The site on which Stanford Hall now stands has been occupied by large country houses for well over 200 years. The present hall was built between 1771 and 1774 for Charles Vere Dashwood and was subsequently owned from late in the 19th century by the very wealthy Ratcliffe family.

In 1928 the owner was Kathleen Kimball, who sold the Hall on March 24th of that year to Mr. Julian Cahn for £70,000. Julian Cahn, who was born on 21st October 1882, was the son of Albert Cahn, the founder of Nottingham Furnishing Company. By 1943 when he retired and sold out to Great Universal Stores, he controlled a chain of between 300 and 400 stores.

The baronetcy was awarded in 1934 for services to Agriculture and a number of charitable causes. Apart from a great interest in cricket, his other great love was of magic and illusions, and on several occasions before 1937, Cahn had entertained the members of the Leicester Magic Circle in the Great Hall at Stanford.

Around 1936, Sir Julian Cahn made the decision to have his own theatre built and he employed the services of a Mr. J.E. Redding, a well known interior decorator and designer. The architect chosen was an extremely experienced cinema architect named Cecil Aubrey Massey. Massey designed the basic building and left the interior to others, in this case Redding and Smith, his chief designer. The walls of the auditorium were decorated with murals painted by Beatrice MacDermott, a mural specialist known for her screen designs.

In those days, an ordinary guest attending a performance would enter, as do audiences today, through the small double entrance doors in the entrance foyer. This foyer has been altered considerably since originally built with the construction of a first floor bar extension. Sir Julian and his special guests would enter from the Hall through his private foyer and in through the double doors of the centre rear of the auditorium with a view towards the stage. They would probably see Beatrice MacDermott's elegant curtain rather than the safety curtain we see today.

The furnishings of the theatre reflect the comfort and elegance of a bygone age but the stage equipment and dressing room accommodation were well abreast of the times when installed and more than suitable for modern performances. A Wurlitzer theatre organ was bought by Sir Julian Cahn from the Madelaine Theatre, Paris and installed in the theatre. It is regularly tuned and organ interludes have been broadcast from the theatre.

After the death of Sir Julian Cahn in 1944, the Hall and the Estate was bought by the Co-operative Union Limited. The Hall housed the Co-operative College, the residential training centre of the Co-operative Union for students from Britain and many other countries.

Further Information

Please be aware that this venue is on private farmland and the owners have already been extremely generous in making the venue available to us at short notice. The course is NOT a public park and is actively used for cattle and sheep grazing. We cannot emphasise enough how important it is that YOU DO NOT VISIT the area before the day of the competition. For those with short memories, the Championships in 2001 had to be cancelled at very short notice - we rely entirely on the goodwill of our hosts.

The course is over gently sloping grassland, however if wet it will become heavy and muddy under foot.

Timetable

Competitor Lists

Please ask your friends/colleagues/pupils to check the spellings of their names. We have the following deadlines for corrections:

• Tee-shirt printing : 3pm Friday 6th March
• Programme printing : 9pm Sunday 8th March
• Results printing : 3pm Wednesday 18th March

Counties can enter up to 12 athletes in each age group, and 8 are allowed to run in the event. Your name appearing in these lists DOES NOT MEAN YOU WILL GET TO RUN IN THE CHAMPIONSHIPS. County team managers will make their final team selections in due course and the lucky athletes will be informed either by post or by telephone - you would have been told what your local arrangements are when you filled in your availability forms at the County Championships.

If you find any spelling errors, please notify us immediately giving your County, Age Group, and the correct spelling.

avon    bedfordshire    berkshire    buckinghamshire    cambridgeshire    cheshire    cleveland    cornwall    cumbria    derbyshire    devon    dorset    durham    essex    gloucestershire    greater manchester    hampshire    herefordshire & worcestershire    hertfordshire    humberside    kent    lancashire    leicestershire & rutland    lincolnshire    london    merseyside    middlesex    norfolk    northamptonshire    northumberland    north yorkshire    nottinghamshire    oxfordshire    shropshire    somerset    south yorkshire    staffordshire    suffolk    surrey    sussex    warwickshire    west midlands    west yorkshire    wiltshire    channel islands   

Course Map

Notes for Parents

For parents who may be concerned about what exactly is involved, we have prepared a document detailing what to expect, what not to expect, and a few indications of how things are, and why.

Official Merchandise

www.inprints.co.uk

ESAA event tee-shirts, sweatshirts, and other items will be available at the event from our official suppliers Inprints/Sportserve. After the event you can contact them via their websites.

www.sportserve.co.uk

Photographs

Photographs and videos can be taken by the public from public areas for personal use only. They may not be published in any form (including personal or club websites) without written permission from the ESAA.

Photographers at ESAA events wishing to publish photos in the media or in any other form (eg. internet websites), or wishing to use them for anything other than personal use must be officially registered and accredited by the ESAA. A list of officially accredited photographers will be published on this website shortly after the event along with their contact details.

It is not possible to prevent photographs of any particular individual from appearing in the media. If this is a problem for you, you are advised not to take part in the event. If any parent wishes a particular picture of their child appearing on this website to be removed please contact us    and we will do our best to resolve any problem.