Uncover the story of the talented artists who illustrated Ladybird books for more than 30 years. This beautiful and colourful exhibition puts on display an unparalleled collection of books, original artwork and artefacts and shows how the numerous, talented Ladybird illustrators played such an enormous role in the extraordinary success of the company in the 20th century.
Tracing the interconnected work of these artists, the Ladybird story itself is recounted over its ‘golden years’ – 1940 to 1975. Visually rich and varied, the exhibition will evoke many memories of childhood.
It is curated by Ladybird expert and enthusiast Helen Day, who has spent more than 20 years researching the company and collecting items. The exhibition is supported by a variety of family activities, including bug hunts, music, dancing, storytelling, gallery trails and lots of vintage books to browse and share…
Entry to the exhibition is by donation, simply pay what you think!
The Museum tells the story of the city’s origins as a Roman settlement and its subsequent development through the Dark Ages and Medieval period. This fine Victorian building also has a significant collection of art including paintings by Richard Wilson, Thomas Gainsborough, John Atkinson Grimshaw and Thomas Dibdin.
The Archaeology collection includes the world-famous Birdlip Mirror, impressive Roman tombstones and the Gloucester Tables Set, the oldest complete backgammon set in the world. The Museum has ever-changing exhibitions and events, so keep your eyes open for these when visiting.
The Museum also features ground floor exhibitions and exhibits that promise a much more interactive experience. Highlights include a Roman kitchen playhouse and medieval street and part of the original Roman wall can also be viewed within the museum.
Donations
Your support makes a huge difference! We are proud to offer free admission to our Museum, but rely on your donations to allow us to continue to preserve and display our historical sites and collections for generations to come. You can make a donation via the online admission booking process, when visiting the Museum or by calling +44 (0)1452 396131.
Safety Information
Please note that as per government guidelines:
All visitors are encouraged to leave contact details as part of the NHS test and trace service. These details are confidentially destroyed after 21 days following our strict GDPR policy.
The wearing of face masks is encouraged.
There are multiple hand sanitiser stations throughout the building and all visitors are encouraged to make regular use of them.
We encourage people to respect that some visitors still wish to socially distance themselves from others and therefore we ask eveyone to be mindful of this as they make their way through the galleries.
At a Bravado show you will hear a large selection of classic material, taken largelyfrom the classic Terry Brown period, performed in a man-for-man, WYSIWYG kindof way, without the use of additional musicians or click-tracks and sequencer.
Establishedin 2004, Bravado are quite simply Britain's most accurate three-piece tributeperforming the music of Canadian Prog Rockers Rush.
Performingas a three-piece rock band, Bravado play songs that Rush themselves stoppedplaying long before retiring. Alongside the 'deep cuts’ you will hear eternalfavourites including Tom Sawyer and The Spirit of Radio. PLUS, those tracks younever thought you'd ever hear in concert!
Pod,Neil and Dean, combine an exciting performance with a sound as faithful to Geddy,Alex and Neil as is possible.
Throughouttheir history of over 40 years, Rush have been the proud recipients of 24 goldrecords and 14 platinum (3 multi-platinum) records. Rush’s sales statisticsplace them fourth behind The Beatles, The Rolling Stones and Aerosmith for themost consecutive gold or platinum albums by a rock band.
Rushhave become known for their virtuosity, complex compositions, and eclecticlyrical motifs drawing heavily on science fiction, fantasy, and libertarianphilosophy, as well as addressing humanitarian, social, emotional, andenvironmental concerns.
£15 Adv / £18 on the door.
RESCHEDULED DUE TO COVID-19
ORIGINAL TICKETS REMAIN VALID
7pm doors.
USA, 2021,1hr 50m
Director: Augustine Frizzell
Writers: Nick Payne, Esta Spalding, Jojo Moyes(based on the book by)
Stars: Shailene Woodley, Joe Alwyn, Wendy Nottingham
(English subtitles for the hard of hearing)
USA, 2021,1hr 50m
Director: Augustine Frizzell
Writers: Nick Payne, Esta Spalding, Jojo Moyes(basedon the book by)
Stars: Shailene Woodley, Joe Alwyn, WendyNottingham
Romeo and Juliet risk everything to be together. In defiance of their feuding families, they chase a future of joy and passion as violence erupts around them.
This critically acclaimed bold new film brings to life the remarkable backstage spaces of the National Theatre in which desire, dreams and destiny collide to make Shakespeare’s romantic tragedy sing in an entirely new way.
Jessie Buckley (Wild Rose, Judy) and Josh O’Connor (The Crown, God’s Own Country) play Juliet and Romeo. The award-winning cast includes Tamsin Greig, Fisayo Akinade, Adrian Lester, Lucian Msamati and Deborah Findlay.
