Work on Fenella's archive is progressing. Thousands of items have been documented and  photographed. Twenty six hours of Fenella's reel to reel tapes have been transferred to digital. It's all audio from the 60s and 70s. There's still lots to listen to but so far I've found recordings of radio shows and some stage shows including So Much To Remember (1963) and the one-woman show Fielding Convertible (1976). There's some terrific stuff. I intend releasing the best of it on CD and download.

 

Fenella's archive contains an abundance of astonishing items. It is vast and stretches back to the 1930s. It includes:

 

• Photographs by some of the finest photographers of the 60s and 70s (photos stamped on the reverse to show they have come from fabulous studios including Terence Donovan and Cecil Beaton).

• An extensive collection of theatre & arts publicity including posters and programmes connected to her long & illustrious 67 year theatrical career.

• Various artworks some of which were created by Fenella, who was fantastic at sketching

• Diaries from 1940s to the present day & audio recordings of Fenella explaining the entries beginning in the 1950s through to the mid 1980s,

• Endless boxes of envelopes sent by Fenella's press cuttings service throughout her career;

• Letters & various correspondence that tell a story, coming from many recognisable names including Olivier, Fellini, Kenneth Williams, Michael Codron, Michael Winner and John Cleese.

• Scripts including ‘Morecambe & Wise’, ‘Carry On Screaming’ & 'The Ed Sullivan Show'. (Many of the scripts vary from the final recordings. Sometimes they include sketches she did of the costumes she was wearing!)

• Costumes, designer clothing including the works of Bill Gibb, Gina Fratini and Germinal Rangel.

• Water colours & sketches for costume designs (Anthony Holland included), some with fabric swatches,

• Numerous scrapbooks made by Fenella going back to 1941, when at the age of 13, the local press reported that she put on a concert in her family's back garden and raised £7 for  the Red Cross.

• What is now vintage makeup and lots and lots of eyelashes.

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There are enough treasures to do a wonderful exhibition about her life. Perhaps that can be in 2024.

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