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Birmingham Nightclubs of the Past - Memories

  • Thread starter Thread starter mazbeth
  • Start date Start date
Down Memory Lane said:
Interestingly, our paths followed a similar course for a while.

Villan I take to be you being a Villa fan? My wife and I are season ticket holders in the Trinity Road Stand, have been for years.

Does Dartmouth High relate to the secondary school that used to be on Wilderness Lane which was knocked down and replaced by the Q3 Academy? Both my wife and I went to Dartmouth (it’s where we met), I left there in 1980 after my A Levels.

I used to work in Centre City Tower on Hill Street at various times during the early to mid 1980s and frequented Thursdays, which then changed to The Millionaire (although everybody called it Millionaires). By 1989, when you were working there, I was DJing in town myself.

I also went to the Dome to the student nights to keep on top of what students were listening to for my own DJing.

It’s a small world!
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DML I lived in Wilderness Lane till 2017, Dartmouth wasn't knocked down it just changed name we used to go there when elections were on to vote
 
John L said:
Formerly "Thursdays". View attachment 196510
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I don't remember the
Villan1971DartmouthHigh said:
I used to work the cocktail bar @ MILLIONAIRES nightclub (now offices) for couple of years from around 1989 when I was 18 years old, and also the bar @ THE DOME nightclub..... not sure what that is now?? I'm sure it was an O2 Academy maybe? Not sure if it is even open anymore?
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Villan two questions for you where was Millionaires located and does the name Alan Manning mean aything to you ?
 
Dionysius//88 said:
I don't remember the

Villan two questions for you where was Millionaires located and does the name Alan Manning mean aything to you ?
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Hi, in answer to your questions
1 Millionaires ( Thursdays ) was corner Hill St and Smallbrook Queensway, Centre City House
2 Alan Manning ran casinos , The Highfield Park Rd Moseley and The Midland Wheel Norfolk Rd Edgbaston , his brother, Pat, wrote a book about his own "Gangster Days" meeting The Krays, etc
 
Taxi Tom said:
Yes Oxford Club was the bar in Oxford Hotel Moseley....yes open all day if your face was known....
Odd Spot Exeter St ,Holloway Head, afternoon drinking club ,mainly market traders , run by Trudy , became the Hot Spot when all day opening of pubs happened...and so became a strip club ..run by Patrick Lenahon
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I met my husband in 1979 dancing in the Oxford Club in Moseley. I remember you had to knock at the door and be vetted before they let you in. I walked over and asked the good looking guy to dance as he'd been watching me dancing all night loong - he lived in Salisbury Road and I lived in Grove Avenue, off the Wake Green Road so it was a handy venue for us. We enjoyed dancing to Reggae, Motown and Michael Jackson on many Friday nights after the pubs in Moseley shut. We were married 2 years later in 1981 and are still married now although we've moved out to Claverdon near Henley in Arden in our 60s! Thanks for the memories of those amazing nights !
 
Jayell said:
Fun nights at the Bermuda back in the early 60s. I've still got a card from when I used to go there!
Judy
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Ah! my mate Eddie Fewtrell. I did some gas work for him, at his house. After talking to him, he offered our band to play at Barbarella's. But the git never paid us. He'd booked us, a country rock band, to play on a punk night. The spitting was prolific
 
Taxi Tom said:
Hi, in answer to your questions
1 Millionaires ( Thursdays ) was corner Hill St and Smallbrook Queensway, Centre City House
2 Alan Manning ran casinos , The Highfield Park Rd Moseley and The Midland Wheel Norfolk Rd Edgbaston , his brother, Pat, wrote a book about his own "Gangster Days" meeting The Krays, etc
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Yes I knew the Mannings especially Alan as a kid I cleaned his car as I lived around the corner from him , Patsy had moved away but in later years I used to see him at the KD and also the Rex Williams Snooker club
 
