THE Warminster Athenaeum’s entire rope system, used to raise and lower scenery for shows across nearly 50 years, has been replaced with state-of-the art electric winches.

The work, completed by Enlightened Lighting from Bristol and costing £20,000, was commissioned by the Warminster Athenaeum trustees.

Vice chairman of the Warminster Athenaeum Trust, Andrew Frostick, said: “We had reached a point where the old hemp rope system used to suspend the large backdrops and scenery was in need of upgrading, and ultimately replacing with new state of the art equipment.

“The main bulk of the project has been a new winching system to allow us to ‘fly’ the scenery in and out during a performance.

“In the past this involved a strong pair of crew in the ‘gods’ above the proscenium arch manually taking the strain on the hemp rope and lowering scenery in unison.

“Now we have eight state of the art – near silent – electric winches which can be operated with the flick of a switch from ground level in the wings.

“Also as part of the works we are replacing the tracking for the main stage curtains, ending the decades old tradition of winding a large crank handle in the wings.”

Funded by the Wiltshire Council Area Board, The Ernest and Marjorie Fudge Trust, Warminster Town Council and the Athenaeum Friends, the first show to benefit from the new winching system will be Oddity Theatre’s performance of The Wizard of Oz, which is being staged at the end of September.

Mr Frostick added: “In some respects it does seem like the end of an era, but for posterity the Trustees were keen to preserve as much of the original hemp rope, pulleys and cleats as possible.

“It has served us well for at least 50 years, possibly longer, and it is quite rare for these flying systems – which were common in Georgian times – to still be in situ.

“We have carefully disconnected the hemp rope and bar, but left all the rigging and pulleys in place as a reminder of how things used to be done.”