FOOTPLATES AND FOOTLIGHTS

Victorian England was an age of stuffy complacency, remembered partly for its crinolines and Hansom cabs, satanic mills and streets with gas lamps and knocker uppers, and for the birth of a peculiarly English institution - the music hall - often referred to as the 'good old days'.

In Great Britain variety was originally known as music hall, especially during the earlyto-mid-Victorian era, though the two terms are often used interchangeably. Music hall was a product of the Victorian era.

Fundamentally the variety theatres emerged from music hall and were prevalent in seaside resorts, towns and cities during the first half of the 20th century, with British steam-hauled trains conveying the famous and not so famous stars to the music hall.

The origin and demise of the music halls and variety theatres closely parallels the steam era, spanning about 140 years, beginning with George Stephenson's Rocket in 1829 and ending with the last British Railways steam locomotives in regular service, which were condemned to a siding and the cutter's torch in August 1968.

Likewise the period that begins with the first music hall cl832 ends with the closure of the last variety theatres in the mid-1960s. Tramcars too complemented the railways and music halls, especially during the halcyon days of the inter-war years.

As the railway expanded, theatres and music halls began to stage international performances on a lavish scale, increasingly served by the railway, with improved mobility for scenery, costumes, animals and equipment.

In the mid- l9th