Showing posts with label 1970s. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 1970s. Show all posts
STOP PRESS...NEWS...STOP PRESS...NEWS
The long awaited Northwich documentary films are now 
complete and available to view 



or via Vimeo to see them at full resolution
Northwich Memorial Hall and Northwich Film Archives
Copyright  Film 1: Cheshire West and Chester Council and Mid Cheshire College
Copyright Film 2: North West Film Archive, Vicky Eachus & Sir John Deane's College

Bands

Link to website with list of bands who played at the Memorial Hall.

northwichbeat.piczo.com/

http://www.manchesterbeat.com/venues/northwich/memorial/memorial.php 

The Who Tour 1966 included:-

February 17th, 1966 Club A Go-Go, Newcastle
February 18th, 1966 Volunteer Hall, Galashiels, Scotland
February 19th, 1966 Memorial Hall, Northwich 
February 20th, 1966 Oasis Club, Manchester
February 21st, 1966 Beachcomber Club, Preston

Memorial Hall Memories



Quotes / Memories collected at the Library
December 2012 – January 2013

“When I was a child I got to know the Beatles through their gigs at the hall. When they crowned the May Queen there were problems with the stage and The Beatles had to be sneaked away. A friend had a meat van so they were snuck around the back and into the van to make a gate away. I was in the back of the van them.”  John Harison
I played in a rock group called the Echoes. I have photos of me as a teddy boy. I’ll see if I can find some. I was 16 and played head guitar.
 “Going to see Steam Trains with my dad in the summer time”
“I used to go and see the Northwich and district choir. It was serious music but very good. I don’t think the choir exist anymore. I remember seeing Hannah Gordon there. She used to host a cabaret night.”
I go to the Northwich flower show once a year. I’ve been going for 15 years. They have stalls selling things and a demo. It’s always full to capacity. They have a raffle and I won it twice. The money for the raffle goes to charities like St. Lukes hospice. I go with a friend who is into flower arranging.
I went to a few business events there. I designed the graphics for both events. I’m in the library a lot so I will bring some in.
I go to Modern Jive dancing there. It’s a bit more forgiving and you can improvise. I went on my own which was good. If you go with a partner people don’t ask you to dance. I’ve not been for a while as my son just came over from Zimbarbwei.
It’s the best thing to happen. The building is “hedious”!
I went to see my niece and nephew in Peter Pan. They couldn’t do the flying but it was magical. It was a nice venue and it was good that they got to stage it at the hall for a change.
I have been in a few dance performances by the Joan Pierpoint Dance School. It was a modern jazz dance performance.
They used to do Pop Mobility there when it first started. It used to be packed with women dancing about. My husband used to do the door and I would do the cloak room. That’s where we did most of our courting.
1973 I went to see Latin American dance champions with my mum, that really inspired me to learn dance for myself. I also watched my own daughter on stage dancing for the Joan Pierpoint school of dancing.
I went to the Memorial hall for my lunch sometimes. I’d get a 3 course meal and it was fairly cheap. Sometime it was a roast. It was my mother in law who took me first when my children were young. She’s in a home now.
Saturday Nights to see some do the American Tamla Motown artists such as Edwin Starr, The Chilites etc. Also the Saturday ‘all Nighters’ with the sausage and baked bean breakfasts, although those memories are rather more hazy!
I used to go and see the kids when they were in the Riverbank Day Nursery Christmas play. My son played the inn keeper and he had to sing a song “and I forgot my words” He was shy and wanted to come and sit with me.
WRESTLING
1961 – First went to the memorial Hall when I was 16 with my dad. We were looking for a new Radio Gram. We had Christmas dinner there every year and I always enjoyed the wrestling matches between ‘Big Daddy’ and ‘Giant haystack’. Rae Williams
DISCO
I used to go to the Morg under 18’s disco. I had my first date there. People from all the Schools used to go so we arranged to meet there. The disco was run by the police. It was an effort to build bridges between the young people and the police. The Police would be there in plain clothes. It was really informal and good humoured.
I used to go to the Morg under 18s disco. I had my first dare there. People from all the schools used to go so we arranged to meet there. The disco was run by the police. It was an effort to build bridges between the young people and the police. The police would be there in plain clothes. It was really informal and good humoured.
