Orton & Spooner breakfast talk planned
Following the success of Elaine Pritchard's first Rebel Women talk and afternoon tea last month, she is now trying something different - an Orton & Spooner breakfast talk on a Saturday morning early in the new year.
Tickets, costing £15, are now on sale for the event on Saturday January 9th from 9am. The price includes admission to the talk, in a private dining room at the historic building that is home to Langan's, a hot breakfast roll and tea or coffee. Also, £5 will be donated from each ticket sold to Burton & District Mind, the charity that has benefitted from profits and ongoing royalties from Elaine's Labour of Love book, published in 2022, about Orton & Spooner.
Elaine said: "Since 2022 I have regularly been giving talks about Orton & Spooner to groups such as local history societies, women's institutes. I thought it would be interesting to run a talk that ANYONE could come to without being a member of a specific group or organisation.
"Orton & Spooner really put Burton on the map between the 1890s and the 1950s. After that they stopped doing fairground work and switched to light engineering. A sad anniversay is that 2027 will make the 50th anniversary of the final closure of George Orton, Sons and Spooner, which was based on Victoria Crescent."
A happier coincidence is that Langan’s Tea Rooms is directly across the road from The Ritz, the former cinema that was originally built and run in the 1930s by the Burton Picturedrome Company, a business founded by Orton and Spooner.
"Annie Orton, daughter of George Orton, masterminded all the interior decoration. Her father and his business collaborator Charles Spooner had been quick to spot the potential of High Street cinemas and founded the Burton Picturedrome Company in 1913, when George was already 70. At one time Burton had four cinemas and the Orton and Spooner company owned three of them. George died in the 1920s but his sons, daughter Annie and Charles Spooner continued to run the cinema business and The Ritz was the jewel in their crown," said Elaine.
Most people, if they know Orton and Spooner at all, know them for their beautiful and innovative fairground rides and sideshows for travelling fairs. George also built ornate living wagons and wagons that transported equipment and could be opened out and built up into sideshows. They even created cages to transport animals around the country - in those different times - for the Bostock & Wombwell menageries.
Elaine added: "I have never given the same Orton & Spooner talk twice. That's because I'm always learning new information from fellow enthusiasts and historians and also because I tailor my talks to my audience. I am really looking forward to giving this talk at Langan's in the new year."
Feedback to previous Orton & Spooner talks
Last month, to coincide with the annual Ashby Statutes funfair, Elaine was invited to speak about Orton & Spooner at a meeting of Packington & Normantion Ladies Group at Packington Church near Ashby-de-la-Zouch.
Writing afterwards in the church newsletter, the group leader said: "Wow! What an amazing meeting! Many of us had little or no idea of these two amazing men...Elaine Pritchard, who introduced us to the lives and works of these two men, is a gifted speaker. She made it all come alive and if you weren't there you missed a real treat."
How to book for the Orton & Spooner talk
Online bookings are available now for the Orton & Spooner talk on January 9th at Langan's. Click here to book via the Langan's website.
Comments