Proms spectacular

Nearly 6,000 people were enchanted by a superb evening of music and fireworks at Lacock Abbey. The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and Julian Lloyd Webber were among top artists at the event.

But the smiles soon disappeared as frustrated motorists faced over an hour's wait to leave the car park.

As cars queued to leave the field, hundreds of pedestrians streamed through the combined entrance and exit causing total chaos.

Many people opted to abandon their vehicles and the exhaust-fume filled field and wandered back to the Abbey to enjoy another drink and watch a ground crew dismantle the stage.

Proms organisers tfe Concerts Limited said parking was one of the items which needed to be considered if Lacock was to host another major outdoor concert.

Jonathan Cropley, sales and marketing manager for tfe, said sheer volume of people and cars wanting to leave at the same time caused gridlock in the field.

He said: "We ended up with a big audience and everyone wanted to leave at once. There were some people, possibly people who have been to similar events, who stayed in front of the abbey until the car park had cleared.

"We have had a number of e-mails since the event, but only one person has mentioned the parking and said it could have been improved."

The Proms was the idea of conductor Michael Reed and musician Petronella Dittmer, who lives at the abbey.

Mr Reed and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra gave the audience an evening of classics, including Gershwin's Summertime from Porgy and Bess and Hedwig's Theme from Harry Potter.

Miss Dittmer said: "We were thrilled at having so many happy people around and enjoying the event."

Miss Dittmer, the National Trust which owns the Abbey and tfe concerts met yesterday to explore the possibility of staging an event at the Abbey next year.

Proms casts a spell

LACOCK Abbey provided the perfect magical setting for the first, and hopefully not last, Lacock Proms.

As dusk settled over the historic abbey, the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra took to the stage and performed for nearly 6,000 people.

The concert opened with Smetana's celebrated opera, The Bartered Bride, and world famous conductor Michael Reed and orchestra took the audience on a journey through many favourite pieces of music, including Blue Danube, Spartacus Adagio, The Merry Widow Vilja, and in true proms style Jerusalem, Rule Britannia and Pomp and Circumstance.

Mr Reed said his finest and favourite moment of the evening was the spine-tingling performance of the Harry Potter film score, Hedwig's Theme.

The world famous abbey and its historic cloisters were transformed last year by Warner Brothers into Harry Potter's classrooms at Hogwarts school for wizards in Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone.

The performance of Hedwig's Theme by the Royal Philharmonic was a magical moment of music and lights.

Mr Reed said: "The whole evening was great, but I think Harry Potter's tune had to be a highlight. One of the other highlights was the reaction of the crowd. Everyone was happy and enjoying the event.

"It was particularly good for me because there were so many friends and family there. It was wonderful and I am certainly hoping there will be another one next year."

Mr Reed flew out to New York only days later to work with actor Michael Crawford in Dance of the Vampires.

The concert also enabled Mr Reed to perform with personal friends Petronella Dittmer and Julian Lloyd Webber.

Internationally renowned violinist and singer, Miss Dittmer, who lives in the National Trust owned abbey, also had high hopes for a similar event next year. Although there were some 6,000 people picnicking and popping champagne corks in her garden, Miss Dittmer said she loved every minute of the concert.

"It was super and we were thrilled at having so very many happy people around; after all it was all for the people. There were an enormous number of local people and everyone was as happy as anyone could be.

"It was gorgeous having all those people on the front lawn, the abbey has always been a place for people and we want them to come and have a good time."

Cellist Julian Lloyd Webber, who is widely regarded as one of the most creative musicians of his generation, gave a perfect performance of Variations on a Theme by Paganini 1-4 and 23. The set of variations were written for Julian by his brother Andrew Lloyd Webber.

The firework finale was as breathtaking as the performance itself. Pyrovision Limited proved it was the world leader when it comes to firework displays.

The company provided the amazing firework spectacular for the Queen's jubilee concerts at Buckingham Palace and although Lacock was not on quite the same scale, the display was equally impressive.

The event was organised by Concerts Limited and although the evening was marred by the hour plus wait in the car park afterwards, the company's sales and marketing manager Jonathan Cropley said everyone had been delighted with the evening.

"It was a huge success as far as we are concerned and I think the best bit really and always is the response from the audience and world class performers and this time they were both superb," said Mr Cropley, who is keen to sit down with the National Trust and Miss Dittmer to discuss the possibility of an annual event.

Many concert-goers lost their smiles as they waited for more than an hour to leave the car park opposite the abbey. Mr Cropley said the company had taken advice from the police and had installed temporary traffic lights on the A350 in a bid to control the thousands of cars.

"We took advice from the local police and normally they are the best people to consult on these things," he said. "The police suggested extra traffic lights and we followed their advice.

"I am sure this is one thing we could improve if there is to be one next year. We were aware there were some problems with cars leaving the field but since the event we have had e-mails from people saying how fantastic the evening was rather than anything else."

The company had moved off the site by today and had removed all traces of Lacock Proms.

Graham Heard, property manager for the National Trust, said: "It was a brilliant event. The fireworks were the best I have seen for a long time. Everything went according to plan and we were impressed with the sheer number of people.

"We understand that people had to wait up to an hour to get out of the car park, but that was because of the sheer volume of people. I think what was needed was some good chill-out music on the PA."

The money raised from the proms concert will go to the £30,000 project to build replicas of the famous Lacock glasshouses.

These were designed by William Henry Fox Talbot, the 19th century inventor of the photographic negative who was also a keen botanist.