Going to the Discos on a Wednesday and getting drunk on Merrydown cider at 14 J not letting my mum + dad know Tut Tut
 Working as part of the stage crew for Mid Cheshire Amateur Operatic Society for many productions – the fun, the camaraderie. Also playing the violin in the orchestra, for a few productions, notably The King and I. ‘After Show’ parties, and clearing up the hall on the Sunday.
I remember dancing enthusiastically to B52’s ‘Rock Lobster’ at The Morg Dance (1986) Me and Adele Hinchliffe sometimes dressed up like the Blues Brothers (chortle). Also getting my award contribution to the Community Guardian Angels Awards 2011. Very proud! And lots of fun with Jene-circus workshop, Pantos, Cbeebie Boogie Pete Show laughing our heads off, watching films and going to meetings…big part of our life really.
I saw Gene Kypeco the big band drummer at the hall. Big bands were dying off then and competing with bands like the Beatles. Peter M Coane
They used to have union meetings. I went to one in 1972 when I was a student – Students were much more political in those days. Peter M Coane
I used to go to my aunty’s slimming world. I used to play hide and seek whilst my mum was at Slimming World. Samantha Walker
My kids used to go to the kids discos. They thought they were the bees knees going to the Memorial Hall.
We have meals at the hall in the restaurant. They are the best loos in Northwich. We have the set meal which is normally soup, a meat or fish dinner and a pudding for £7.50. The Service is great. I went to the archaeology day, someone from Chester came and 2 or 3 people gave talks. Dorothy Wilton
I remember going to see bands and groups in the 60’s. I saw the Beatles. I can’t remember the dates. I performed in Barnton Variety Workshop panto. I was in the chorus I think it was Cinderella. I had to sing. It was great fun. The dress rehearsals were there. There are dressing rooms at the back. They are basic. One big room where everybody mucked in and helped each other. It was all ages from young ones to Edna who was in her 80’s.
Barnton primary School used to have singing concerts and there wasn’t a dry eye in the house.
I go once a week to the mature movers dance class run by Cheshire Dance.
We went there to see my daughter play in the school band just before Christmas 2012. “I play the clarinet and got to go behind the stage, it went really well”.
I used to go to the Morg under 18’s disco. It was a good laugh.
I worked for M+S and we used to set up a stall as part of jobs club.
I went to Cheshire Landscape Trust meetings there.
I remember going to some kind of fair on a Saturday, there were all sorts of stalls and we won some alcohol on the raffle. We were only 16 so the person wouldn’t give us our prize. After she had gone another person sneaked us the alcohol. I never kept the bottle.
Teddy Boys were banned from the Memorial Hall because of the reputation for violence.
I went to see Button Moon there. I was about 3 or 4. I remember Mr Spoon. It was puppets. As I got older I went to beer festivals twice, the first time I remember the food and beer were excellent. There was an excellent Hazlenut beer and a cider called ‘suicide’. The second time I stuck to a few beers and didn’t get too drunk. I went to the purple cactus club and saw some comedians. One of the comedians was Junor Simpson. It was busy and I bumped into some old friends.
I go to Tai chi there once a week.
I learnt to dance in Ardwick Manchester. When we came to Northwich we used to go to the Memorial Hall to do ballroom and Latin American dance. I may have some old tickets and other things. If I find them I’ll drop them off at the Memorial Hall next time I go dancing. Alan Lever
I saw lots of bands there. I saw the Beatles and Johnny Mathis. We used to go out as a big gang. People don’t seem to do that so much these days.
I remember going to see Julie Unwin. Her father was a solicitor in Northwich. Julie had just finished music school as an opera singer. It was standing room only and very warm that night and all the windows were open. We went and sat along the river with a glass of wine. The man sung ‘Nessun Dorma’ and had to re-sing it as an encore.
The Beatles came but I couldn’t get in, I had to look through the window. There was only one policeman there. We couldn’t see anything so we just went home. I go to flower arranging and Roberts Brass Band. Christine Johnson
I have performed as part of a ballet class probably 1962-3ish, we would put on a production for parents etc. My first live musical was to watch Brigadon performed by the Operatic Soc. I have been to many events, past and present. The dance floor is beautiful to dance on, it being sprung. Terry Pratchett spoke to a full house, quite a few years ago. Yes I have some good memories. Denis P.