Recorded Live in 2021
Romeo & Juliet
1hr 40mins
Romeo and Juliet risk everything to be together. In defiance of their feuding families, they chase a future of joy and passion as violence erupts around them.
This critically acclaimed bold new film brings to life the remarkable backstage spaces of the National Theatre in which desire, dreams and destiny collide to make Shakespeare’s romantic tragedy sing in an entirely new way.
Jessie Buckley (Wild Rose, Judy) and Josh O’Connor (The Crown, God’s Own Country) play Juliet and Romeo. The award-winning cast includes Tamsin Greig, Fisayo Akinade, Adrian Lester, Lucian Msamati and Deborah Findlay.
Recorded Live in 2021
Oas-is - The UK's BEST Oasis tribute band return to Gloucester, after 6 SOLD OUT shows in a row!
Oas-is are five Oasis fanatics who live and breath Manchester's finest band and are now dedicated to giving you the best look and sound that you should expect from an Oasis tribute band.
£13
Rescheduled date. Original tickets for Fri 2 Oct 2020 remain valid.
+ Support
Doors 7.30pm / 8pm Start
With their fifth record, Back in Love City, The Vaccines have crafted their most euphoric, visceral and visionary work to date. It’s a record that sees the five-piece assert themselves as one of Britain’s most vital guitar bands, with 13 songs set against the fictional metropolis of the album’s title. The new record follows the tenth anniversary celebrations of their seminal debut What Did You Expect From The Vaccines? which catapulted the band into the modern rock and roll canon.
With a mammoth four UK Top 5 albums - including a Number 1 with 2012’s Come of Age - and a fierce live reputation forged through arena-filling headline shows and unforgettable slots at Glastonbury and Reading/Leeds, Back in Love City is a career-high evolution for The Vaccines.
A modern-day pleasure island - equal part utopia and dystopia - Love City was born from the band’s fascination with emotions as commodities and the desperation for human connection. “In some obvious ways we’re more connected than ever,” Vaccines’ vocalist and chief songwriter Justin Young explains. “But we’re also more polarised than we’ve been for 100 years and the world is getting colder. What if there was a place where love and other emotions had run dry - but you could go to Love City to get them?”
Ticket Info
Music Venue Trust & The National Lottery = The Revive Live Tours
Buy a ticket to this show and bring a friend for free! We’ve all missed music and mates over the last year. Now is the time to #ComeTogether to #ReviveLive music.
The free ticket holder must demonstrate you're a National Lottery player by showing either a physical ticket or one on the app at the door. This could be a weekly draw ticket or a scratch card and they must be over 18 to purchase and hold a National Lottery product. The original ticket holder must adhere to the age restrictions of the venue (14+ for Gloucester Guildhall shows)
£17.50
Standing & Seated Tickets available
Doors 7.30pm
Dates/Times: Saturdays from 14 August, 11 September, 9 October, 13 November and 11 December. 2-3pm. Tours last approx. 1 hour.
Places: Max places of 6 people per tour.
Prices: Tickets £10 per person (not suitable for children under 16). Free/Donation at point of booking for event on 11 September as is part of the Heritage Open Days 2021 event.
Notes: Due to the nature of the building, multiple stairs, and some small spaces this tour is unfortunately not suitable for disabled access.
Dates/Times: Saturdays from 21 August, 18 September, 23 October and 20 November. 1.30-3.30pm. Please note, sessions last up to max. 30 minutes.
Places: Pre-booked sessions of up to 30 minutes. Max places of 8 people per session. Please note, 30 minutes is just a guide to the max. length of the session.
Prices: Donation at point of booking (children under 12 must be accompanied by an adult).
Dates/Times: Wednesday 27 October at 11am and 2pm. Tour lasts approx. 1 hour.
Places: Max places of 8 people per tour.
Prices: Family ticket £20 (2 adults and 3 children over 5 - this tour is not suitable for children under 5). Adults £8.50 and children £3. Children under 16 must be accompanied by an adult.
Notes: Due to the nature of the building, multiple stairs, and some small spaces, this tour is unfortunately not suitable for disabled access.
Ted Hughes Award winner Hollie McNish is a poet whose live readings are not to be missed. Expect strong language and adult content ribbon wrapped in poetry and chat as Hollie reads from her new collection:
Slug...and other things i’ve been told to hate.
‘Will make you laugh and cry with her’ - Red Magazine
“Boundary Breaker” – Marie Claire
“A keen eye for absurdity” - Susie Troup, Hexham Book Festival
“warm and conversational, like speaking to a friend.” – Observer
Regarded with awe throughout the music world, Lee “Scratch” Perry holds status as one of the most enduring and original reggae producers and artists of all time. From his early days in the 1960’s as a singer and engineer for Coxsone Dodd’s Studio One in Kingston, through his production of the seminal Wailers’ classics African Herbsman and Soul Revolution, Perry’s innovative style marks him as one of reggae’s original treasures. His on the edge creative genius remains evident in his own solo albums of the 1970’s through his steady stream of mind-boggling releases of the 1980’s.