Dionysius//88 said:
Yes I knew the Mannings especially Alan as a kid I cleaned his car as I lived around the corner from him , Patsy had moved away but in later years I used to see him at the KD and also the Rex Williams Snooker club
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God this IS taking me way back this lot, I regularly used the Highfield and Midland Wheel, The Grove Hotel just up from the Wheel, where Elsie Armstrong the owner lost her hotel in a card game one night to Joe Moseley who owned most of the properties in that area and where I spent a lot of my time as I looked after the electrics etc for her, rented part of her property to store my goods that were sold all over Brum, I also knew Alan Manning, Eddie Fewtrel, I used to prop up the bar with him in the Brasserie regularly, Eddie had a car sales place opp the Hippodrome where I supplied him with car parts, hotel nearby opp the lot I met comedian Les Dawson chatting having a drink at the bar. Anyone know if the Free Press Club is still going in Bath Row?..near The Odd Spot. Plenty more to add from the 1960's onwards but brains not as gud.
 
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COMPRESSORMAN said:
God this IS taking me way back this lot, I regularly used the Highfield and Midland Wheel, The Grove Hotel just up from the Wheel, where Elsie Armstrong the owner lost her hotel in a card game one night to Joe Moseley who owned most of the properties in that area and where I spent a lot of my time as I looked after the electrics etc for her, rented part of her property to store my goods that were sold all over Brum, I also knew Alan Manning, Eddie Fewtrel, I used to prop up the bar with him in the Brasserie regularly, Eddie had a car sales place opp the Hippodrome where I supplied him with car parts, hotel nearby opp the lot I met comedian Les Dawson chatting having a drink at the bar. Anyone know if the Free Press Club is still going in Bath Row?..near The Odd Spot. Plenty more to add from the 1960's onwards but brains not as gud.
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Alan was selling nylons out of a suit case when I was washing his car . he went from strength to strength , being manager of the Rainbow casino Portland Road.
 
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TU29725AM / Hi ... I remember the following clubs half of which I went to on Fri &/or Sat nights :- Boogies on x3 floors with flashing street post outside (and Rosies club nrby) ... * a Boogies bouncer was a boxer from downstrs Hen & Chickens corner Constitution Hill called Nobbie Nobbs ! / Chaplins was n th corner rd at 5 ways / Holy City Zoo was in the railway arches nr Water St / Edwards No 8 nr Boogies John Bright St / Rum Runner on start of Broad St .. had striped tiger coloured cushions in bays and went to triangle shape at far back end / Popworld still goin ! on Brd St / Snobs had a peculiar statue thing as u walked in and now moved to anthr location / Romeo & Julliets at start of Hurst St / Barbarellas off Brd St nr Bingley Hall / the Gary Owen club open til c 5am but out of the way ... / the 5 ways profile and silhouette club La Dolce Vita nr the Auchenleck bloke statue outside / Samanthas up the slope of the Silver Blades ice skating rink / Pollyannas / the Locarno ballroom nr Edgbstn lake / there were 2 strip clubs .. used t play 3 records during 1 strip ... ..was it Bubbles ? Bradford St .. and anthr upstrs on Soho Rd / ... the Fewtrells were in a paperback book with the Kray twins of London town ... one Fewtrell was in prison . the other parked his RR at the side of EdsNo8 . u could push down his Spirit of Ecstasy to be safe and out the way ! .. / there was cannab smelling pub called Bogarts nr FWW Woolworths on New St / remem the big pub on Hill St the Eagle ? ... & little fanties ? fish bar nr the PO at the bottom of the hill ... ... / the Dome my mate used t hire for an evening occas / the Top Rank / there was a club at Sutton Cfld and another at Walsall / the Cedar Club and a club at the base of Alpha Tower use dt play Soft Cell tainted love a lot ! ... / Erd Mothers now has blue plaque up on the wall . u can still see posh outside tiling ! / we used t b eating chicken and chips at 03.30 !! ... there was Rebeccas // there were also the gigs in New St .. I saw Chrissie Hynde . the Pretenders opp Odeon New St after the show ........
then there was the Sentinals pub & ... the pubs-places down Digbeth ... the Bull / old Bulls head .. the old Crown etc where my mate won the machine prize ... nr was the Mercat Cross ... ... ...
 