Memorial Hall Memories

Memories collected on Memorial Hall Tags and Flags 


I had some Beatles Signatures which I sold recently for over £1,000. I've got copies which I will bring to the collection days.” David Ashbrook


The Dance floor here is great . Its what we care about. Its sprung so it cushions you. When your over 50 and your knees are going you need that.” Gary Hulme


“I once got on the stage with the band Amen Corner. I got to blow a trumpet. About five of us got up. We were invited, we weren’t like a mob.”


“I remember dancing on the stage with Jimmy Ruffin. I remember Back drop and the splits and all the mowtown.”


“We came to see Edwin Starr. Vinnie Kane, at the age of 20, got up on the stage to sing “War” with them. He was supposed to sing “What is it good for?”But he kept trying to sing all of it and they had to start it again 3 times.”


“I saw the Beatles twice. About 40 of us came because they were so good.”


“ I remember Tom Mckenzie. He used to compare. He was a little unassuming man. He worked at British Actel I think. He had pictures of him and the Beatles when they were young which he used to carry around in his pocket. They say that he is the Father Mckenzie in the Beatles song.”


“We travelled here to the 60's night from Maccelsfield. There's nothing like this there.”


“The Beatles were paid £800 to play the Lord Mayors event in Northwich. A few weeks later they offered to pay them £1,200 to play here again. That wasn't enough and 2 weeks later they topped the bill in America for 15,000.”


“Thanks to all the staff in the restaurant. They are always kind and helpful. The food is always good for a reasonable price and it will be sorely missed.”


“Would you like a different table.”
“If its a good one.”
“Yes its a good one, its made of wood.” Overheard at the 60's night.


“I recall Adrian the Wrestler. He had long blond hair and all the ladies liked him. I was in the Northwich carnival. I had to curtsy and the auditions. I got picked but my sister was a bit of an ugly duckling and didn't get picked.”


“Its the first time we have been here tonight. I ran a thing here in the day for disabled people but I need to be kept in at night.”


“When Pj Proby was here I was too young to come in so I used to hang out at the back
trying to see the stars. I never really managed to see anyone though.” Sue Conneely


“I remember coming to see my son's air cadets passing out parade. Only one person literally passed out that day which is record. More people usually faint after standing still for so long.”


“I met my husband here.(wife).
“He was a friend of a friend. I've never forgiven him (husband)”
“We stopped coming but have come recently for the Northern Soul Nights.” (wife)


“Spud Ruddock was from the Witton Club and he was a rocker. He was a bit of an instigator of big fights. We would all go out for 10 minutes, have a big fight and then go back in and enjoy the rest of the night. Spud Ruddock gave me a lift on his bike once .”


“There is a good friendly crowd. I've been coming to the Northern soul nights for a few years. I travel all over and this is my favourite .” Carol Whittingham.


“Biddy Bidewell, was Black Bobs friend. Black Bob was about the only black man in Northwich at the time. The fights we used to have were all good light hearted, nobody got killed. One of the girls hair caught on fire once when she was smoking on the dance floor. Smoking and hairspray not a good combination. We used to get back stage passes to go and see Jimmy Ruffin. There were two bouncers Stan and another tall fella. Two men and no trouble in here and you didn't mess with them.” Bev, Biddy, Karen and Chris (Mods)


“In 1963 The Beatles played here and then 6 months later they were top of the pops. A guy called Black Bob ripped PJ Probys shirt off.”



“At come dancing I've seen Gwilli get up when there was an electricity cut and sing. Everybody carried on dancing as he sung. We used to get 250 people in for come dancing.”


“I was helping the scouts get ready back stage. It was to raise funds. One of the ladies came out in a £50 dress. I said “Look at that dress, I wouldn't wear that.” The next thing a voice from the stage told me to be quiet.”


“We used to have careers fairs here. Employers like Roberts Bakery would come and practically every school in the area would join in. There would be a table with a few people from each company behind it. The kids chose who they wanted to see and ask questions of. They asked some funny questions. One day a girl sat down at the Roberts Bakery stall and they asked her what she would like to do at the bakery and she told them she wanted to be a teacher. She had got the wrong stall.”


“My brother was involved in the building of the hall. He was 15 and an apprentice joiner.
He has gone on to work as a joiner all his life.”



“When Gary Glitter played here his pants split and he was so annoyed that he spat at grub.”


“I remember The Hollies, the Walker Brothers and Manfred man. Michael Mckentire played here and there were only 40 people here.”


“My memory is of meeting nice people and watching mature people enjoying themselves.”