One of reggae’s undisputed pioneers, Lee “the Upsetter” Perry has worked with almost everyone from the Heptones to the Skatalites to the Clash. Certainly one of his most notable contributions was the pairing of Bob Marley, to Peter Tosh, and Bunny Wailer with the Barnet Brothers (Carley and “Familyman” who had been the heart of the Perry’s group, the Upsetters) and thus the forming of the Bob Marley and the Wailers.
After his own studio, “Black Ark,” burned to the ground in the late 1970’s, Perry laid low for a while, only to resurface with a vengeance in England in the mid-1980’s. He went back into the studio with a variety of partners, from Adrian Sherwood to Terence Trent D’Arby. During this time, Perry took up residence in the Swiss Alps (“The mountains give me the fresh Swiss air to replenish my structure so I can soon join the immortal race”). Proof positive that talent on this scale will win out no matter what, since the “madman” has come down from the mountain, the World Music market has been gifted with more Lee Perry Product.
Perry’s stream of consciousness rants have been called the babblings of the lunatic by some to the offerings of a prophet by others. Either way, his unique dubbing style is infectious. Often, the words are broken down into their purest elements, sound and feeling. Perry’s groundbreaking use of sound effects, echo reverb, and rewind adds a new dimension to the folk tradition of Reggae and has influenced countless other artists.
In his plethora of newer material, “Scratch” expounds on his favourite themes of extraterrestrials, judgment, justice, corruption, carnality, and self proclamation, all over some killer riddims.
Always one to follow the beat of his own drummers, the eccentric genius Perry continues to break new ground with the hardest rebel Rasta tunes and the most unpredictable instrumental dubs. Lee Perry has most recently been touring Europe, riveting both old and new fans with a full measure of his blessings.
The “Upsetter” charges forward making music that recalls African roots, at the same time, it reaches for the vastness of the outer space.
Lee is perhaps the only 80 + year old that can dance on one leg for 1 hour straight!
Get ready to dive into a rabbit hole of the best jokes in the world - star of Live at the Apollo and sell-out sensation Gary Delaney is back! One of the most sought after joke writers in the country and longstanding Mock the Week special guest, Gary has been through the laughing glass and he’s ready to bring you a brand new show with hit after hit of the kind of one-liners only a master could craft. If you’re hunting for snark, Gary’s got it covered!
★★★★ ‘A cavalcade of brilliantly inventive puns’ Guardian
★★★★ ‘More quality jokes in one hour than most comics have in their entire careers...Quite brilliant’ Scotsman
★★★★ ‘A master craftsman’ Times
★★★★ ‘One of Britain's grandmasters of the one-liner'’ Chortle
'Special Kinda Madness perform a truly authentic set from each band, combining the phenomenally energetic stage presence of The Specials with the wonderful iconic tunes of the Madness ‘Nutty Boys’. Playing a set from each band and producing a show that will have the audience up and dancing from the off, Special Kinda Madness will have everyone hankering after that exciting era of 2-Tone and ska.
On 21st July 1979 at the Electric Ballroom in London, the Specials played a gig with Madness, Dexy’s Midnight Runners and Selecter. That’s a gig that all 2-Tone rude boys and rude girls would die to see, and thought would never happen. The Specials and Madness on the same bill!
In truth, it will probably never happen now … but you can get the next best thing with Special Kinda Madness!
2 Bands … 2-Tone … 1 Fantastic Night!'
Tickets £16 adv / £20 door
FLEETWOODBAC are the world’s first and best Fleetwood Mac Tribute Band, endorsed by MickFleetwood himself, the only Mac tribute to authentically replicate the classic‘Rumours’ line-up.
Over the last few years they havereceived rave reviews from ‘The Stage’ newspaper, the U.K.s leading FleetwoodMac fansites, the official Stevie Nicks website; and from ecstatic audienceswherever the band played, wowing audiences as far afield as Dubai, St. Tropez,the Cayman Islands and Monte Carlo, and twice selling out the world-famousMinack Theatre in Cornwall.
Fleetwood Bac have also been rated by The Times newspaper as one of theU.K.’s top 5 tributes, alongside The Bootleg Beatles, Bjorn Again and theCounterfeit Stones.
Fans include original Mac bassist and biographer Bob Brunning, who joinedthe band several times on stage, and Peter Green’s official biographer MartinCelmins.
The sound, the look, the mystical atmosphere and on-stage chemistry are allportrayed with the passion and energy that got the seal of approval from ‘BigDaddy’ Mick, and built up an excellent reputation amongst Mac fans throughnumerous tours, festival appearances, corporate events and TV and radio slotsall over the U.K. and Europe.
