LETTER : Pots of money?

From Ms Peggy England

Sir: Does it really cost millions to keep a small theatre running today (report, 21 February; letter, 24 February)? Sadler's Wells, to my knowledge, managed wonderfully in the Thirties, beavering away to be the cradle of the Royal Ballet on no funds apart from those supplied by the box office.

My ticket in 1936 for a seat in the pit cost me 9d. The pit was always full, as was the gallery at 6d. For this sum I could have the pleasure of seeing Margot Fonteyn in her first solo roles in, for instance, Facade and The Haunted Ballroom.

Was there a pot of money then in the background for the Wells to dip into when the going got rough?

Your faithfully,

Peggy England

Carmarthen, Dyfed