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Past Members and Remembrance
We pay tribute and honor our friends at the theatre who are no longer with us.
There are a lot of missing names to be added, so if anyone has memories, photos and updates to this roll call of past members or would like to add anything to those already listed, please contact us and we will be delighted to update this page.
This list is in no particular order – and we would hope this does not just become a list of names – as much information would be appreciated from fellow members and friends. Please contact webmaster@altrinchamgarrick.co.uk
Sir Fergus Montgomery
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Sir Fergus Montgomery, our President for over 30 years, was held in great esteem and affection by all of us. He worked tirelessly to ensure that our efforts to fund the refurbishment of the Garrick were successful. We owe him a huge debt of gratitude, as without him the Garrick would not be the jewel it is today. His love of the theatre was immense and his encouragement was an inspiration. |
Verity Fairclough |
It is easier to say what she had not done than what she has done. Board Member, Chairman of the Exec., Front of House worker, ASM and backstage worker and she even appeared on stage sometimes seen, sometimes not. She was the model society member and with more like her who knows what could be achieved and all quietly and without fuss. If you cut her in half, like Blackpool rock, she would have Altrincham Garrick written through her. |
Diana Provan (Harker)
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Diana and her husband Joe joined the theatre in the early 1960s and she soon proved her worth as a very talented actress, going on to present many outstanding performances at the Garrick before moving on to professional theatre. She then returned to the Garrick some few years later to direct many of our plays, and once again her exceptional talent shone through with some wonderful productions. Wonderfully imaginative, artistic, dedicated and with a refusal to accept nothing but the best, she became a much loved character at the Garrick. Many actors considered Diana as the best person they ever acted with or performed for.
Diana and Joe moved to their beloved Italy in the early 2000s when Joe retired, and lived there very happily, visited regularly by their children Jeremy, Julia and Nicholas and their respective families. Rick Bowen in the Sale and Altrincham Messenger wrote this Tribute to Altrincham actress who met Monroe soon after her death in March 2013. |
Frank Boylan
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Frank Boylan had been a member and regular performer until a couple of years before his death in 2006. His comic timing was superb – he could stop the show by just walking across the stage, as he did notably in A Funny Thing Happened on the way to the Forum. His performance in The Diary of Anne Frank (1976/77) as Anne’s father was particularly memorable for its tenderness and humility. He will be remembered mostly for being Frank : a gentle man in all senses of the words. |
Mike Stocks |
Mike was a talented set designer, with many of his sets gracing the stage between the 1980s and the early 2000s. Mike spent most of his working life in the profession, designing and working on sets for theatre and TV. He worked in the design department at Granada TV on such classics as Brideshead Revisited and many others until his retirement and, happily for the theatre, spent his latter years volunteering for the Garrick in his spare time. Mike had a great sense of humour and a very quick wit. He was no mean performer on the drums, as some of us witnessed at the Christmas Draw on occasions, having run his own dance band after the war. |
Val Bacon |
Val Bacon was an acting member at the Garrick for over a decade from the late 1990s. She was also a regular performer with a number of local Societies, including Urmston Musical Theatre, Sale Nomads, Edge Fold Players, All Saints and Salford Operatic – in her later years she concentrated all her attention to the Garrick. Val also worked as an ASM, as well as helping out Front of House. Val’s TV credits include Coronation Street, Emmerdale and Linda Green (with Lisa Tarbuck). She also appeared in television advertisements for Hotter Shoes and Sheerings Holidays. |
Jan Maddocks |
Jan had been associated with the Garrick all her life, mainly supporting events on the social side of things at the theatre. She was often seen selling Christmas Draw tickets or serving up hot food at the many after-show parties over the years.
Jan’s maiden name was Byrom – this was the family that played such an important part in the formation of the Society and (in time) the theatre itself. All the meetings and rehearsals in the early days took place in her Great Grandfather’s premises known as Byrom’s Buildings on Kingsway in Altrincham. Her Grandfather was a founder member and remained involved throughout his life and, naturally, introduced Jan to the theatre. She is sadly missed by all her many friends and family and particularly so by all of at the Garrick. |
Harry Williams |
Harry was a very valued acting member for many years, and appeared in many plays, including the Tin Man in our first production of The Wizard of Oz, Tony in The Boyfriend. He had a wide scope, appearing in many other productions from Shakespeare to Music Hall. |
Ian Appleyard |
Ian had been a member for over 50 years and spent some of his retirement as a volunteer member of the Front of House Staff. |
Linda Panton
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Linda had been associated with the theatre for over 40 years. She appeared on stage at least once per season, and worked both backstage and Front of House, as did her husband Terry and daughter Jenny. She was Head of Creative and Performing Arts at Trafford College, and brought many of her skills to help with the Garrick. |
Audrey Hughes |
Audrey’s main contribution to the Garrick was on-stage, portraying many larger-than-life characters in both comedic and serious roles for many years. She and her husband Mike were fully involved in the social life of the theatre until they moved away from Altrincham in the late 2000s. |
Phil Lynch |
Phil Lynch was a past Chairman of the Society. He and his wife Val joined the Society in the early 1980s and Phil took part in a number of plays, as well as helping to run the theatre, until they left to move back to the South of England. |
Pamela Knox |
Pam was a true Garrick stalwart, being a tireless supporter of the theatre, working primarily in the Props Department and also looking after the archives for many, many years. Her lasting legacy for the theatre was writing and producing the published history of the theatre The Flame Still Burns, the story of Altrincham Garrick in 1993. |
Stella Fogg |
Everyone loved Stella. An accomplished actress, she became known in her latter years for continuous support as an ASM and prompt. Her sense of humour and delight in the ridiculous are remembered by many. |
Tony Mathews |
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Terry Chandler |
Terry Chandler was a very well-known figure throughout Manchester dramatics, and the theatre is very proud that he called the Garrick “home”. He performed on the Garrick stage many times, and will always be remembered for the role of Albin in Cage Aux Folles, which became his after only the first of his 8 separate performances in that show. Terry also served on the Executive Committee, and directed many plays and musicals at the Garrick and elsewhere. He won awards from NODA and GMDF both for acting and directing, and NODA established “The Terry Chandler Award for Best All Round Performer” in his memory.
