The West End Centre is an entertainment venue and

arts centre An art centre or arts center is distinct from an art gallery or art museum. An arts centre is a functional community centre with a specific remit to encourage arts practice and to provide facilities such as theatre space, gallery space, venues fo ...

located on Queens Road in

Aldershot Aldershot ( ) is a town in the Rushmoor district, Hampshire, England. It lies on heathland in the extreme north-east corner of the county, south-west of London. The town has a population of 37,131, while the Farnborough/Aldershot built-up are ...

. The centre hosts classes, workshops, art exhibitions, music performances (of heavy metal,

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form that originated among African Americans in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues has incorporated spiritual (music), spirituals, work songs, field hollers, Ring shout, shouts, cha ...

folk Folk or Folks may refer to: Sociology *Nation *People * Folklore ** Folk art ** Folk dance ** Folk hero ** Folk horror ** Folk music *** Folk metal *** Folk punk *** Folk rock ** Folk religion * Folk taxonomy Arts, entertainment, and media * Fo ...

and

punk music Punk rock (also known as simply punk) is a rock music genre that emerged in the mid-1970s. Rooted in 1950s rock and roll and 1960s garage rock, punk bands rejected the corporate nature of mainstream 1970s rock music. They typically produced sh ...

), stand-up comedy, and small-scale and intimate theatre.

Background

Opening in 1975 in the former West End Junior School once attended by comedian Arthur English, the West End Centre (or the 'Westy') is described as "the creative hub of Aldershot and the surrounding areas". It was originally run by volunteers and faced closure in its early years until the Poet Laureate

John Betjeman Sir John Betjeman, (; 28 August 190619 May 1984) was an English poet, writer, and broadcaster. He was Poet Laureate from 1972 until his death. He was a founding member of The Victorian Society and a passionate defender of Victorian architect ...

had the building locally listed. The Graeae Theatre Company was based at the Centre from 1981 to 1982. When managed by

Hampshire County Council Hampshire County Council (HCC) is the upper-tier local authority for the non-metropolitan county of Hampshire in England. The council was created in 1889. The county council provides county-level services to eleven of the thirteen districts geo ...

the centre faced closure again in 2007 until public protests forced the decision to be reversed. Every year since 2006 the West End Centre has held the Summer Westival which creates an indoor music festival complete with real grass throughout the venue. Performers who have appeared at the centre include

Andy Parsons Andrew John Parsons (born 30 November 1966) is an English comedian and writer. He regularly appeared on '' Mock the Week'' from Series 3 to Series 14. With comedy partner Henry Naylor, he wrote and presented nine series of '' Parsons and Naylor ...

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, Sam Simmons, Roger McGough,

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Stewart Lee Stewart Graham Lee (born 5 April 1968) is an English comedian. His stand-up routine is characterised by repetition, internal reference, and deadpan delivery. Lee began his career in 1989 and formed the comedy duo Lee and Herring with Richard ...

, Adrian Henri, Shappi Khorsandi,

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Dave Gorman David James Gorman (born 2 March 1971) is an English comedian, presenter, and writer. Gorman began his career writing for comedy series such as '' The Mrs Merton Show'' (1993–1998) and ''The Fast Show'' (1994–1997), and later garnered a ...

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Daniel Kitson Daniel John Kitson (born 2 July 1977) is an English comedian, actor, performer and writer. Early life Daniel John Kitson was born in Denby Dale on 2 July 1977, the son of a primary school headteacher mother and a lecturer father. He was a pupi ...

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Nish Kumar Nishant Kumar (born 1985) is a British stand-up comedian, television presenter and podcaster. He became known as the host of ''The Mash Report'' on BBC Two and U&Dave, Dave. He has also presented ''Newsjack'' on BBC Radio 4 Extra, ''Joel Domme ...

Phill Jupitus Phillip Christopher Jupitus (, ''Given name#Name at birth, né'' Swan; born 25 June 1962) is a retired English stand-up comedy, stand-up and Improv comedy teacher, improv comedian, actor, performance poetry, performance poet, cartoonist and podc ...

Justin Moorhouse Justin Moorhouse (born 15 May 1970) is an English stand-up comedian, radio DJ and actor from Ashton-Under-Lyne. He appeared in ''Phoenix Nights'', ''Looking for Eric'' and Guess The Attendance. Moorhouse has also appeared as a guest on the Dav ...

, Pete Firman and

Al Murray Alastair James Hay Murray (born 10 May 1968) is an English comedian. After graduating from the University of Oxford, Murray's comedy career began by working with Harry Hill for BBC Radio 4. He regularly performed at the Edinburgh Festival Frin ...

. Bands who have appeared at the WEC include Blur,

Happy Mondays Happy Mondays are an English rock band formed in Salford in 1980. The original line-up consisted of brothers Shaun Ryder (vocals) and Paul Ryder (bass), Gaz Whelan (drums), Paul Davis (keyboard), and Mark Day (guitar). Mark "Bez" Berry la ...

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, A,

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, Peter Green,

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, The Temperance Movement, Nine Below Zero,

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, The Xcerts and We Are the Ocean. The Centre has also provided support for local musicians

Hundred Reasons Hundred Reasons are an English alternative rock band formed in London, England, in 1999. It consists of Colin Doran (vocals), Larry Hibbitt (guitar, vocals), Andy Gilmour (bass), and Andy Bews (drums). After releasing ''EpOne'', '' EpTwo'', a ...

and Sonny Black. Today the Centre is managed by Hampshire Cultural Trust as an

and venue for professional touring shows, the theatre space having a capacity of 106 with raked seating. From 2001 to 2019 the arts centre director was Barney Jeavons, the former manager of the British rock band

Reuben Reuben or Reuven is a Biblical male first name from Hebrew רְאוּבֵן (Re'uven), meaning "behold, a son". In the Bible, Reuben was the firstborn son of Jacob. Variants include Reuvein in Yiddish or as an English variant spelling on th ...

and the son of the actor

Colin Jeavons Colin Abel Jeavons (born 20 October 1929) is a British retired actor and TV presenter. He is known for his character roles and has worked in theatre, television and film, especially in literary adaptations and roles related to the works of Char ...

Gallery

File:West End Centre Aldershot Dance Studio.jpg, The Dance Studio File:West End Centre Aldershot Exhibition.jpg, The Exhibition Hall File:West End Centre Aldershot pottery room.jpg, The Pottery Workshop File:West End Centre Aldershot art workshop.jpg, Art Workshop

References

External list

* {{DEFAULTSORT:West End Centre, Aldershot 1975 establishments in England Buildings and structures in Aldershot Aldershot Studio theatres in England Entertainment venues in England Arts centres in England Music venues in Hampshire

Background

Gallery

See also

References

External list