Stuart Bailey will be greatly missed by us all
THE Tribute paid to Stuart Bailey in the Loughborough Echo (June 6) focused on how he was a passionate campaigner as chairman of the Leicester Civic Society. But there was a lot more to Stuart.
In 1969 Stuart was also an early member of the Main Line Preservation Group, which was established with the aim of preserving a section of the, then, recently closed Great Central main line which ran through Loughborough.
Soon after, in June 1969, he formed the Rothley station Action Group which had two aims. Firstly to restore Rothley station to its original condition and secondly to maintain and run the station in future years.
Stuart worked tirelessly in those early years to restore the station. All this was before trains returned to Rothley in 1975 and they are still running over 40 years later!
In 1971 Stuart stated that : “Visitors would not only view a Victorian station sumptuously attired in two shades of shining green paint; but to let them feel the very atmosphere of these historic buildings epitomizing as they do an era of opulent self-confidence.”
These early aims remain very much at the heart of the station to this day. Stuart was station master of Rothley station until the late 1980’s and under this leadership the station developed into what you see today an award winning gas lit station and a true Edwardian gem of a country station.
Rothley station always had an affinity with the Falcon players, with several members of the station staff also being members of the Falcon players. If a period play was being put on the station would invariably be raided for period props, with the waiting room aspidistra appearing in several plays over the years!
Stuart loved the theatre particularly Stanford Hall. He joined the Falcon Players in 1973 and very quickly established himself as a wonderful comic actor. He could be serious or outrageous. On one occasion the press review said “Stuart Bailey stopped the show for what seemed like five minutes”. He performed so many memorable parts throughout all the years the Players were performing. It was an absolute pleasure to be on stage with him.
If he wasn’t appearing on stage, he would be working backstage such was his enthusiasm for the group. He ran the 100 club for 28 years, raising several thousand pounds for the group’s finances.
When the Players ceased performing in 2009, it was Stuart who took on the role of chairman at that difficult time and he continued in that role to oversee the writing and publication of the Falcon Players history “Celebrating 50 years of the Falcon Players” (copy in the Local Studies at Loughborough Library).
He was a colleague and a friend. His death was a shock and he will be sadly missed by us all.
Lawrence Holmes
There will be a short service for family and close friends at Loughborough Crematorium Chapel at 11am on Tuesday, July 3, followed by interment at Prestwold Natural Burial Ground and a public Memorial Service will be held in Leicester later in the month.