Month: May 2025

Other British Gigs – Part 8

In the 1970’s and 1980’s, our family holidays utilised locations across the length and breadth of Britain and I did not catch a flight abroad until 1986 when Rick Clegg and I made our debut sojourn to Majorca. Many Pontins and Butlins camps were visited including trips to the Middleton Towers complex, which was situated on the outskirts of Heysham, near Morecambe. I have fond memories of the area and days playing on Middleton Sands.

Heysham dates back to Viking times and was originally a quiet farming community before it was transformed in 1904 by the opening of the port which began to provide ferries over to Ireland and the Isle of Man. The ferries then connect up with the next travel leg of trains from Heysham Port through to Lancaster. Additional local job opportunities were introduced by two nuclear power stations being located there and my father in law worked at one of the sites for a few years.

One historical aspect in the coastal village is that it contains stone hewn graves, carved from solid rock which are located in the ruins of St Patricks Chapel, which date back to the 11th century. A picture of the graves was chosen to adorn the CD cover of ‘The Best of Black Sabbath’. There is also the tale of the one of the ships of the defeated Spanish Armada that shipwrecked in the bay in 1588. It is said that many of the dispersed crew settled there and there are apparently Spanish surnames remaining to this day in the village.

Black Sabbath album cover. Image Credit rockemetal.forumfree.it

A few years ago, I happened to be walking those streets on a clear still day and began to hear the unmistakable sounds of rock music bouncing off the walls of the nearby houses. Obviously, in a Scooby Doo gang style I had to go and solve the mystery of the source of the racket and upon investigation I identified it was emanating from the Heysham Strawberry Gardens pub.  

The Strawberry Gardens was originally a pleasure park containing an entertainment complex, formal gardens and fruit picking and was located at the then end point of the tramway. It closed just prior to the Second World War being replaced by housing and the aforementioned pub. It is a traditional Greene King brewery hostelry occasionally having live music, on this occasion a local band called Moon Rising were playing.

Strawberry Gardens back in the day. Image Credit redrosecollections.lancashire.gov.uk

Telford is a town in Shropshire and was born in the same year as me in 1968 and was designed as polycentric under the New Town Acts, reflected in the originally intended name as Dawley New Town. It is based around a shopping arcade and a public park and intentionally has no specific centre and as a result it is an unsightly concrete jungle with a plethora of roundabouts!

It was named after the local civil engineer Thomas Telford, and it is nearby to Ironbridge which I recall from history lessons at school as it pertained directly to the Industrial Revolution. In 1983, the town was linked up to the M6 with the construction of the M54 link and a train station was built on the Wolverhampton to Shrewsbury line. Thankfully, in 2007 the centre was regenerated with the addition of cafés, bars and a cinema.

There is the Telford International Centre, which for a few years was the home of the UK Snooker Championship. Nearby is the ice-skating rink that has periodically hosted gigs, including Status Quo and T’Pau. Telford were also a famous non-league giant killing team, especially in the 1980’s and once battered my Preston team 4-1 in a humbling FA Cup tie, before going on to lose narrowly to Everton in the Fifth Round.

Famous Telford alumni include Jeremy Corbyn, comedian Stewart Lee, footballer Billy Wright, horse racing’s Sir Gordon Richards who won a record 26 champion jockey titles, the previously mentioned T’Pau, Babybird’s lead singer Stephen Jones and the quaintly titled death metal band Cancer. There are also some bonny local towns not too far away, namely Shifnal, Shrewsbury and Wem.

Telford’s Albert Shed Southwater. Image Credit albertsshed.co.uk

I have attended many work meetings and overnight stays in the town, a couple of times on my own which was astoundingly dull. Though I must say during the lowest points of Covid where a trip to Tesco was a highlight, I rather worryingly stated I would even take an all-day workshop in Telford just to be able to leave the house!

On one such trip in 2023, we discovered a new bar where live music takes place 4 nights a week, and on the night of our visit, the Jam Band were performing. The venue was Telford Alberts Shed Southwater, which is a sister venue to their Shrewsbury branch. They were both opened in 2017 by an elderly chap who was remarkably called Albert who when reminiscing about the London music scene of his youth decide to create a couple of live music spots on his doorstep.     

Manchester Venues 170 to 171

Manchester Jimmys was founded in 2016 by the One Night Only bandmates and brothers George and Jimmy Craig. The band were an Indie rock outfit that were formed in 2003 and hailed from Helmsley in Yorkshire and released three albums in total with their biggest commercial success being the single ