tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8060605.post6869129294450699965..comments2024-03-26T15:57:13.443+00:00Comments on On An Overgrown Path: Remembering the first woman to conduct in the Festival HallUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8060605.post-18898810691282034982021-03-12T19:10:45.937+00:002021-03-12T19:10:45.937+00:00Thank you so much for this post and the link to he...Thank you so much for this post and the link to her own Wikipedia page.<br /><br />Looking back at my original post, Tony Mason also lived in Ashtead ['Sagamore', The Marld) which probably explains how she came to be involved with my school; they must have been neighbours.<br /><br />Bill Swanson<br /><br />12.3.21.Bill Swansonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12816872575001488768noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8060605.post-23598468783021463712021-03-12T10:15:53.433+00:002021-03-12T10:15:53.433+00:00Great post (sorry it's taken me so long to fin...Great post (sorry it's taken me so long to find it!). Just wanted to point out that the claim that Kathleen Riddick was the first woman to conduct at the Royal Festival Hall doesn't quite hold up. It was first made (so far as I can see) in The Times obituary (10 February 1973, p 18). But on 3 March 1933 (p 16) The Times ran a correction, after Marjorie Jaco wrote in to say that she had conducted the choir of the Church of the Holy Cross, Crediton in the finals of the National Music Festival on June 22, 1951.<br /><br />Also that Riddick now has a Wikipedia page:<br /><br />https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kathleen_Riddick<br /><br />John AbbottJohn Abbotthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17033983992842238807noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8060605.post-46526803442857479002020-11-09T18:57:18.456+00:002020-11-09T18:57:18.456+00:00Kathleen Riddick ran musical appreciation classes ...Kathleen Riddick ran musical appreciation classes at my prep school in the 1950s. This was Woolpit School, now known as The Duke of Kent School, between Peaslake and Ewhurst in Surrey. I was the only boy in the school who was learning the violin. I used to borrow the Housemaster's (Tony Mason) record player to listen to classical music while my fellow pupils were listening to some new chap called Elvis Presley. Before any readers write me off as toffee-nosed snob, let me assure you that my musical tastes cover Pop, New Orleans Jazz and Classical. I am writing this, however, because Kathleen Riddick took me to Leatherhead Theatre to watch Benno Moisievich play Grieg's Piano Concerto. It was an experience I've never forgotten and I remain eternally grateful to her for that wonderful privilege. She was a very kind and thoughtful lady and it wasn't until many years later that it occurred to me to try to contact any family. I got so far once, but got overtaken by other concerns and, I regret to say, the quest lapsed. If any family Riddick happens to light upon this 'comment', do please get in touch. I am Bill Swanson at: Beauxlocks@virginmedia.com. Thank you. She was a terrific inspiration.Bill Swansonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12816872575001488768noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8060605.post-65436951520321663582020-05-19T11:08:07.753+01:002020-05-19T11:08:07.753+01:00-reference the description of Epsom Baths Hall as ...-reference the description of Epsom Baths Hall as having been demolished. The buiding remains but is not converted during the winter as it once was. There is a swimming pool which was covered by a maple floor originally for concerts, boxing and events Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16028505451709474125noreply@blogger.com