North Westmorland Arts 
Concerts in Appleby-in-Westmorland   TELEPHONE 017684 83777                           

NWA concerts - SUSPENDED ACTIVITY

NWA has been running its concert series in the Appleby district since 1969 in various venues including, for many years, the town's castle. It has been able to attract musicians from all over the UK and beyond, many of whom are equally at home in the Bridgwater, Carnegie or Wigmore Halls as they are in Appleby's more modest Public Hall.

There has been a small committee of dedicated, voluntary members who have worked behind the scenes to bring a winter season programme of music to suit all tastes, all linked by the wish to bring musicians of the highest calibre to our lovely corner of the county. A loyal following of subscribing concert-goers has helped underpin the ongoing success of the NWA series,  further boosted by local arts funding bodies, acknowledged elsewhere here.

The concerts represented exceptional value for money, particularly when a season ticket was bought for the  whole series.

We have our own public Facebook page - do visit this and please "like" us too; this all helps us to build audience numbers and to keep in touch.

Sadly, we have, to date, been unable to recruit a new concert arranger and secretary for the organisation and so don't have a forward programme to offer at present.  The organisation will, for now, remain in a state of suspended animation, but we hope that new volunteers may be found and the activities brought back to life in due course.

e-mail:  enquiries@appleby-concerts.org.uk

 

The venue

All of our concerts take place in Appleby's Public Hall, located on the main street, Boroughgate, in Appleby, which runs up the hill towards its historic castle, for centuries the stronghold of the Clifford family.

The hall itself holds a real surprise for performers and audience alike.  Its appearance is modest; a touch of art deco and with a barrelled ceiling and (sadly, now replaced) massive cast-iron radiators, clearly a product of the early 20th century.  But its acoustics are quite superb and allow solo guitar, string trio or 40 piece brass band all to be heard with remarkable clarity.  We have had performers who have played in the Bridgewater, Albert and Carnegie Halls and who feel that the acoustic response in Appleby is every bit as good as its illustrious peers.  This is no accident, as its design was a bespoke theatre blueprint used by a past benefactor of the town when gifting the hall to the town of Appleby as a performance venue for his opera-singer wife, when they retired here from London life.

 DIRECTIONS:

The entrance to the Public Hall is not easy to spot and so is helpfully identified here with a bold yellow arrow, labelled "Market Hall". The white building with the flagpole is the Tourist Information Centre. Go into the entrance portal, down the long covered passageway, past the public conveniences on the left and the hall doors are ahead of you at the very end.

If using good old map-reading techniques, then Grid Ref NY683203 should get you there. If using Sat Nav, then input the co-ordinates 54.57719, -2.49096 and let technology take over, or use the postcode for the bread shop next door, CA16 6XB.  Be warned, your car will not fit down the access passageway, so you will need to park up and make the final approach on foot.  There is ample free parking all the way up Boroughgate (the main street) and disabled badge-holder's parking right outside the Market Hall.