Yet more unseen Playhouse...

With the rear steels now in place in the auditorium, it is easier to see where the new front of house corridor is going to be. This photo is taken from the bar side of the theatre looking towards the foyer. To the left of this corridor will be a storeroom (and the shower) and, to the right, an access via door and stairs into the pool and furniture store. Fortunately, this will not be as low or as narrow as the tunnels found a few feet beneath! You do know about the tunnels, I assume?

This is an area of The Playhouse that few people have seen, although Craig and Scott ventured down here recently to see for themselves the construction of the building and the swimming pool in particular. Structural engineers have bored holes to ensure the pool floor can take the weight of the steels but Craig, being the conscientious site manager he is, likes to know every inch of a building he’s working on.

There is a series of brick tunnels below ground floor level that date back to the very early days of the building. One tunnel that runs all the way from the cellar to underneath the box office and boiler house, and while you have to crawl on all fours at the cellar end you emerge into a large, high chamber at the other. In this chamber there is still the lower part of an enormous chimney that dates back to the early-1800s and the medicinal baths and salts manufactory. This chimney, only capped at roof height in 1984, is clearly visible in a copy of an 1826 engraving we have in the theatre.

Another area of The Playhouse that few people have seen is the new front of house kitchen, replaced due to the floods. There is a great deal more storage space and anyone who has ever served coffee through that hatch will agree that this is a great improvement on the old one.

Make sure to check the blog tomorrow, as there will be a small competition for the bank holiday weekend with a bottle or two on offer!