was eventually agreed and commissioned.

It was reported that Leverhulme felt that a seated portrait ought to be cheaper than a full length version (the implication being that he measured art in square feet of canvas) and that a generous discount should be forthcoming.

Almost anything that Leverhulme did or said was considered newsworthy and the press did their best to play up the disagreement. Orpen himself graciously pointed out to the newspapers that the 'good tempered difference of opinion' had been settled amicably.

It is, in fact, quite a flattering likeness although it has often been pointed out that it is oddly difficult to tell Leverhulme's feet from those of his chair, making him appear to have three legs (or more!)

 

 

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