The Wilford Players
This website is a tribute to the Wilford Players, and a resource for anyone interested in the world of amateur dramatics in Nottinghamshire. It has been compiled from materials collected by my mother, Sheila Plumb, a leading light throughout the time of the Players, from a scrapbook in which she collected programmes, photographs and other materials relating to the group. Because scrapbooks are fragile, and the internet allows much wider access to materials of this kind, this site has been created as an archive for some of them.
Roberta Dewa (nee Plumb)
The Wilford Players Amateur Drama Group started life in 1952, and was at first affiliated to South Wilford Women’s Institute, whose members were active in both acting and producing plays for performance at the Church Hall, Wilford. From the beginning, the group took its actors, producers and technical personnel from members of the local community, and produced both one-act plays and later full-length three-acters, usually producing plays twice a year, in winter and spring.
There were many amateur dramatic groups in the county during the 1950s and 1960s, as the country recovered from post-war gloom, many of them attached to church or community groups: the Friary Players, St Faith’s, West Bridgford Dramatic Society (still in existence today).

The venue for all the performances, the stage of Wilford’s church hall, was never ideal for the demands of the players, and had to be extended with the addition of an ‘apron’ every time a performance was scheduled. Also typical of the time was the players’ self-reliance, making their own scenery and costumes, and acquiring skills in set design and lighting.
The plays themselves were always family entertainment, sometimes comedies by Kenneth Horne or Wilfred Massey on the lines of the Whitehall Farces, sometimes classics such as Noel Coward’s Blithe Spirit and Hay Fever. Cutting-edge drama of the time was not considered suitable for the audiences the players performed to, although they became more ambitious in the 1960s, as they began to enter for the local Rushcliffe Arts Drama Festival, winning in 1968 with ‘Rock Bottom’ and coming second in 1969 with a play with music, ‘A Kiss for a Princess.’
As the 1970s progressed, society began to change, and amateur drama groups struggled to attract audiences. The players continued to the end of the decade, entertaining the community with plays, tableaux, and coffee evenings. For members of the drama group, the players provided a learning process for those interested in the creative arts, and a genuine fellowship. I’m proud to have been one of their number.
Browse Scrapbook Galleries
From my mother’s scrapbook, I have taken a selection of photos and programmes from the 1950s, the 60s and the 70s. I hope you enjoy browsing through them, and if you recognize yourself or a family member, please get in touch.
1950s
Fools Rush In
The Day’s Mischief
Charity Begins
Love in a Mist
1960s
One of these Days
Home for Christmas
The Time of your Life
It’s a Record
And This was Odd
Murder in Mind
Friends and Neighbours
Count your Blessings
Candied Peel
Fish out of Water
Toad in the Hole
With Vacant Possession
No Time for Fig-Leaves
The Bride and the Bachelor
Rock Bottom
A Kiss for a Princess
Blithe Spirit
1970s
The Piper of Orde
All’s well that Ends
Hay Fever
Midsummer Mink
Played in a Dream
Cat Among the Pigeons
The Reluctant Debutante
Out of the Question
Gloucester Road
A Phoenix too Frequent
Money’s no Object
Basinful of the Briny
Rock Bottom
This Happy Breed
Crystal Clear
Ashmead, Cyril
Ashmead, Marion
Bagley, Brian
Baker, Dennis
Ball, K
Bambridge, Kathryn
Bambridge, Ken
Barnes, P
Barnet, Iris
Bates, Valerie
Belfied, Dora
Bennett, Norma
Birchmore, Joanna
Bradley, Delphine
Brewill, Betty
Bromley, Martin
Butler, Nora
Clark, Robert
Clarke, Frances
Deakin, Cheryl
Dewa, Peter
Diggle, Jack
Everett, E
Fisher, Barbara
Geldart, June
Goodyear, Michael
Greaves, Barbara
Holmes, Christine
Holmes, David
Jackson, Hazel
Keyte, Gordon
Keyte, Linda
Kirk, Dorothy
Marshall, Linda
Marshall, Robert
McManus, Hazel
Mee, Janice
Mercer, Valerie
Merryman, Lynne
Merryman, Phyllis
Mills, Frank
Moles, Noel
Morland, Doreen
Norris, David
Norris, Margaret
Pleat, Joseph
Plumb, Roberta
Plumb, Sheila
Price, Paddy
Reed, Algar
Richardson, Joan
Richardson, Len
Richardson, Margaret
Robinson, May
Rodgers, Molly
Rodgers, Norman
Rowe, David
Shipway, Madeline
Smart, Margaret
Smeeton, Iris
Smith, Barbara
Smith, Cherry
Smith, Eric
Smith, Geoffrey
Smith, Joan
Smith, Susan
Spicer, Valerie
Spittall, Bill
Spittall, Evelyn
Spittall, Michael
Spreckley, Elizabeth
Steel, Joyce
Suggit, Mary
Terry, Milly
Trussell, Jean
Tuxford, Anthony
Tuxford, Catherine
Walker, Roger
Williams, Vernon
Wilson, Ida