Terry died tragically too early, of a heart attack in 2008, leaving his wife Anne and daughter Laura to carry on his support for the Garrick. See also this tribute from the Manchester Evening News. |
Roger Metcalfe |
Without the work that Roger did for the Garrick at the time, the major redevelopment of 1999 would probably not have happened. His immense support for that endeavour mustn’t overshadow his many acting roles between the mid 1970s and the mid 2000s, although many patrons at the time will never forget his stage appearances. He was equally able portraying the establishment figure that many comedies poke fun at, as well as the towering stage presence and brooding intensity that many dramas require.
Roger served on the Executive Committee and on the Board of Trustees, and it was his role handling Press and Public Relations in 1998 and 1999 that contributed so much to the redevelopment at the end of that century. |
Richard Honeyman |
Richard acted in plays and also directed several, between the 1970s and his death in the 1990s. |
Sybil Dodds |
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Ken Weston
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Ken Weston was a local Councillor and then Mayor of Trafford – but the Garrick members will remember him best as a staunch and regular supporter. Ken appeared on television in Coronation Street, but only occasionally graced the Garrick stage. At the Garrick he was a wonderful addition to the Front of House department (sometimes working as the Front of House Manager) and was a good friend to many.
See also this tribute to Ken from the Manchester Evening News of November 2013. |
Norma Noar |
Norma served the Garrick in many ways over many years, as a member of the Social Committee, working as an ASM or Prompt, and for a very long time as a highly-valued member of the Play Selection and Casting Committee. In the latter role she was also a tireless administrator – organising all the performance licenses for Garrick productions and ordering the many scripts. |
Ken Currah |
Ken was a long standing member of the Garrick as an actor and was at one time Workshop Manager. He also acted for a number of other societies in the area and was a very enthusiastic supporter of amateur theatre. |
Sylvia Hay |
Sylvia was involved in most aspects of the Garrick: on stage, as designer, serving behind the Bar, working in the workshop – tireless working to help the Garrick in all ways she could. |
Maureen Casket |
The Garrick has had very few members as supportive as Maureen and her husband Maurice. She was an absolute firebrand with so much energy that she could make you tired just watching her. She was a talented actor and director, known in theatres both professionally and amateur throughout the region as an enthusiastic supporter of performing arts.
In her latter years she contributed to the Garrick mainly as a member of the Play Selection and Casting Committee and as a director of plays but, when she took to the Garrick stage every now and then, everyone was reminded of her exceptional talent as an actor. |
Brian Tickle |
Brian played many varied roles in several productions at the Garrick; most people reckoned that comedy was one of his strengths. From Nip in Fur Coat and No Knickers via Godfrey in Dad’s Army to Jim Trott in The Vicar of Dibley, his comic timing and stage presence invariably stole the show. Brian also served on the Executive Committee. |
Chris Wetherill |
Chris was yet another Garrick stalwart who did an immense lot of work in many areas of the theatre. Acting on-stage was not his main contribution, although his participation in the bloodthirsty mob during The Scarlet Pimpernel will never be forgotten by those who were there.
Chris was Chair of the Board of Trustees and an invaluable Executive Committee member, and he also worked in Lighting, Sound and Set Construction. His professional background in civil engineering helped enormously when such work at the Garrick was needed, and he was vital to the redevelopment of 1999. Chris was also an accomplished trumpeter, and he was still scuba-diving when he and his wife Angie moved to Cornwall in his 60s. He is sorely missed. |
Gerry Turnock |
Bar Manager from the late 1980s to the 2010s, Gerry’s humour was outwardly very dry and wry. Underneath was a genuine warmth and real supportiveness … especially when City were playing well or he’d been successful on the golf course. |