“I remember college rag balls and they used to have a rag queen. Everybody was drunk, young and there was obligatory sex. We were mods. If you wanted to be smart you decided to be a mod and if you wanted to be scruffy you were a rocker. The main rocker was called spud. One night we got invited to the Witton club as spuds guests. All the other girls were staring at us but spud wouldn't let them say anything about us.”


“The Beatles, the screaming was so loud that we couldn't hear them singing.” Vivien Wilson


“The police used to run discos and our oldest daughter would come. I used to have to park around the corner when I came to pick her up so that her friends didn't see me in my gardening shoes.”


“I remember when PJ Proby came- what was funny- I was only in my teens. He had a turquoise corduroy suit on - me and a few girls tore it and we all got a piece. I think he got in a fight that night because he was detained in Northwich police station.” Vivien Wilson


John Fryer I think he had a fight with a guy called Bob Preston....know as "Black Bob". He lived in Crewe and did a lot of work for local BMX riders from Crewe before he passed away.


“Clive Nelson was writing a book on the memorial hall.”


“I Can remember them queueing around the block to get in.”


“When the Troggs were on recently they played songs which nobody had heard before. The reason they were new to us was because they were banned on the radio first time around.”


“Iggy Pop was supposed to play here but he got lost and didn't turn up. Marmalade played instead. Rumours were that Iggy Pop had stayed in America and not bothered to try and come.”


“PJ Proby was on stage. He was rubbish. I got on the stage and I got hold of him and his shirt came off. I got thrown out. PJ Proby lived in Warrington and had a job on the buses. He didn't really fit in with the mods and rockers because he was a bit of an Elvis impersonator. People threw things at him in a light hearted way.”


“I used to get in for free if I helped out a bit. One of my jobs was carrying the girls who had fainted down at the front. Two of us used to do it.”


“I remember there being a fire eater here. We had been coming to dances for years. We used to compete in ballroom dancing.”


“We used to go to the Penrhyn Arms and The Fox pub. We used to go to the chippy. Round the hall was a quaint place with lots more Tudor buildings than there are now. The hall was a hub for young people. I started coming in 1961. At half time they would change from a band and Tom Mckenzie would put records on, old 45's. Everybody would get up and dance then. The craze was trad jazz but then rock bands started to come in from Manchester and Liverpool . There was a promoter, a little guy with a moustache. We saw bands like the Beatles and The Rolling Stones, bands who went on to be big. I used to wear a Mohair suit with a cardboard handkerchief in the pocket and a string tie. We used to suck Parma Violets to get rid of the smell of drink. There used to be a free bus to take everybody home. Everybody knew each other, people from ICI and all over the place. Lots of couples met here. Then people started to drive and it all started to slip away.”


“I was one of the first people in the area to get a Gold Duke of Edinburgh award. I had already been to Buckingham Palace by the time I came here to a presentation.”


















Conversations at Weaver Hall Museum 



“When I was a kid I used to live in Walley Road where the memorial hall car park is now. The hall was built when I was about 5 or 6 . When the Beatles came I remember all the women coming past running and screaming. I had no idea what was happening so just started running too.

I remember as a child looking into the cafe on the side of the building. You could see all the ladies lunching in their hats and I used to think that's my idea of posh that is. I was just a working class kid so I wouldn't have thought of going in such a posh place. There was a large double doors at the back where all the stars went through. I used to stand on the steps and pretend to be a star. People walking past saying “Look at that kid, he's nuts.”

I remember my granny with big jars. Inside the jars with big pennies which she had helped collect to pay for the hall. A lot of the Victorian terraces were demolished in 1965. My school was just up the road and I used to walk to school with a big black labrador. They used to laugh because despite living the closest I was always the latest. People had lived around here for generations and they all knew each other. There used to be rival gangs in the area and we used to have punch ups. Lots of people moved from here to the Greenwood Estate.

When the memorial hall was in its hay day my Mum And Dad used to take us to Prices Chippy. Dad used to say if we wanted chips we had best go early before the memorial hall chucked out. There used to be free buses ran by North Western and Billy Martin buses. There used to be dance shows by Kitty Oakes School at the Memorial Hall and in the 70's Heavy metal nights.” - Tony and Marguerite Fallows, 288 London Road, Northwich.