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BRUMMALE said:
TU29725AM / Hi ... I remember the following clubs half of which I went to on Fri &/or Sat nights :- Boogies on x3 floors with flashing street post outside (and Rosies club nrby) ... * a Boogies bouncer was a boxer from downstrs Hen & Chickens corner Constitution Hill called Nobbie Nobbs ! / Chaplins was n th corner rd at 5 ways / Holy City Zoo was in the railway arches nr Water St / Edwards No 8 nr Boogies John Bright St / Rum Runner on start of Broad St .. had striped tiger coloured cushions in bays and went to triangle shape at far back end / Popworld still goin ! on Brd St / Snobs had a peculiar statue thing as u walked in and now moved to anthr location / Romeo & Julliets at start of Hurst St / Barbarellas off Brd St nr Bingley Hall / the Gary Owen club open til c 5am but out of the way ... / the 5 ways profile and silhouette club La Dolce Vita nr the Auchenleck bloke statue outside / Samanthas up the slope of the Silver Blades ice skating rink / Pollyannas / the Locarno ballroom nr Edgbstn lake / there were 2 strip clubs .. used t play 3 records during 1 strip ... ..was it Bubbles ? Bradford St .. and anthr upstrs on Soho Rd / ... the Fewtrells were in a paperback book with the Kray twins of London town ... one Fewtrell was in prison . the other parked his RR at the side of EdsNo8 . u could push down his Spirit of Ecstasy to be safe and out the way ! .. / there was cannab smelling pub called Bogarts nr FWW Woolworths on New St / remem the big pub on Hill St the Eagle ? ... & little fanties ? fish bar nr the PO at the bottom of the hill ... ... / the Dome my mate used t hire for an evening occas / the Top Rank / there was a club at Sutton Cfld and another at Walsall / the Cedar Club and a club at the base of Alpha Tower use dt play Soft Cell tainted love a lot ! ... / Erd Mothers now has blue plaque up on the wall . u can still see posh outside tiling ! / we used t b eating chicken and chips at 03.30 !! ... there was Rebeccas // there were also the gigs in New St .. I saw Chrissie Hynde . the Pretenders opp Odeon New St after the show ........
then there was the Sentinals pub & ... the pubs-places down Digbeth ... the Bull / old Bulls head .. the old Crown etc where my mate won the machine prize ... nr was the Mercat Cross ... ... ...
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Don't forget Sloopys on Corporation Street by The Crown. In 1979 I remember Andy Gray unsuccessfully trying to chat up a girl there and exclaiming, "Don't you know who I am!" I was also in Mr Moon's when John Forgeham (Jim Baines from Crossroads) was making a nuisance of himself with the girls. He's still a hero of mine, though. He was in The Italian Job (complete with dyed blond hair) and in a scary BBC play, The Stone Tape .

SLOOPYS.jpg

John Forgeham looking at Noel Coward (the man with his back to the camera) and Michael Caine standing beside the coffin in The Italian Job.

John Forgeham _michael Caine.jpg
 
Barr_Beacon said:
Don't forget Sloopys on Corporation Street by The Crown. In 1979 I remember Andy Gray unsuccessfully trying to chat up a girl there and exclaiming, "Don't you know who I am!" I was also in Mr Moon's when John Forgeham (Jim Baines from Crossroads) was making a nuisance of himself with the girls. He's still a hero of mine, though. He was in The Italian Job (complete with dyed blond hair) and in a scary BBC play, The Stone Tape .

View attachment 206201

John Forgeham looking at Noel Coward (the man with his back to the camera) and Michael Caine standing beside the coffin in The Italian Job.

View attachment 206203
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John Forgeham was married to that lovely, underrated actress Georgina Hale.
 
