Out & About Autumn 2019

Out&About feature

investment to ensure it met current health and safety standards. A charitable trust, with four trustees of parish councillors and users, was formed to secure the arts, educational and recreational future of the venue for the residents of Highclere and neighbouring areas. Work has begun on the refurbishment, overseen by the trust and a management committee, which includes five hard-working volunteers. The first phase has all been about clearance and structural improvement to the building. Currently, the building is a shell and the contractor is installing a new first floor. So far, so good, the Westridge Trust reports. “It is always challenging refurbishing an old building, but so far, fingers crossed, we have not discovered any additional major problems with the structure of the building. Progress is good and it has certainly been aided by the excellent weather we’re experiencing.” The new, flexible Westridge building, which will accommodate around 60 people at any one time, should be completed by January 2020. It will include a small reception area with kitchen to be used for small group social activities and a hall which will

in the same format at the new Westridge Open Centre built at the end of the garden. Born in 1917 in Devon, there was more to

Dorothy Rose Jessie Gribble than first met the eye, as I found out when she showed me a picture of herself playing a scantily- clad Roman slave girl with the first Doctor, William Hartnell, in two 1965 episodes of Dr Who . ‘Darling, I

remember I was in a dungeon and had an awful carbuncle on my nose, so I really looked the part – it was hardly glamorous,’ she told NWN in 2004. She’d also appeared in Maigret , ITV’s Play of the Week: The Crucible in the 60s and the late-50s documentary series Monitor . But her first love was for all things Shakespeare. Trained as a student ASM at the Oxford

“I travel to learn,” she said. “I don’t see any reason for going somewhere not to be wiser for it.”

Playhouse, when war broke out the experience she gained as an ambulance and staff car driver was to later prove valuable when she drove the scenery trucks for touring productions. She continued performing at the Fringe for the next 20 years. Fluent in German and Spanish, the movie database IMDB lists DR’s many skills as ‘a theatre producer, narrator, poetry reader, writer and ran her own guest house’. At just five-foot-four, she had a dry humour and was a determined and at times feisty character. At Newbury Arts we would enjoy a mug of tea together as she’d regale us with absorbing tales

lend itself to activities such as well-being, rehearsal, performance, film, exhibition etc. The first floor will be predominantly for seated activities – painting, craft work, small group classes, and there will also be an external green space that can be used for a variety of activities and car parking. Fundraising has been a major focus over the last two to three years. “We were left a sizeable sum, but it immediately became apparent that a cosmetic job would only have caused problems later,” says trust chairman Mike York. “It was decided to push for the complete refurbishment and funds were needed. The Trust has raised nearly £140,000 to date from a variety of sources. Basingstoke and Deane (Local Infrastructure Grant) awarded

of her travels in Africa, the Middle East, Holy Land and the cultural sites of Italy. “I travel to learn,” she said. “I don’t see any reason for going somewhere not to be wiser for it.” And these experiences she wove into the Westridge recitals programme. When she died, aged 97, in October 2014, she left a legacy to the arts, and the Highclere community in particular, by bequeathing them the chapel studio, which is currently being given a new lease of life through a sensitive renovation project. The aim is to develop the arts and well-being community centre for people of all ages to use for ‘creative and performance arts activities’ that continue the heritage of DR’s much-loved Westridge Studio. The building had fallen into disrepair and needed

us £80,000 – an excellent start. Since then local benefactors, Greenham Arts and community-funded village activities (Safari Lunches, two 100 clubs and various other activities) have raised our cash levels. “We are currently applying for a grant from Hampshire’s Heritage and Community Fund of £50,000. If we are successful in this application we will need an additional £50,000 to complete the project. The basis of the Westridge Charitable Trust was guided by the wishes of DR Gribble who very generously bequeathed the building and grounds to our community. We hope that what we deliver a project that will be a tribute to her.”

For more information visit www.westridge-studio.co.uk/community/westridge-studio-14912/home For donatiions, the trust has set up a page on The Good Exchange https://app.thegoodexchange.com/ project/14707/the-westridge-trust

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O&A AUTUMN 2019