'Inspirational' boss retires

11:35am Thursday 3rd July 2008

An award-winning town hall has lost the manager credited with raising its profile in County Durham.

Gillian Wales has been the manager of Bishop Auckland Town Hall since its 1993 renovation.

She helped spread the word after the centre's £3m revamp by attracting world class musicians to play in the town hall.

Now, after 15 years of what colleagues have called 'inspirational' ork, Mrs Wales, 60, retired on Monday and is handing the baton to her deputy, Catherine Dawson.

The former librarian said: "It was very difficult in the early days because I was basically given a small budget and left to deal with it

"Before we opened, people had to travel as far as Darlington and Durham to see the opera or the ballet - we brought it to their doorstep.

"Everyone is extremely proud of the town hall and it is my greatest achievement to have got it to where it is today."

The Victorian building faced an uncertain future when councillors had to decide whether to sell it or keep it for public use.

Their debate was answered with a 10,000-name petition from residents and the building was transformed into a council-owned cultural venue, which earned the authority an award from the Civic Trust.

Catherine Dawson, who will fill the role until the new unitary authority takes over, said: "Gillian has extremely high standards and has set a very high benchmark.

"I will be happy if I can do half as well.

"Her dedication is inspirational," she added.

The town hall is also the centre for The Hog Wild Tent of the Sons of the Desert - the Bishop Auckland branch of the Laurel and Hardy Appreciation Society - which Mrs Wales helped found.

She said she will remain involved but plans to relax: "I will miss the people and the social side of the job and I will carry on supporting the work here.

"I plan to spend most of my time in the garden eating cherries."

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