£18
BOOTLEG BLONDIE is the official Debbie Harry & Blondie tribute band, the only Blondie tribute to play the legendary CBGB’s inNew York City before it's demise in 2006 and to have the honour to be mentionedon Blondie’s 11th album ‘Pollinator’.
Lead vocalistDebbie Harris appeared on two shows for BBC1 when she was picked out of 15,000applicants to represent Debbie Harry on ‘Even Better Than The Real Thing’hosted by Paddy McGuinness.
The show drew in nearly 4 million viewers on the pilot episode alone.
Debbie Harris and BootlegBlondie have played the Isle Of Wight Festival, the 100 Club, the HammersmithPalais, The Electric Ballroom in London, and Eric’s in Liverpool. Having openedfor amongst others Tony Hadley and David Essex, they have built up theirreputation and fan base, headlining their own tours and can be seen at all themajor venues and festivals around the UK and Europe.
Debbie Harris and the boys have met the REAL Blondie and are officiallyendorsed by the band. Debbie Harry got in touch in 2006 when she heard we wereplaying CBGB’s in New York City to wish us good luck with our show and whenClem Burke, Blondie's charismatic drummer, found out that we were making areplica of his Premier drum kit, he arranged a meet up to sign the Bootleg’sbass drum skin. ‘During the 2010 Blondie tour of the UK we took Clem out for atrip around London in our tour bus, he signed that too!!!!’
In 2014 Clem invited Debbie and Andy to a recording session at the FooFighters’ famous 606 Studio in Los Angeles, where they saw Clem and the awesomeNeve mixing desk in action!
Debbie and Andy got married in March 2016 and to their great delight receivedtwo video clips from both Blondie and Debbie Harry herself congratulating themon their wedding day. What a wedding present!
And probably the best Xmas present in the world ever was in 2016 when ClemBurke came along to a Bootleg Blondie gig and actually got up and played drumson stage with the band! He said afterwards that watching and playing withBootleg Blondie was very emotional. Well Bootleg Blondie were very touched byClem’s presence!!!
Debbie Harris, lead vocalist of Bootleg Blondie, has the looks, the voice andthe attitude of the original Blondie bombshell and like her heroine istypically outrageous on stage. She has been known to wear dustbin liners, thighlength boots and t.shirts with more holes than t.shirt! Debbie's pride & joy is her guitar whichshe plays at every show and is signed by all the Blondie band members.
Debbie Harris is the niece of the celebrated singer and actress Shani Walliswho played Nancy in Lionel Bart’s musical film 'Oliver'!
‘Good luck with your show!’ DEBBIE HARRY
‘Thank you for your support’ CHRIS STEIN
'Hey Debbie and Andy congratulations, rock thehouse!' DEBBIE HARRY AND BLONDIE
MEN WITHOUT HATS…AGAIN
Led by original founding members Ivan and Colin Doroschuk, Men Without Hats have been rounded out since 2016 by industry veteran Sho Murray, and augmented on this record by Colin’s daughter, soprano Sahara Sloan.
The band will release two new albums “Again part 1” in 2021 and “Again part 2”, in 2022 respectively
The albums were recorded on Vancouver Island, British Columbia, on top of the Malahat Mountain overlooking the Pacific Ocean, from July 2020 to January 2021.
With a mixture of the latest digital technology and the best of the analog world (including an actual prophet 5 synthesizer that was used during The Safety Dance recording session), Men Without Hats continue their voyage into the world of synth-pop, with a sound forged in the past and hardened by their life experience and commitment to the future.
For the past 10 years, Men Without Hats have toured the world with the cream of 80's royalty, playing for crowds in North and South America, Europe, Scandinavia, Jamaica, Australia, Mexico & South Africa, in fact reaching even more people and places than the first time around. Their crossover sound and message is resonating with a new generation of fans eager to understand and appreciate the 80’s influences in their own current brand of pop.
In conjunction with their 40th anniversary, Men Without Hats have had two of their songs - The Safety Dance and Pop Goes The World - inducted into the Canadian Songwriter's Hall of Fame.
Some other recent highlights include Jimmy Fallon and The Roots performing The Safety Dance on the one world concert live stream, and Alaska airlines using it as the soundtrack to their new 80’s-themed advertising campaign video.
Originally from Montreal but relocated to Canada's west coast for the past 20 years,
Men Without Hats have been at the forefront of popular electronic music, creating worldwide anthems of joy and positivity that have weathered all musical styles and trends, mirroring and recounting the mysteries and challenges of the space and time we live in.
Now, as we approach the dawn of a new era, it’s the perfect time to listen to Men Without Hats… again.
