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Birmingham Nightclubs of the Past - Memories

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grumlow said:
i used to supply the meat for the garry owen club i owned the butchers shop next to creswells the shoe shop across the road from the club. they always complained that i cut their T bone steaks to thick.
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"they" might have complained grumlow but i tell you, and its fair to say i and others rated the tee,bones at the garry as the best in the area bar none, as a matter of interest, saw, frank carson in there one night, years later, in about 1986 he was doing a show in devon where we had a hotel and he popped in for a drink, i reminded him of our first meeting in the gary, in that strong accent of his he said and by golly, the man must do the best t,bone steak i,ve ever had
 
i remember all these clubs, some i'd forgotten about until i read this, the rum runnner was mostly my haunt though, but also frequented garry owen, the boundary, top rank, saturday mornings as a teen and saturday eve as an adult all in the good old 70's love to go back and do it all again judy
 
hi tommy ;
sean was always moaning if he had to pay more than he had to do especialy on bring inthe foods stuff the steaks was brilliant
second to none along with te club regardles wht ome peope thought and alot of people never went there because of the news paper reports
brendan is relative to my old dutchess [ family ] and we was always there after hours ;and the jig saw and the golden gloves if you recall them;
when we finished the monica pub small heath ; take care tommy boy ;by te way we have not sp[oken in a long time
best wishes Astonian;;;
 
Wendy & gothic, The club over the bowling alley was called the Heart Beat when it opened and later on it was renamed Samantha's. I joined when it was called the Heartbeat and I was pretty miffed when I moved to Bristol for a while that I had to re-join to use the exact same club in a building that was exactly the same as Birmingham. They must have used the same architects drawings to build a skating ring, nightclub and bowling alley there. Even the interiors were the same.
 

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Phil said:
Wendy & gothic, The club over the bowling alley was called the Heart Beat when it opened and later on it was renamed Samantha's. I joined when it was called the Heartbeat and I was pretty miffed when I moved to Bristol for a while that I had to re-join to use the exact same club in a building that was exactly the same as Birmingham. They must have used the same architects drawings to build a skating ring, nightclub and bowling alley there. Even the interiors were the same.
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The Bristol venue was called "New Bristol Centre", Phil. Here's the video of it. At the bottom of that video front page there's each frame of the video separately photographed
https://www.britishpathe.com/video/cinema-of-tomorrow-today/query/ABC+Bristol
 
I've worked in Abigail's in 1973 - 1976 from the beginning as a 2nd headchef; know Eddie Fewtrell well and his brother. They screwed me over my P45 and lost 3 1/2 years of tax return (being Dutch)...but it was a fun time being 23. Having Barbarella's just around the corner, was a nice place to hang out. Birmingham airport was being build at that time as well as the Exibition Centre. Saw pictures of Birmingham 40 years later and they reinstated all the hidden canals and has made Birmingham what it is today. Even "The Bullring Centre" has undergone major changes and New Street Station as well. I "felt like a right brummie, I did" when I was living there. Lived on the Hagley Road in rented accommodation (obviously).
Don't know if Abigail's (named after his daughter) still exists, but from that point on I fell in love with England and still today I speak better English then I do Dutch (which really isn't a language, but a mistake(in my opinion))
Now being almost 65, it brings back some pleasant memories. Had a whale of time, working like 16 hours a day, but who cared, we where young.

some quick pers info: Worked as a professional chef in the kitchen for 50 years (4 of them in the UK 1972-1976)
I'm Dutch (yeah, I know; can't help it), but left my heart in Birmingham. Stil regret I went back to Holland.
 
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The 'Night Out' opposite the Bham rep great meals ( company groups night out) and fabulous stage shows dancing between the dining tables showaddywaddy and many others
 
How about the Castaways Club? Anyone remember? It was done out like a desert island, saw Dusty Springfield there in 60's LOL! cant remember the street it was in.
 
James, The Castaways was in Bradford St alongside the River Rea.
 

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HI dek ;
It was ashame that it was forced to closed down really when it did
but after years of griefe it had to be forced to closed down ;
as we know it started off as a grand venue for then the older mature
respectale people to wine and dine and dance but after a year or two it started to be dropped off by the generations of the older folk possibly the entrance
cost and for the meals ; so they changed the venue to catuer for the younger generation but a couple of years bring talented bands in for them they started to get trouble with the younger ones as they normally do around clubs
so theyclosed down again for a good time in the future then it was taken on by the gay commutity but was just as much trouble as the last puntersby them being attacked and alsorts of carrying ons then the asian community took it on ;
that faild by then the debts was cloccking up and forced to closed dwn then the council took over and closed it obvisously for th motor way widening ;
but still we had one in bradford street for the decent generation to go the castaways and of couse the fewtrewls started to do some think and open afew more for the younger generation around the town;as we all know of
sad may be the case thats wha happenend there best wishes ASTONIAN;
 
I am loving this site it is bringing back such wonderful memories ....I have been in Australia now for 32years I frequented so many of the clubs loved it best time of my life Pollyannas ,Top Rank Snobs ,Mr Moons, Romulus, loved the Parisienne lots of posers loved it this was late seventies used to go to the Locarno on Saturdays day time then progressed to nights ahh the beautiful loos and the bali hi room!! I loved the Outrigger too so small but cosy and lots of snogging and slow dancing those were the days!! does anyone remember the Aero in an old shed out at the old airport??
 
Anybody remember the springhill ice rink was usually the last rsort if we didnt have much money ? :courage:
 
used to love brum nightlife mainly the clubs owned by the fewtrells namley, Rebbecas in severn street, Cedar club, Barbarellas,Abigails,used to know Bomber Fewtrell, Chris and Mark Cox on the door at Rebeccas.
regards boff
 
I cant remember where Rebeccas was or Barbarellas but do remember them there were a few good clubs in Solihull too anyone remember the Snooty Fox or Davy Jones Locker ??
 
was there a snoopys club my husband knew most of those but the rum runner was his main club late 60s early 70s goes by the name of tippy
 
My friend Sandra and I used to go to the Rum Runner most Fridays nights and the Opposite Lock on Saturday. Getting ready to go I used to put my hair piece in the over, then all those bouffant curls were placed on the top of my head, then the false eyelashes, what a gib I must have cut.
I don't remember what they were called but I do remember buying a jacket that came with shorts in, of all colours, yellow, ooh thats my hang my head in sheer embarrassment.
 
Not at all Carol no embarrassment. Your post sounds like me getting ready to go out..ha ha! My jacket and shorts were dusty pink weren't they called bomber jackets?
 
There was a night club at the bottom of Bradford street , Digbeth , it was called ye old moat house club . It was owned by rob pryke , who was also know in the market as the banana king due to him being the biggest importer of bananas in the city . His trait was that he always wore a bowler hat and a carnation in his button hole . My dad worked there in the 60's as a cloakroon attendant on a fri , sat and sunday night . I used to help him but then got a job in the kitchen , I also worked there fri sat and sun night , i was there for around 3 yrs , but left 6 months before i left harry lucas school in 1965
 
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