BRUMMALE said:
TU29725AM / Hi ... I remember the following clubs half of which I went to on Fri &/or Sat nights :- Boogies on x3 floors with flashing street post outside (and Rosies club nrby) ... * a Boogies bouncer was a boxer from downstrs Hen & Chickens corner Constitution Hill called Nobbie Nobbs ! / Chaplins was n th corner rd at 5 ways / Holy City Zoo was in the railway arches nr Water St / Edwards No 8 nr Boogies John Bright St / Rum Runner on start of Broad St .. had striped tiger coloured cushions in bays and went to triangle shape at far back end / Popworld still goin ! on Brd St / Snobs had a peculiar statue thing as u walked in and now moved to anthr location / Romeo & Julliets at start of Hurst St / Barbarellas off Brd St nr Bingley Hall / the Gary Owen club open til c 5am but out of the way ... / the 5 ways profile and silhouette club La Dolce Vita nr the Auchenleck bloke statue outside / Samanthas up the slope of the Silver Blades ice skating rink / Pollyannas / the Locarno ballroom nr Edgbstn lake / there were 2 strip clubs .. used t play 3 records during 1 strip ... ..was it Bubbles ? Bradford St .. and anthr upstrs on Soho Rd / ... the Fewtrells were in a paperback book with the Kray twins of London town ... one Fewtrell was in prison . the other parked his RR at the side of EdsNo8 . u could push down his Spirit of Ecstasy to be safe and out the way ! .. / there was cannab smelling pub called Bogarts nr FWW Woolworths on New St / remem the big pub on Hill St the Eagle ? ... & little fanties ? fish bar nr the PO at the bottom of the hill ... ... / the Dome my mate used t hire for an evening occas / the Top Rank / there was a club at Sutton Cfld and another at Walsall / the Cedar Club and a club at the base of Alpha Tower use dt play Soft Cell tainted love a lot ! ... / Erd Mothers now has blue plaque up on the wall . u can still see posh outside tiling ! / we used t b eating chicken and chips at 03.30 !! ... there was Rebeccas // there were also the gigs in New St .. I saw Chrissie Hynde . the Pretenders opp Odeon New St after the show ........
then there was the Sentinals pub & ... the pubs-places down Digbeth ... the Bull / old Bulls head .. the old Crown etc where my mate won the machine prize ... nr was the Mercat Cross ... ... ...
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Hello Brummale was the Hen & Chickens still owned by the Monair family when it was as Nobbie Nobbs , The Locarno Ballroom was in Hurst Street ,The Tower Ballroom was at Edgbaston Reservoir . I thought that feature on The RR Silver Spirit was a security feature if you went to break it off it disappeared into the top of the radiator
 
