FROM the likes of Barbara Windsor and Rolf Harris to Coldplay and the Manic Street Preachers, Blackwood Miners’ Institute has hosted some of the biggest names in music and entertainment over the last 20 years.

Next week the Valleys venue will celebrate two decades as a professional theatre and has a series of events lined up to mark the special birthday.

It has come a long way since its opening in 1925 as a single-storey snooker hall - built and paid for out of the miners’ wages at 3d (1p) a week.

But the building fell into disrepair following the pit closures in the 1970s and 1980s and it was not until February 17, 1992, that the Institute reopened as an arts and entertainment venue.

Since then the ’Stute has attracted big name comedians like Lee Evans, Jo Brand and Joe Pasquale and was the place to be in the 1990s for up and coming bands at the time like Snow Patrol. The High Street theatre also entertained audiences with performances by the Stereophonics, Feeder, Max Boyce, The Searchers, Jasper Carrott, Max Bygraves and the Welsh National Opera and has been regularly used by community groups such as Blackwood Musical Theatre Society. The building is now undergoing another makeover at a cost of £750,000, thanks to funding from Caerphilly council.

The work is ongoing with walls being painted and carpets being fitted.

The auditorium now has new seating and the building has a new roof and a restored front facade with the next phase of work focusing on the Institute’s back stage area.

The Institute will have a series of celebrations next week including a tea dance, a big band night and an open day of free arts activities.

This will lead up to the 20th anniversary gala on February 17, when Only Men Aloud will perform.

For tickets, call 01495 227206.

'Stute has come so far

COLWYN Price, a former miner and a caretaker at the ’Stute for the last 20 years, said: “It’s a good place for meeting and there’s a lot of people using it.”

Mr Price, 60, from Hollybush, worked on the refurbishment of the Institute in 1991 and was offered a job as caretaker when it opened the following year. He said: “It was appalling really. The downstairs area was dirty, dingy and damp.

“It’s nice to see it come from what it was – it’s right up to date.”