We were delighted to welcome back The Revd David Clarke (41-49) to the School on Wednesday 6th July as he took a look around The Quarry Theatre at St Lukes. The theatre, which is located in the old Moravian Church in St Peter’s Street – St Luke’s, was sensitively transformed into a 280-seat galleried courtyard theatre in 2015, following five years’ worth of planning. Find out more about the theatre’s development here.
St Luke’s Church has always been a special place for David as not only did he meet his wife and marry her there, but both himself and his younger brother entered the ministry through its influence. David’s mother had also been the Church secretary at St Luke’s for a time, and her ashes were placed in the Church garden, alongside a memorial plaque. The plaque commemorated both David’s mother, Dorothy Aileen Clarke and his father, Major Cecil Vandepeer Clarke M.C, a Bedford Councillor, war hero and Elder of the Church. Read more about Major Cecil Vandepeer Clarke M.C here.
David was therefore keen to take a look at the Church’s completed restoration and conversion. He enjoyed taking a look around the theatre which sits sympathetically alongside the Church’s original features and was particularly pleased to hear that it is well-used by both the School and the local community. He was also touched to see his parent’s memorial plaque in a lavender bed, one of his mother’s favourite plants, within the theatre’s garden.