“Wyn and I met at the memorial hall at a Valentines dance.”
“He asked me for a dance. I think I'd gone on a bus from the Bacon factory. That was over 50 years ago now.” Wyn and Neville Abberley


Conversation between Husband and Wife, David and Anne Mannion


David - “ I met Anne my wife at the Memorial Hall in 1965. I think we had gone to see the Swinging Blue Jeans. We met in a Dutch courage haze.”

Ann - “I hadn't been drinking, my mum wouldn't have allowed it. He asked me to dance. That was 48 years ago”

David - “We used to go every week. The Kinks stuck in my head and Spencer Davies. My catch phrase used to be “Kinks are Fab”. I was 18 and poverty stricken so we never had the money to go to Manchester to follow the bands. I was allowed in the hall at 17.”

Ann - “I used to drink lime and lemonade.”

David “I used to drink rum and black. The band The Undertakers used to have a coffin as part of their act. I can't remember what was in it but maybe people popped out of it and they kept booze in it. In the 1950's Northwich was almost Victorian in its attitudes. The liberation between the 1950's and the '60's was amazing. As young people we just accepted it but we knew that changes were happening. Music started to change. Records would be brought into Liverpool from America and end up on the stall in the market.


Ann - “Parents didn't really know what was going on with there kids in the 60's so they just let you go out and get on with it. As long as what you did was outside the house. If you came home drunk and were sick there would be trouble. It didn't matter if they were drunk. You do as I say not as I do.”


David - “ My cousin Alan Mannion used to work at the college and he decided to take cine film of Northwich as it changed in the 1960's. I have a copy on DVD which I will bring in for everybody to see.”


Conversation with between Ken Greenhough


“I had a rock band called 'The Echoes'. We used to back a lot of up and coming bands like the Beatles. We were offered a record contract but one of the other band members didn't want to take it up. He was going to University and when he said no his friend in the band didn't want to bother. We used to do covers and some of our own stuff too. We didn't make any recordings. It didn't mean that much in those days. We used to play at the hall most Thursdays and Saturdays. I didn't have a car so I'd have to take my big amp and guitar on the bus. At the end of each session there would be 2 or 3 girls offering to carry my guitar. I do regret not taking the record contract.

I used to give a girl a lift home to the hotel where she lived with her Dad. When it came to selling the hotel the owner wanted to repay me for all the lifts. He knew that I was a musician so he offered me this old piano. He told me that he couldn't sell it because this band had stayed there and all scribbled there names on it. I was only living in a flat at the time so didn't have room for it. He took it outside and chopped it up for firewood. The band who had signed it were The Beatles. Years later there was a radio show on about memorabilia and I phoned up to tell the story. The expert told me that if I'd had the piano I could have sold it today and retired to the Bahamas on the proceeds. Now I'm in a local band called Calico Jack, we play bluegrass and country.”


Conversation with Bryan Dearden, Cuddington, Northwich


“I used to run a kids disco in Cuddington. In the 80's we decided to do a disco in the memorial hall. We used to do children's parties and make children's dreams come true. The children's dream part was doing outings and fixings. Children would write a letter saying what they would like to do and we would try and make it happen. We borrowed a plane from Liverpool airport and several trains over the years. We took one girl to see the horse Red Rum. The profits from the discos used to go to the children's home. We sold the tickets for 30p which was 3 times more than we charged in Cuddington. Malcolm Norburn used to do the music. Children would come from all around Northwich, maybe from about a 6 mile radius. In terms of adults we would have the DJ who would be responsible for stopping any trouble on the dance floor too, somebody on tuck and another helper. We would have about 120 kids coming along. Kids who didn't know me would say that the worst thing I could do if they were naughty was shout at them. The kids who knew me better knew that the worst thing that would happen is that they wouldn't get to go on trips with us anymore.
People used to sell things called 'Sunny Smiles' they would raise money for children's homes in Frodsham. The money would be presented as part of a 'Festival of Queens'. Each queen would carry a purse of monies raised up and present it to the charity. I used to be a compere at that. I still have lots of DJ equipment but its too heavy to move about for me now.”


I went to pick up some photos from Bryan's house and he has a large collections of photos cuttings etc.

My Hall by Gwili Lewis

History of the Memorial Hall, written by Gwili Lewis, manager of the Memorial Hall.

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Memorial Hall Scrapbook 2

Press cuttings collected by Gwili Lewis, manager of the Memorial Hall

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Memorial Hall Scrapbook 1

Press cuttings collected by Gwili Lewis, manager of the Memorial Hall.


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