Melton Mowbray - Entertainment and Facilities

Entertainment and Facilities

Melton Carnegie Museum is based in Melton Mowbray. The museum has recently been refurbished and visitors can expect a "hands on", audio visual family orientated experience showing the history and importance of the town. Included are sounds from the ages, a history of the hunt, a preserved phone box, a buried (underfoot and perspex)Saxon and shrapnel from WWII.

Melton Mowbray is renowned for its music-making. The Melton Band (a traditional British-style brass band) can trace its directors back to 1856 and was, until recently, called Melton Borough Band. The colourful Melton Mowbray Toy Soldiers Marching Band was formed in 1936 and Happy Jazz – a dixieland jazz band – has been performing in the town since 1996. There is also the Melton Mowbray Tally Ho Band, formed in 1936; and Tornado Brass, a mixed brass and woodwind group, was founded in the 1980s.

Melton has several pubs, some of which, like the Generous Britain (affectionately known as the Jenny B) continue to encourage new live music and the Noels Arms regularly have experienced local bands playing. There are several other pubs in Melton surviving the latest recession, including one of the oldest establishments in the area, The Anne of Cleves. This ancient building on Burton Street close to St Mary's church has features dating from the early 14th century. Originally home to Chantry Monks the building was taken during the dissolution and given, by Henry VIII to Anne of Cleves as part of the divorce settlement.

The town boasted an unusual cinema, The Regal, in King Street in the centre of the town. Until it closed in 2012. It was a family run picture house, providing up to date shows with a personal touch. The building itself is a remarkably preserved purpose-built theatre complete with period interior design, sumptuous colours with winding staircases and fancy plasterwork.

Concerts have been played in the carousel bandstand in Melton Mowbray Park since August 1909. There is still a series of concerts on summer Sundays.

Melton has its own radio station 103 The Eye which broadcasts to Melton Borough and the Vale of Belvoir, including part of Rushcliffe Borough, on 103 FM as well as worldwide on the internet via its website www.103theeye.co.uk When the station launched in 2005 it was the first in the UK to go on the air under the new tier of community radio licensed by the broadcasting regulator OFCOM. The station has since won a number of awards for its work. It is named after the River Eye.

The historic Stapleford Miniature Railway built in 1958 is a private steam hauled passenger railway at Stapleford Park around three miles to the east of Melton Mowbray. Famous for its fleet of steam locos and scenic location, it attracts thousands of visitors and tourists during occasional summer openings for charity. It is of the same 10/4" gauge as the Town Estates small railway that runs in an oval around play close park in Melton, albeit a lot longer.

Also half a mile to the north east of Melton is the theme park "Twinlakes". A locally popular venue this park provides a whole host of family and children's attractions and rides.

Melton's Waterfield Leisure Pools offer a range of activities, including a well-equipped gym and fitness suite as well as swimming. The library in Wilton Road is close to the town centre and adjacent is Melton Theatre, part of Brooksby Melton College, on the junction with Asfordby Road. The theatre first opened in 1976, has recently been refurbished and continues to provide a wide variety of entertainment. In the past few years, it has produced remarkable ballet, opera, and dramatic plays of many types, and provided a venue for many top class bands and acts, pantomime and art displays. It has ample parking, is fully licensed and is a most pleasant place to visit.

There is a fire station, a police station, and a hospital, with St Mary's maternity centre, The War Memorial Hospital off Ankle Hill, originally Wyndham Lodge donated to the town in 1920 by Col Richard Dalgleish, has, in 2010, been sold to help fund St Mary's hospital.