London - Croydon - Fairfield concert hall, theatre, gallery - postcard c.1980s

Postcard
• Picture / Image:  Fairfield Croydon [night scene] - includes Fairfield Concert Hall, Ashcroft Theatre, Arnhem Gallery
• Publisher:  J Arthur Dixon (L6/SP.6209)
• Postally used:  no
• Stamp:  n/a
• Postmark(s): n/a
• Sent to:  n/a
• Notes / condition: 

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Text from the free encyclopedia WIKIPEDIA may appear below to give a little background information (internal links may not  work) :

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Fairfield Hall is an arts centre in Croydon, London, England and opened in 1962. It contains a concert hall, the Ashcroft Theatre (named after local Peggy Ashcroft), the Arnhem Gallery civic hall (Croydon is twinned with Arnhem) and an art gallery.

The large concert hall is frequently used for BBC recordings. The Halls are the home of the London Mozart Players, whose principal guest conductor is flautist, Sir James Galway. Many famous faces have appeared at the Fairfield Halls, including Tangerine Dream, Genesis, The Beatles, Pink Floyd, The Who, Queen, Morrissey, a-ha, Caravan, Traffic (who recorded a live album in the halls), Family (who recorded the first side of their album, Anyway in the halls), The Nice (who recorded their album, Five Bridges in the halls), Robert Cray, Status Quo, Chuck Berry, Kenny Rogers, Elkie Brooks, Peter Frampton, Wishbone Ash, Daniel O'Donnell, Shakin' Stevens, The Sinceros, Petula Clark, Hall & Oates, Free, James Last, Bucks Fizz, Judith Durham, McFly and Coolio. Delaney & Bonnie & Friends recorded their live album ""On Tour with Eric Clapton"" in the halls, with a band that also featured Jim Gordon, Carl Radle, Bobby Whitlock, Leon Russell, Dave Mason, and George Harrison. Rat Scabies and Captain Sensible of The Damned both worked as toilet cleaners at The Fairfield Halls.^[1] Captain Sensible remarking that he was inspired to take music more seriously after witnessing a T.Rex concert there.^[2]

It is frequently used by local schools as the venue for their annual choral concerts.

The halls are built on the site of Croydon's historic fair field, and above disused railway cuttings which used to link the main London to Brighton railway to Croydon Central Station in what is now Queen's Gardens.

Fairfield Halls has also been used for British professional wrestling for many years, with various cards having been featured on ITV's World of Sport in the 70s and 80s.

In 2009, Fairfield Halls was used in the ""SpecSavers"" TV advertisements. It was renamed ""Fairview Shopping Centre"" in the advert.

Fairfield is run by a self-financing charity. It was in receipt of an operating grant from Croydon Council of nearly £1m up until 2005 when the grant was removed completely due to financial difficulties at the Council.

However Croydon Council, the freeholder of the land, has had various plans to refurbish Fairfield over the years but none of these plans have ever come to fruition. The latest development scheme to fall through involved the development of College Green Next to Fairfield. This was this latest in a long line of grand plans for Croydon to come to nothing.

The long-term commercial viability of the Fairfield was threatened by the local council's proposed development of an 12,500 seater arena on the Croydon Gateway site next to East Croydon Station. The council-backed scheme included a multi-use arena that would target the same income-generating markets that keep Fairfield alive today. On 30 July 2008 the Arena Public Inquiry finally concluded that an Arena was not financially viable. Planning permission and the compulsory purchase of the land were rejected. Croydon Council continues to seek an Arena.

type=printed

london borough=croydon

period=post-war (1945-present)

publisher=dixon

postage condition=unposted

number of items=single

size=continental/ modern (150x100 mm)