BRUMMALE said:
TU29725AM / Hi ... I remember the following clubs half of which I went to on Fri &/or Sat nights :- Boogies ( my fave club ! on x3 floors with flashing street post outside (and Rosies club nrby) ... * a Boogies bouncer was a boxer from downstrs Hen & Chickens corner Constitution Hill called Nobbie Nobbs ! .. at 2am they used to play Thunderbirds theme v loud ! ... / Chaplins was n th corner rd at 5 ways / there was a club called Liberties which had a sister one in the Black Country both had statue of liberties on the roofs outside / Holy City Zoo was in the railway arches nr Water St / Edwards No 8 ( named after Eddie Fewtrell, of course ! ) nr Boogies John Bright St / Rum Runner on start of Broad St .. had striped tiger coloured cushions in bays and went to triangle shape at far back end / Popworld still goin ! in old church on Brd St / Snobs had a peculiar statue thing as u walked in and now moved to anthr location / Romeo & Julliets at start of Hurst St / Barbarellas off Brd St nr Bingley Hall / the Gary Owen club open til c 5am but out of the way ... / the 5 ways profile and silhouette bars club called Faces nr the Auchenleck bloke statue outside / La Dolce Vita / Samanthas .. I think started as Pollyannas.. up the slope of the Silver Blades ice skating rink / the Locarno ballroom nr Edgbstn lake / there were 2 strip clubs .. used t play 3 records during 1 strip ... ..was it Bubbles ? Bradford St .. and anthr upstrs on Soho Rd / ... the Fewtrells ( of Whitehouse St Aston which I do walk down these days & have never known they lived down there ) were in a paperback book with the Kray twins of London town ... one Fewtrell was in prison . the other parked his RR at the side of EdsNo8 . u could push down his Spirit of Ecstasy to be safe and out the way ! .. / there was cannab smelling pub called Bogarts opp& nr FWW Woolworths on New St ... the floor used t b sticky from spilt booze ! ... / remem the big pub on Hill St the Golden Eagle ? ... & little Fanta`s ? fish bar nr the PO at the bottom of the hill ... ... / the Dome on Horsefair which was called the Night-Out ... my mate used t hire for an evening occas / the Top Rank / there was a club at Sutton Cfld .. which we visited on a Thur & got our money back cos we were the only ones there ! .. and another at Walsall poss Shades nr the war memorial / the Cedar Club and a club at the base of Alpha Tower use dt play Soft Cell tainted love a lot ! ... & also Howard Jones ` wouldn`t it b good ... / Erd Mothers now has blue plaque up on the wall . u can still see posh outside tiling ! / we used t b eating chicken and chips at 03.30 !! in my mates mark 3 pale blue Ford Cortina / ... there was Rebeccas // there were also the gigs in New St .. I saw Chrissie Hynde . the Pretenders opp Odeon New St after the show ........ used to get home quietly so as not to wake any1 an the ceiling used to appear t spin round slowly after all the vodka and limes ...
then there was the Sentinals pub & ... the pubs-places down Digbeth ... the Bull / old Bulls head .. the old Crown etc where my mate won the machine prize ... nr was the Mercat Cross ... ... ... & the Costermonger in the Square .. due t disap imminently 2025 ! // if in London I used to go to Gaslight at the top of Shaftesbury Ave ... which was up and down like a maze inside ... // have memories re the Brown Derby ... a pub nr Snow Hill sttn & Soho Rd the Red Lion / the Barrel / the Frighted Horse / the Cross Guns & the Beehive ............
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........ thanks to all those that appreciated my effort ! ...... all the best ..........
 
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Dionysius//88 said:
Hello Brummale was the Hen & Chickens still owned by the Monair family when it was as Nobbie Nobbs , The Locarno Ballroom was in Hurst Street ,The Tower Ballroom was at Edgbaston Reservoir . I thought that feature on The RR Silver Spirit was a security feature if you went to break it off it disappeared into the top of the radiator
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... hi ... don`t know re Monair .. interesting ! / Hurst street to Hill st after short walk ! always had to think which was which / there was a Parasol pub nr the casino John Bright St ... nice cop let me off driving the wrong way up the rd outside it ... the RR mascot could poss have caused injury so was on a spring so as to b pushed down or let back up again
 
Betty boop said:
The Rainbow suite entrance was next to BHS in passageway great place in the early 70's also used to go to the Top rank dale end and Rebeccas
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One of my favourite places, the Rainbow Suite - I still have some of the photo booth photos that I took for the membership card. Also loved Rebeccas and Top Rank. Once walked into the Top Rank to Green Onions playing and I thought I was the bees knees!
 
*FYI ... La Dolce Vita ... Italian / the sweet life ... Hurst St - Smallbrook Queensway.
Romeo and Juliet .. a ballet at Bham Hippodrome
the Alexandra theatre another venue
the Locarno was in Hurst St from 1961 / on a street corner
... anthr pop location was nr Strathallen hotel on Hagley Rd for Peppermint Rhino & garden house pub / with TGIF`s later & further ...
.. my fave places were Boogies, Snobs and Bogarts pub .. :rolleyes: ........ :)
 
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