Our character guides host guests at the Palace Hotel
What a joy it was to support the Palace Hotel in Buxton when they held their recent Open Day. This well-known hotel dominates the Buxton skyline and has done so since it first opened in 1868 as a railway hotel after the coming of two railways in 1863.
It has had a chequered history, playing host to some extraordinary people including Margaret Thatcher as part of a Conservative party conference in the 1970s! Less controversial, perhaps, were Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks (pictured) in 1925 who went to see Anna Pavlova, reputed to be the greatest ballerina of all time, dance the dying swan in Swan Lake at Buxton Opera House.
It therefore felt appropriate for our actor, Miss Lillian Violet Bowdine, to represent the history of theatre in the town. Another of our costumed guides, Robert Rippon Duke, was a very important figure in the history of the hotel. It was RRD who was the builder of the place and he was Secretary of the Buxton Palace Hotel Company, remaining as such for over 20 years. In fact, this year marks 175 years since RRD first came to Buxton.
He would have been 86 years old when the Opera House opened, a night which Miss Lillian Violet Bowdine recalls with rapture, so it was delightful to reunite these two characters.
Miss Bowdine welcomed to the hotel those coming to have a look around the function rooms and bedrooms, and Mr Rippon Duke took guests round speaking about the history of the hotel.
The opportunity to bring a vintage Rolls Royce, which belongs to Glenn who owns the Ashleigh B&B, was just too fabulous to overlook. The car, dating from 1936, felt much at home and there is no doubt that cars such as these would have graced the sweeping drive of the hotel with entrances on both Devonshire Road and Palace Road.
The hotel now belongs to the Elite Selection of the Britannia Hotel Group and has had a recent refresh and looks sparklingly welcoming. If you haven’t been up there for a while then go and see for yourself.
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