Calendar Girls

We made our annual pilgrimage to Leeds Grand Theatre last night (courtesy of Sarah & Greg's Christmas present) to see a production of Calendar Girls.

Not wishing to have to drive into Leeds (and no doubt having to find somewhere expensive to park) we did our usual, and supported the railway company! We parked at Bingley station and caught the train into Leeds, and then took a taxi to the Grand Theatre.

We had plenty of time before the show began, so we had a leisurely cup of coffee and Bronte biscuits in one of the theatre bars.

Calendar Girls came about because one of the members of the Cracoe WI had a husband who was visiting Skipton General to receive treatment for Non Hodgkin's Lymphoma. An old setee in the waiting room was basically beyond repair, and Angela and the ladies of the WI decided that they would pay to replace it. In the meantime her husband died, but prior to this he had joked that they ought to do a nude calendar if they wished to raise money.

This they decided to do in his memory, and in the course of time have, to date, raised £3,000,000 for Leukemia Research!

Some of the original Calendar Girls - (known as Bakers Half Dozen) - Lynda Logan, Beryl Bamforth, Tricia Stewart, Chris Clancy, Angela Baker & Roz Fawcett.

Lynda Bellingham as Chris



Ruth Madoc as Marie the rather posh and snobby leader of the WI





Bernie Nolan as Cora - the church organist and Vicar's daughter




Lisa Riley as Ruth

The Calendar Girls in the current touring stage version

The stage version stays quite close to the original story, with some sad and poignant moments as well as lots of farce style humour.

Well worth a visit if you get the chance. (It is on until 19th March.)