Theatre

There has been a Pickernell managing the Garrison Theatre in Tidworth ever since it opened in 1909.
Bert Pickernell (Manager 1909 - 45) came from the Empire Theatre in Swindon to the Garrison Theatre which opened to a packed house with a boxing tournament in which the winner of the final bout received the princely sum of £10 and the loser £5 !

Early days

In the early days, the Theatre showed Silent Movies. Ken Pickernell, Bert’s son, (Manager 1945 - 83) remembers as a boy being responsible for some of the sound effects for the Silent Movies, for example rattling the chains behind the scenes during the original Ben Hur chariot race !

In June 1926 Dame Nellie Melba, the world famous Australian opera singer, (of Peach Melba and Melba Toast fame), gave her final performance in this country before retiring, 3 days after her last London appearance at Covent Garden in the presence of the King and Queen.

In those days the Theatre staged a variety of entertainments : live plays from the Strand Repertory Co; ballet from the Sadlers Wells Ballet Company and Big Band Concerts from the Southern Command Symphony Orchestra conducted by conductors such as Sir Malcolm Sargent and Sir Adrian Boult. BBC programmes such as “Any Questions?”, “The Frankie Howerd Show” and ”Music while you work” were also recorded here.

1939 - 1945

Wartime Commanders such as Montgomery, Alexander and Eisenhower used the theatre to address the vast numbers of troops passing through the Salisbury Plain Garrisons during the War.

The Theatre was used by ENSA to entertain the troops and stars such as James Cagney (singing “Yankee Doodle Dandy”), Bob Hope, Carole Landis, Alistair Sim, Will Hay and Robinson Hare all appeared here.

One of the Theatre’s more unusual uses was as a Briefing Centre for GI brides : British girls came here for lectures about American life before emigrating to the USA with their new American GI husbands !

Post War

Army Boxing Competitions continued to be held here and Henry Cooper, Joe Erskine & Dick Richardson all fought here during their National Service days.

Dancing to the “Big Time Bands” and ballroom dancing competitions for teams from all over the South West of England were held at the Theatre during the '50s and “Big Names” such as Frankie Vaughan, Frankie Howerd, Norman Wisdom, Eric Sykes, Roy Castle and Max Bygraves all appeared at the Garrison Theatre.

Ken Pickernell remembers the time when the Chessington Circus came to the Theatre. It was quite a job getting the ELEPHANT inside the Theatre and on to the stage !

Another unusual use for the Theatre happened in the 1950s when Hungarian refugees were lodged there for a while after fleeing the uprising in their own country.

Ken and his wife Gwen remember with nostalgic pleasure the Military Band Concerts and the Regimental dinners which took place at the Theatre. Ken is a member of the Variety Club of Great Britain and was awarded the BEM in 1955 for his services to Tidworth Garrison.

Today, the Garrison Theatre is managed by Tony Pickernell, Bert’s grandson. For the last 17 years, Tony has been responsible for organising events at the Theatre and in December 2000 he was awarded the Commander-in-Chief’s Award for Meritorious Service.
	Everyone who has attended a Band Concert at the Theatre knows that the Garrison Theatre is in the Pickernell blood. This picture is of Tony with his father Ken and grandson Lewis who, together with other members of the Pickernell family, all help out at the Theatre on evenings when “the Show must go on ... “

The BBC camera crew film the Theatre

The BBC filmed the Theatre when they were in Tidworth for "The Antiques Roadshow"
in April 2002

Michael Aspel with Tony and Julie Pickernell, April 2002

The Theatre still hosts the ever popular Regimental Band Concerts and is the venue for Army boxing competitions and deployment briefings, being one of the only places in the South West of England that can hold such a large number of people.

Newly refurbished in 2000, the Theatre now has state-of-the-art lighting, sound and electronic equipment and a large screen video. It is available for hire by any Garrison Unit or civilian organisation for briefings, presentations, lectures - or off-duty entertainments such as dinners or dances.

For more information, get in touch with
Tony Pickernell at the Garrison Theatre
Telephone 01980 - 602390