THE INDUSTRIAL HALL (4)

Bull, skates and trouble brewing

The new season for the Industrial Hall on Annandale Street began modestly at the start of February 1924 with a fund-raising concert on behalf of the British Legion of Ex-Servicemen.

To the disappointment of many, the Scottish Ideal Homes, Housing and Health Exhibition which was to have followed was instead postponed until the autumn. Its thunder had been stolen (and the resources of potential exhibitors and attendees exhausted) by the British Empire Exhibition scheduled for April–November in Wembley. Edinburgh could not compete with the metropolis.

Instead, on 15 February, a show and sale took place of 60 pedigree shorthorn bulls, heifers, and cows, along with 40 pedigree Aberdeen-Angus bulls, heifers, and cows from renowned breeders in the Southern Counties of Scotland.

There then followed a major commercial pivot. On 26 February 1924, the Edinburgh Evening News reported as follows.

ROLLER SKATING.

AN EDINBURGH SEASON.

Those who were devotees of roller skating in Edinburgh in pre-war days—a time when it was one of the chief amusement in the city—will be interested to learn than an effort is to be made to again popularise the sport.

One has only to recall the success which attended the skating seasons held at the numerous Edinburgh halls prior to the war to realise that the pastime was popular.

It is thought, therefore, by the promoters of this new season that there is much to be said in favour of a return to the sport, and accordingly the Edinburgh Exhibition Association have taken steps to equip three-fifths of the Industrial Hall in Annandale Street as a regular skating surface. The other portions of the Hall will be used for tennis and dancing.

During the season, which opens on Friday and will continue till the 20th September, a military band will provide music, while special instructors and instructresses from a London rink will give exhibitions and tuition at moderate rates.

The sessions will be daily from 2.30 p.m. to 5 p.m. and 7 p.m. to 10.30 p.m., and skates can be obtained at the Hall.

In March 1924, a roller-skating hockey match between Dalkeith Hockey Club and an Industrial Hall Hockey Team was held as part of a roller-skating carnival. Fancy-dress carnivals and a Pageant of the Nations on roller-skates followed. Another hockey match on skates was held on 15 April, this time featuring a Bellevue team, and also a football match on skates in May.

Meanwhile, trouble was brewing. Disgruntled ratepayers and city councillors began corresponding in the newspapers, objecting to the terms of the Town Council’s agreement with the Edinburgh Association in 1922 that ‘no carnivals, fat stock shows, dog shows, flower shows, or other lets already in the Waverley Market would be taken’ for five years. For despite the Industrial Hall being primarily intended as a large trade exhibition venue, it was precisely fat-stock shows, carnivals and other entertainments which were now being run to the detriment of revenue the Council earned from its own letting of Waverley Market.

Management at the Industrial Hall attempted to address these criticisms via a report in the Edinburgh Evening News on 18 March 1924.

EDINBURGH INDUSTRIAL HALL EXHIBITIONS. 

The third Scottish Ideal Homes, Housing, and Health Exhibition, previously held in the spring of the year, will now be held towards the end of September. There will be a number of special features in this year’s exhibition, such as a wireless section, which will appeal to enthusiasts, in view of the establishment of a broadcasting station in Edinburgh. 

A distinct novelty, in view of the present housing problem, will be in the erection in the Hall of two completely furnished houses, each with an attractive garden. This exhibition will be followed by the Groceries Exhibition, for which the management have the patronage and support of the Scottish Federation of Grocers' and Provision Merchants’ Associations. The “Groceries” will incorporate the “Nation’s Food Exhibition,” to which several Colonial Governments will give support. 

A popular event in the Hall will be the Scottish National Fat Stock Show, when H.R.H. the Prince of Wales has signified his intention of being present.