The Royal
Wedding Hall Art Exhibition
“It’s such a pity, don’t you think?”
Holly said as she turned to face the hut.
“Royal Wedding Hall,”
Laura read from the faded sign hanging at an odd angle from the door. She had past it hundreds of times before and
barely given it a thought. “Such a grand
name for a shed on the beach.”
The building had been
erected in 1981 to commemorate the marriage of Lady Diana Spencer and HRH the Prince
of Wales and now after almost forty years of wind, rain and sea breezes was
looking rather sad.
“It’s quite a large
space inside,” Holly continued, “bigger than the beach huts further along the
bay. I remember coming here as a child
for all manner of social events.”
Standing back, she eyed the place critically as fond memories washed
over her.
Turning away, she
stared out over the bay, it was a view that she knew well. Coloured pebbles covered the beach and out
towards the horizon the sea glistened under the springtime sky. Waves washed in, gently hissing over the stones
and gulls called lazily overhead. It was
an ideal spot for a beach party, the end of May was fast approaching bringing
with it the holiday season.
“Perhaps we should rent
it for a month, put on an art exhibition.” Holly glanced at Laura and smiled
enthusiastically. “It’s an ideal
location during the summer holidays.”
“Look at the state of
the place,” Laura exclaimed doubtfully.
“It hasn’t been used in years.”
“True, but you have to
admit, it does have potential. I can
remember how it used to be.”
“Who owns it?” Laura
asked, still not convinced.
“The local authority I
guess. I’ll make some enquiries and find
out.”
They continued along
the pathway towards a wide grass area that ran beside the coastal road. Here large houses enjoyed uninterrupted views
across the bay and in the distance, they could see the grand hotel that once
served as a hospital for injured soldiers during the war.
“We could get Emma and Tracy from the art club
to join us,” Holly was still thinking about the exhibition. “Together we should have enough artwork to
fill the place.”
Laura listened as Holly
made her plans and after a while began to think that maybe she was right. Hundreds of people passed this way during the
summer and she was certain that the locals would be thrilled to see the old
place opened up again.
The following day Holly
telephoned the council offices and managed to speak to the person responsible
for the hall.
“If you would like to
hire it then the normal charges apply.”
When he told her how much it would cost she was appalled.
“That seems an awful
amount of money for a rundown shed on the beach,” she gasped and suddenly it
seemed that her ideas had stalled.
“I will send you the
details in case you want to go ahead.”
He replied trying to sound helpful.
That evening the art
club met. A prominent local artist was
giving a demonstration on how to turn everyday items into works of art, not
quite Holly’s thing but she found it interesting enough. At the end of the evening, she gathered her
friends together and gave them the disappointing news.
“How could they ask so
much?” Emma groaned. “The place is in
such a state and I dread to think what might be lurking inside.”
“What if we offered to
re-paint the building?”
They stared at Holly in
silence and waited for her to continue.
“I’m just thinking that
if we offered to do the place up a bit then the council might be willing to
reduce the hire cost.”
“If we volunteer to
clean it up then I don’t think we should have to pay anything.” Emma said, confident that the others were
thinking the same.
“If the council were to
agree to our proposals,” Holly continued, “then they may be willing to help if
the hall should need structural repairs.
Decorating is one thing but I don’t think we have the skills to re-build
the place.”
The women nodded their
heads in agreement.
“I will speak to the
guy again tomorrow.” Holly promised.
The following day she
discovered that the hall was due a visit from the surveying dept, it was time
for its annual health check. All council
owned buildings were community assets so had to be maintained.
“I would like to meet
up with your surveyor,” Holly said as she began to outline her plans for
refurbishing the hall.
She was surprised that
her idea was not dismissed out of hand, the council it seemed liked to
encourage community led projects and were keen to get local people
involved. The Royal Wedding Hall would benefit
from some urgent repairs so a date was arranged for a site meeting.
“If the meeting isn’t
until July then it doesn’t leave us much time to get the place sorted out
before our August exhibition.” Laura
said when they met up later that day.
“Did you tell him that we don’t expect to pay the hire charge if we are
going to do the work?”
“Err, no, not yet,”
Holly glanced at her friend. “I will
have to speak to someone else in a different department about that. I think we need to get the surveyor on our
side first before we go any further.”
Laura rolled her
eyes. “So it could all be a complete waste
of time then.”
“I’m sure it will be
fine.” Holly replied confidently.
The hall was in much
better shape than they expected. Both
Holly and Laura met with the surveyor on the morning in July and when the door
finally creaked open, they were pleasantly surprised.
“The electricity supply
works,” the man said ticking a box on his list.
“There should be running water in the little kitchenette at the back.”
