Pelham Puppets

1. Although Bob Pelham, was not a puppeteer – he was a Toy Manufacturer – he had hoped one day, to establish a puppet theatre within the factory grounds.

2. He used to enjoy performing with the puppets at trade fairs and every year he’d put on a show at the Christmas party for all the employees.

3. Pressures of work over the years continued to delay the project, but it was something he always kept in mind. So, when the opportunity arose, he was ready to make the idea a reality. This first came about in 1971.

4. Bob was initially very excited about the theatre and gave a detailed description of it in PELPUP NEWS in the summer of that year. However, only one performance was ever staged and the project came to an end.

4a. It was around 1979 that Bob Pelham and Jan Bussell (of the Hogarth Puppets, famous for the TV star of children’s television, Muffin the Mule,) had been discussing where in Marlborough, they might be able to establish a puppet museum and theatre.

4b. Several locations in Marlborough were considered, including St Peter’s Church at the west end of the High Street, (previous image, 4a) but they finally decided the best place for the museum and theatre would be in the new buildings Bob had bought in 1977.

5. In 1979 Mr Pelham invited me to build a stage that we could use to entertain visitors to the factory. I built it using the steel tubing used for making the Animated Units and the design was detailed in PELPUP NEWS No.38.

6. On Friday afternoons, I’d make up props and scenes for the performances. One very popular track was “Another Brick in the Wall” and another one was “Puppet on a String” by Sandie Shaw. (See next photo, Part 7.) 

7. Later that year, Bob told me he had decided to set up a theatre in one of the buildings he had bought a couple of years earlier. Sadly, he died in June 1980 and it seemed the puppet theatre project would now, never get off the ground.

8. Then early in October, Mrs Pelham called me to say she wanted me to build a new puppet theatre in the Animated Hall. She asked me to put on a show for the factory employees and their families before the Christmas holidays.

9. The stage itself was 18 feet wide and had moving floors for quick scene changes. This photo, of myself, Andrew Witts, Keith Huntley and Eileen Sims-Neighbour standing in front of the stage, gives you an idea of its size. The scenes and painting were still “work in progress” when the picture was taken.

10. I invited Andrew Witts to design a proscenium arch. In this photo, you can just see where I have highlighted the proscenium design that Andrew produced. This photo was taken at the opposite end of the Animated Hall in December 1980, and we had just finished rehearsing part of the show.

11. I had just over 10 weeks, on full pay and working full time, to get the stage built and create a show. I had complete freedom to call upon other employees to help with what ever was needed. Joe Crook built the stage closely working to the specifications set out in my drawings.

12. Mrs Pelham and Pam Lawton painted the background scenes for the opening number and the performance was made up of several ‘sketches’ or ‘turns’ in a variety format, re-creating some of the performances Mr Pelham presented at the trade fairs and at factory Christmas parties.

13. The performance included a fast moving, musical version of “Hansel & Gretel” and I particularly wanted to feature the new puppets of Miss Piggy, Kermit and Animal in the show as well.

14. I made up versions of Kermit and Miss Piggy with moving jaws, since the prototypes Mr Pelham had been working on had fixed jaws. I decided not to use my altered versions in the show.

15. For the finale, I chose to re-create the finale Bob had used in his show for the factory Christmas Party in 1954 as featured in PELPUP NEWS in January 1955. Most of the employee’s families came to see the show, as did Mrs Pelham and her daughter, Sarah.

16. The following week, the show was featured in all the local papers. It was my hope that this show would prove to be one of many for the new theatre during the coming year, 1981 and I couldn’t wait to get started on preparing for another performance.

18. Even though Mrs Pelham was very keen to establish a puppet theatre, the pressures of business and falling sales in 1981, meant no further progress was made and the building that was to house the theatre was sold.

18. I’d had a good team of people from among he factory staff, and everyone involved seemed to enjoy it and it is something I’ll always remember although I often wished that Mr Pelham could have seen it too.

19. In September 1981, Hamleys Toy Shop in London, relocated to a new, much larger store in Regent Street. Arrangements were made for the four of us, to present short shows in store in September and at Christmas. Here are my original drawings of the stage that was built and used for these shows.

20. I left the Company and Marlborough in October 1981 and apart from a few additional shows in Hamleys that Christmas and into the new year, a permanent Pelham Puppet Theatre never was established and in 1986, the stage we used in Hamleys was sold at auction for £25.00.