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tower ball room

mariew

mariew

master brummie
I've just read in the evening mail that pub and club owner Liam O Connor has saved the tower ball room from demolision and it will be reopening around easter, he has bought a 25 year lease and is refurbishing it.
 
Thanks for posting this piece of news MarieW. I think it is a great idea and was surprised that the place hadn't been bulldozed after closing. Sounds like a good plan Liam has. Wishing him every success.
 
I just phoned my sister in law to tell her the news and she's over the moon she loves dancing and really missed the place.
 
Yes its great news that the Tower is to be re-opened, the new owner is spending some £l50,000 to bring it up to scratch. I think that "Strictly Come Dancing" has renewed an interest in ballroom dancing and has helped reprieve the Tower.
 
The Old 'Tower Ballroom' :great:.
View attachment 11188
I went there heaps especially when I lived in Osler St in the mid 1960's.

Pom :angel:
(playing hooky from J.D... they gave us a 1/2 day break LOL)
 
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I'm no dancer, and have never been in the Tower Ballroom, but was interested to see the headline on the newsvendor's sandwich boards in Brum this morning. Strangely, there is nothing on the paper's web site, and I'm afraid I'm a little bit sceptical about the news.
We walked past the empty shell last July after a lovely canalside walk from town, and I was under the impression that that the City Council was moreorless committed to giving planning permission for a speculative block of flats on the site. It will be interesting to see what comes out of it all, anyway.
Peter
 
I'm having one of those moments - can't for the life of me remember where it was or how we got there. The good news is that I know I did go :Aah:
 
It was next to the Edgbaston Reservoir, Di, off Monument Lane. It got its name from two towers - Perrotts Folly (built about 250 years ago) and the waterworks tower of the 1880's. The towers were the theme of A J Tolkien's book, as he lives for a time nearby, in Stirling Road, I believe. I have attached pics, but the waterworks tower is first.
Peter
 
Peter im sure it was a slip of the tongue don't you mean Monument Road
Monument Lane was the name of the train station which ran along Cope St

Mossy:)
 
I too would be a little sceptical about the news as £150,000 doesn't seem enough to put it right seeing the state it's in. BTW, is this Liam O'Connor the bloke who did the old Crown up in Digbeth? That cost a lot more than £150,000.
 
J.Lucas Swimming Club held their annual dance there for many years, tickets sold out very fast, any one remember Stan Marr not a big man but big in swimming
club organisation, 1 of his nicknames was Captain Webb (channel swimmer ).
 
i used to be a regular at the Tower Ballroom upto 1968 i had Ballrom dancing lessons and i would be out dancing 8 nights a week were i live now if i go to a place ware it has the room to ballroom dance i have a go and then my partener has women asking if i will dance with them nice isan't it. ;)
 
I worked on the door at the Tower Ballroom in the 60s. I met my wife there, she was a cashier. we have been married 37 years. Bobby Johnsons big band and The Tubby Dunn Trio provided the music. We used to have football Nights and there was almost always a bit of trouble. I believe it was factory teams and the like holding their annual do. While I was there there was a man who said he was from Liberia. He had been causing trouble and said he had a gun. Unfortunately for him he had his back to the bar and the BARMan hit him on the head with a soda syphon and we overpowered him. The police took him away. We also held Anglo Carribean nights and the star would be someone like Prince Buster and his Sunshine Band. On these nights Andy Hamilton would be in the foyer with us. I think it was Sundays when they held wedding receptions, the Greek ones were always very good.
 
Great picture Lyn. Although it is many, many years since I used to go to the Tower and can't really remember what the road leading to it looked like, so it is good to see. I feel quite nostalgic now :rolleyes:

Judy
 
Hi Oisin
i would just like to tell you that it was not liam whom bought and spent and
rebuilt the old crown in digbeth it was the owens and he spent 1,point million
on the rebuilding of it that i can say with confidence and inside information
liam as bought the tower that i also know ,but i will not say no-more that
like some-one has just previously said with scept- time wil tell
best wishes astonian ;;;
 
hi all...it was pat brennan who refurbished the old crown digbeth in 1998 at a cost of £1.7 million pounds....and here he is...as some of you know we had a meet up there a few weeks ago and the pub is looking good now...

lyn:):)
 
the times i spent at the Tower on the right just before you went through the gate there was a pub and i would go in there for a drink and we always had free tickets off the pub owner to get in the Tower.
 
hello all, re The Tower, my young brother used to do the lighting at theTower many years ago befor he was trasfered to Scotland, he now lives in Redditch.

shardeen
 
shardeen said:
.......... The Tower, my young brother used to do the lighting at theTower ..........
Click to expand...
I don't know if this was the best or the worst job at the Tower Ballroom. To get into the lighting control room you had to climb a vertical steel ladder in the Ladies Handbag Room, and shimy through a narrow gap to get into position. But when there you had a fantastic view of the dance floor. And you were disturbed by no-one, as many a girl might testify !
:shh:
PoJo
 
Stitcher said:
Hello PoJo, when were you ther??
Click to expand...
I was there mid Late 60's. It was when the Captain was the floor manager and Don Glossop was the catering manager. I was there probably 2 - 3 years, working in the bars, serving, glass collecting, cellar work, waiting on table.
In those days, they only used half pint mugs for beer, no full pint mugs allowed and after normal "closing time" (10:30) all serving was done through waiting staff. Hard collar and good times ! Some cracking parties.
PoJo
 
PoJo, My wife and I both worked at The Tower in the mid-late sixties, although we were not married then. We remember Captain Morgan and his assistant Dave. We remember Don Glossop, The Tubby Dunn Trio and Bobby Johnsons Big Band. Do you remember the doormen.
 
Stitcher said:
PoJo, My wife and I both worked at The Tower in the mid-late sixties, although we were not married then. We remember Captain Morgan and his assistant Dave. We remember Don Glossop, The Tubby Dunn Trio and Bobby Johnsons Big Band. Do you remember the doormen.
Click to expand...
Don't remember too many people by name, mostly just at the catering end. Didn't Don Glossop take over from a glamour puss ? or was it the other way round. I remember Geoff behind the bar, he would come in on a BSA 650 Flash. I remember Amelia who worked behind the "downstairs" bar, Mario and Marie, both off the Dudley Road got married later, Jennifer ? lived in Aberdeen Street, others I can see but can't put names to. The bar manager was Alf Notter who's wife used to "man" the ciggy vending booth, their daughter used to work occasionally.
PoJo
 
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