I.B.M. British Ring 4th Annual Convention 1934

The 4th Annual Convention of I.B.M. British Ring No.25 takes place 29th June–1st July 1934 in Royal Leamington Spa, with Convention Headquarters at the Bath Hotel, Bath Street, and the Saturday entertainments at the Town Hall. Opened by the Ring’s Founder and President, Oswald Rae, the weekend brings together members and visitors for Friday’s Official Opening, Tea, Blindfold Walk and a Civic Reception given by the Mayor of Leamington at the Royal Pump Room and Baths, Saturday’s Official Convention Photograph, sightseeing tour, Children’s Matinee in aid of the Warneford Hospital and Grand Public Magical Entertainment (with a special B.B.C. broadcast), and the General Meeting, Will Blyth’s lecture ‘Magical Originalities’ and an Informal Entertainment on Sunday.

The British Ring welcomes members and visitors to its Fourth Annual Convention. The Official Souvenir Programme opens with a portrait of Oswald Rae, Founder and President of the British Ring, and lists the Ring’s officers: Oswald Rae (President); L. Bofeys, Gus Fowler and Laurance Glen (Vice-Presidents); a Committee of George Blake, Donald Crombie, Archie Tear, Harry Kaye and Walter Kemp; and Wm. G. Stickland, “The Wand”, West Moors, Wimborne, Dorset, as Hon. Secretary and Treasurer.

Convention Headquarters is the Bath Hotel, Bath Street, Leamington Spa. All members and visitors are requested to register there on arrival, when they will receive a Convention Badge admitting them to the Civic Reception and other facilities offered by the Corporation. The registration fee for non-members is 1s., and Convention announcements will be posted on a Notice Board at Headquarters. Non-members are invited to join the British Ring, with membership forms available during the Convention and particulars from the Secretary.

The Convention opens on Friday 29th June at 3pm with the Official Opening by the President at the Bath Hotel, followed by Tea at 4pm. At 5pm Oswald Rae, introduced by Walter Kemp, will attempt a Blindfold Walk from the Pump Room Gardens to locate a letter previously hidden by the Mayor of Leamington. At 7.15pm His Worship the Mayor of Leamington will receive members and ladies at the Royal Pump Room and Baths, with music by the Edna Willoughby Trio and light refreshments during the evening. A Special Programme of Magic follows, with Teddy Coll (‘The Austrian Magician’, ‘Possible Impossibilities’), John Ramsay (‘Sleights from “Ayr”’, direct from the U.S.A. Conventions), Herbert J. Collings (‘Wizardry, Wit and a Whistle’), George Sylvestre presenting ‘Electric Hand Shadows’, Harry Kaye (‘The Entertaining Magician’) and George Blake (‘The Yorkshire Magician’), with Walter Kemp as M.C. Evening dress.

Saturday 30th June begins at 10.30am with the Official Convention Photograph, taken by Tom Hayter at the front of the Town Hall, and at 10.45am a sightseeing tour by Midland “Red” coaches to Warwick, Kenilworth and Stratford-on-Avon (fare 3/-; reservations should be made on Friday, with particulars from the Hon. Sec.). At 2.45pm the Town Hall hosts a Special Charity Matinee for Children, with total proceeds in aid of the funds of the Warneford Hospital. Walter Kemp is compère, and the programme features Djinn and His Magic; Oswald Rae, ‘The Bewildering Humorist’; Archie Byford with Punch & Judy; Wm. G. Stickland, ‘The Wessex Wizard’; John Young presenting Mahmoud in ‘Arabian Nights’; George Blake in a Ventriloquial Interlude; Archie Byford in ‘A Lesson in Conjuring’; and Billy Dooley & Co. in ‘Original Illusions’. Harry Kaye directs the stage, assisted by Morris Ross, with incidental music by the Maxwell Dyer Orchestra.

From 7.30pm to 8pm the B.B.C. will broadcast excerpts from the evening programme through the Midland Regional Station, and at 8pm the Town Hall hosts the Grand Public Magical Entertainment, compèred by Walter Kemp. After the Overture come Mary Phelps and her Five Magic Maids (‘Mr. Magician’), Stanley Marelle (‘The Midland Wizard’), Davenport & Company (‘Magic of 1934’), Donald Crombie (‘The Magical Connoisseur’), Max Sterling (‘A Mere Scrap of Paper’), Wm. G. Stickland and Jimmy (‘Nautical Nonsense’) and Sylvestre & Lady (‘The King of Sunshades’). After the Intermission and a Selection by the Convention Orchestra, the second half brings H. Park Shackleton (‘Conjuring without a Conjurer’), Archie Tear (‘Manipulative Magic’), Herbert J. Collings in his Chinese Fantasy and Magic of the East, Mary Phelps and her Five Magic Maids, Raoul (Le Magicien Français) and J. Milton Woodward (Wizard of Mirth and Mystery), closing with The King. Harry Kaye directs the stage, assisted by Archie Byford and Morris Ross, with incidental music by the Maxwell Dyer Orchestra under the direction of Maxwell Dyer.

The Convention closes on Sunday 1st July at the Bath Hotel with the General Meeting for members only at 10.30am, a lecture by Will Blyth, ‘Magical Originalities’, at 11.30am, and an Informal Entertainment in the afternoon.

The Souvenir Programme also carries practical information for visitors. Its Railway Facilities page lists services between Paddington, Birmingham Snow Hill and Leamington Spa, with trains to the West of England and South Wales, to York and Newcastle, and to Southampton. The recommended hotels are the Bath (Bath Street) and the Crown (High Street), each at 8s. 6d. Bed and Breakfast; anyone with difficulty obtaining suitable accommodation is asked to write to the Spa Manager, Pump Room, Leamington Spa, stating requirements. The Corporation of Leamington Spa offers delegates bathing in the Inside Swimming Pool, the Royal Pump Room and Baths, the Gardens, etc. Booking Agents for the public shows are Messrs. Dale, Forty & Co., Parade, Leamington Spa. The President, Officers and Members of the British Ring express their sincere appreciation to the Mayor and Corporation of Leamington Spa and to Mr. W. J. Leist, the Spa Manager, for their great hospitality, valuable co-operation and generous assistance, and to Messrs. Dale, Forty & Co. for kindly acting as Booking Agents.