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The Bulwell Olympia Guestbook

A glimpse at Theatrical Digs

This Guestbook was provided for visitors staying in a boarding house in Bulwell, Nottingham by it's owners who were appropriately named Mr. and Mrs. Household. The house seems to have been frequented by almost every artiste who appeared at the Bulwell Olympia Theatre during its brief revival as a live Theatre between 1949 and 1952 when it was demolished, and is packed full of personal messages, photos, and drawings.

On the front page of the guestbook Robert Bignall wrote an introductory message to visitors, written in verse, in the hope that they would do something similar if they enjoyed their stay there, and so they did, by their hundreds, and not just in words but in pictures too.

Kind friends, I beg that you will fill
This Book with tokens of goodwill,
If on my mission I'd succeed,
A word from every friend I'll need.

I hope indeed that every-one
Will fill, a page, as I have done,
And take the trouble and the time,
To write their thoughts in Phrase and Rhyme,
So that I can, what 'ere befall
The names of all my friends recall.

Robert Bignall.

There are 126 pages to the Guestbook and you will find the front cover below, simply click on the thumbnails either side to leaf through the book. Alternatively there are thumbnails for each individual page here. I have attempted to transcribe the names and dates but there are many that are difficult to read so if you know who they really were do let me know.