History of the Novello Picture House
By Stewart A McNair
On 4th March 1920 my Great Grandmother , the Ranee of Sarawak and wife of the second White Rajah laid the foundation stone of the Novello Theatre which was being built by her son Captain Harry Brooke , brother of the last White Rajah Charles Vyner Brooke. After the ceremony, everyone moved next door to have tea in the Cordes Hall. The purpose of the project was to provide a meeting place in the Village where the latest films and plays could be shown to the local community. It was continually busy and very popular. Initially all the films were silent and were accompanied by a pianist.
My Great Grandmother provided the music but as the cinema grew in popularity another pianist was needed and our local music teacher from St Michaels School Ness R Ree became the regular pianist to packed out audiences. It was an outstanding success and I have many photographs and original leaflets for the actual performances which are contained in this beautiful book, assembled and eventually presented to me by the last Projectionist , Mr Ian Cooper.
Charlie Chaplain, Douglas Fairbanks in the Mark of Zorro, to name just two. On one occasion Treasure Island was shown in July 1921 with the Ranee on piano and Miss Dora Labbete , the famous soprano actually singing. That must have been a little confusing for those trying to follow the thread of the film.
The Hall remained in the Brooke family for many years until after the second world war and then was acquired by Charles Searle who continued to run the cinema with sound and the latest films and his son thereafter Stafford Searle.
In 1966, the theatre was in danger of closing for redevelopment and the local community raised a petition with 114 signatures spearheaded by 13-year-old Christina Young. She pleaded on behalf of the local community to the Windsor Rural Council to save the theatre. After considerable resistance from local companies due to the profligate cost of buying the theatre, Christina’s petition was successful and the Council bought it for £5,500. They did not have the money so they had to borrow this amount along with a further £3,400 for urgent renovations; however the place was up and running again.
The Trustees of the Cordes Hall approached the council between 2014 and 2016 to explore ways in which the lease held by this production company could be challenged as they appeared to be in default through failing to maintain the property and actively use the facility. We proposed putting a dynamic plan in place to resurrect the Theatre and move all the theatrical performances and cinema showings across from the Cordes Hall. Although the Council were sympathetic they were unable to break the lease but agreed that they would come back to us when the building was available. This sadly did not happen and it appears that the property division of RBWM prepared plans to demolish the building for their own development having put £300,000 into the council budget for demolition costs; fortunately, the Council does not appear to have these funds available.
One of our locals Alan Everett approached the council to launch a petition to demonstrate the support from the local community; RBWM initially refused to authorise this but eventually acceded to his request and our petition was launched…within 36 hours Alan had collected the magic number of 1004 signatures.
The overwhelming response to the Public Petition, together with all those in the area not eligible to sign, shows how strong feelings are to avoid letting the Novello Theatre disappear from the High Street, sold off for a few quid to plug the gap in Borough finances! There was also a terrific turnout at the Public Meeting held at the Cordes Hall last week – feelings ran high, and an Action Group is now being formed as volunteers stepped forward with offers of support in all areas, not least financial, but also Trades and building skills. Borough Councillors suggest they are amenable to this Group presenting at the next Council meeting at the end of February.
Our first objective is to stop the threat of demolition currently proposed by RBWM property services and present a strong case for this space to be managed alongside the Cordes Hall; they are side by side, such that the whole community has access to a wide variety of rooms, performance and rehearsal spaces, which will provide an enduring activity hub for the community from hereon.
The point we are now looking to get across to the general public about this Project is that, despite a start that has been hindered by bureaucracy and obfuscation we, the community, are now fully aware of the availability of this very special Community Asset and we are determined to fight for it!
The next significant event occurred mid 1980 when the expanded Windsor & Maidenhead Council issued a long lease to Redroofs in Maidenhead to use the theatre for their dancing and theatre productions. Sadly, this turned out to be less than active and the place was bathed in darkness for most of the time apart from one of two productions a year.