Miles Bell, Kate Wilson, Peter Chapman-Andrews, Bridport Arts Centre board chairman Barry Lovejoy, recently retired mayor Cllr Ian Bark, Elizabeth Sporne, Tristan Allsop, Eddie Rose and Ingrid Hull recreat the 1973 photo (photo credit: Pete Millson)

Bridport Arts Centre marked its 50th anniversary last week by re-creating the photo taken on May 18 1973, when the Wesleyan chapel on Bucky Doo Square was purchased by an exceptional community group for conversion into a longed-for theatre.

Former Bridport Arts Centre (BAC) director Chris Huxley volunteered his time to source the early arts centre archive and co-ordinate this celebratory, explaining; "We wanted to create a symbolic event to celebrate and honour the Arts Centre's founders - without whom the organisation that has inspired and entertained so many of us over the course of half a century would not have come into being."

The original line-up in the 1973 images pictured top included Doreen Barwick (committee member), Sister Kathleen (violinist with festival orchestra), Peggy Chapman-Andrews (honorary secretary 1973 - 83), Harold Smith (chairman of Bridport & District Arts Society in 1973), Mayor Percy Norfolk, Florence Sporne (treasurer in 1973), Alban Wylde (committee member), Richard Matthews (building fund manager), and Dorothy Hothersall (Peggy's mother).

The new 2023 portrait represents those founding figures, as well as some of the creative and community elements that went on to flourish at BAC, like the Bridport Prize, represented by its programme manager Kate Wilson, and BACstage, reflected by the inclusion of the youth theatre's member Eddie Rose. 

Contact was made with some of the direct descendants of the original line-up, including Peter Chapman-Andrews, son of Peggy, and Elizabeth Sporne, daughter of Florence, as well as individuals with deep connections to the founding of the arts centre, such as Sandra Brown and Miles Bell, who inspired the conversion of the chapel's old schoolhouse into the Allsop Gallery, and Tristan Allsop, whose father Kenneth was the first president of the organisation with the gallery was named in his honour on August 14 1981. 

Current chairman of the BAC board, Barry Lovejoy, said: "Tristan is also a regular volunteer at BAC working on projection for the Film Society and the From Page To Screen film festival, as is Ingrid Hull – one of its longest-serving stewards – they both represent the hundreds of Bridport people who have given their time and commitment to the centre."

Sandra Brown MBE is the last remaining member of the original steering group that started fundraising and searching for a suitable building as early as 1968. 

The four-times Mayor of Bridport and BAC chair in the 1990s eloquently recalled how she became involved in this collective mission and why the irrefutable driving force of Peggy Chapman-Andrews not only guaranteed the realisation of a dream venue but also the ongoing funds to support it..

"No one could say no to Peggy! And after the building was secured she rang me again to say she'd had another idea," said Sandra.

"She wisely knew we wouldn't just need capital for the purchase and conversion work on the old chapel but also an income to keep it maintained and developing - what about an annual, fundraising writing competition? Brilliant! 

"Now we had the Bridport Arts Centre and the Bridport Prize, which would go on to become an internationally-acclaimed literary institution."

The BAC lobby featured a display of the centre's 1960s and 1970s archive that has started to be collected by the arts centre's 'time team', including trustee Ines Cavill, who is already looking forward to the potential for an end-of-year exhibition with the scope to feature other decades.

Innes said: "It was a special part of our 50th 'thank you' launch event to see how the earliest newspaper cuttings and posters sparked memories of BAC's origins as well as reflecting so many continuities for the arts centre; bringing international talent to Bridport, sharing a writing competition with the rest of the world, programming the best national and local artists - and giving support to the next generation of creatives too."

The display of early archive in the BAC lobby will be available to view until Saturday, June 10, along with the current exhibition upstairs in the Allsop Gallery called 'Earth | Ground'.

Entry is free to both, open Tuesday to Saturday from 10am till 4pm.

Bridport Arts Centre is planning a series of events to celebrate its 50th anniversary over the course of the next few months, which started with a free circus performance called Circadelic on Saturday, which took the audience through some of the highlights of the 1970s.