Sure enough, there was
fresh water but the kitchen area was in need of a thorough clean. Mould where the wood was damp would have to be
treated so a note was made on the all important list.
“The electrics and water
mains were checked last year but I’ll get service engineers in to have a look
at both systems again.”
Slowly ticks filled the
boxes on the list and the hall passed its basic safety checks then Holly and
Laura began to outline their ideas.
“There are rules that
have to be observed,” he told them when they revealed the colour scheme they
had in mind. “We have to use standard
colours.” He went on to tell them that
the council would provide all the materials including both interior and
exterior paint.
Laura could see that
Holly was not amused.
“If they are willing to
provide the materials,” she pointed out, “then it will save us from having to
pay for it.”
It was another two
weeks before they were able to start work and it was then that Holly brought up
the subject of renting the hall. Her
objective was to get the hall cost free and she had two points in her favour
when negotiations began. Firstly, they
were giving up their time to nurse the hall back to health and secondly they
would miss their deadline for an August exhibition. It was clear that the work would not be
completed in time so they would have to re think their plans. The council finally agreed to let them have
the hall free of charge for the month of October.
“Why not September?”
Emma asked when Holly told them what she had arranged.
“Apparently people have
heard about the hall re-opening so the council are taking bookings.”
“But that’s not fair,” Tracy
pouted. “Surely we should have it
first.”
“True,” Holly replied,
“but half term falls in October and if the weather remains fine we always get a
surge of last minute visitors to the town.
This could work to our advantage besides it will give us more time to
prepare.”
They discussed their
options and worked out a rota to steward the exhibition. They all had commitments and could not be
there all of the time so it was decided to work in pairs.
By the middle of
August, the building looked as good as new.
Paintwork was gleaming and most of the roof had been replaced curing the
leaks in the kitchen. For the first time
in years, the sign on the door was hanging straight.
October arrived and the
Royal Wedding Hall Art Exhibition got under way. The town Mayor opened the exhibition and
although the weather was a little blustery, the launch party was a
success. Sales continued steadily for
the first week then began to tail off but with the arrival of half term,
business began to boom again. Emma was
the first to sell out, her little watercolours were always popular. Tracy favoured pastel and pencil drawings,
her speciality portraits of wild animals.
She also made greeting cards.
Laura had just a few pieces left but Holly had unfortunately not sold
much at all. With just a week to go
before the end of the month it was decided that Holly could have the space to
herself, so filling it with her own work she laboured on alone in the hope of
making a few last minute sales. The fact
that she had not done as well as the others did not bother her, her
satisfaction came in the knowledge that they had brought the hall back to life. It would now stand for a few more years
creating happy memories for all those who used it. Rising from her chair, she glanced at her
work hanging from the newly painted walls before going into the little kitchen
to make a cup of tea.
A man hesitated as he
walked past and glancing in through the open door could see no one. The place looked deserted but he wanted to
see the artwork on display so making up his mind he went in.
Holly appeared from the
kitchen and stopped abruptly almost spilling her tea. She saw him immediately, a rugged looking man
dressed in an old overcoat, his hands pushed deeply into his pockets as he
stood frowning at one of her paintings.
“Oh!” he said when he
realised that she was standing there. “I
hope you don’t mind, the door was open.”
“No not at all, you are
very welcome.”
Moving toward the
table, she stood behind it taking comfort from the barrier that it provided. She felt uncomfortable in his presence, his
stare was intense and he didn’t seem the type to be interested in art. She told herself not to be foolish and
sipping at her tea, she watched as he made his way slowly around the exhibition.
“Is this all your own
work?” he asked suddenly.
The tone of his voice
alarmed her and it must have shown on her face.
“I do apologise,” he
grimaced, “that sounded rather rude. My
name is Roger Amis.” He took a few steps
towards her but stopped before he got to the table. “My company is called Amis Designs. I’m an interior designer, currently working on
a number of apartments along the Thames in London. In fact, I’m looking for original works of
art and I rather like what I see here.”
“This is all my own work.” Holly confirmed.
“That‘s good,” he
smiled. “I would like to include your
paintings in my designs for the new development.”
“Which paintings are
you interested in?”
“I think you
misunderstand.” He said moving a little
closer. “I have dozens of huge apartments
that require individual design work so I’m thinking that I would like to buy
everything.”
Holly nodded her head
and blinked quickly, hardly able to take in what he had just said.
“Do you have any more
like this?”
“Yes,” she
replied. “I do.” The spare room that she used as a studio was
stuffed full of paintings that she had no room to display.
“Then I’m sure that we
can do a lot of business together,” he said offering her his card.
©2018 Kevin Marsh
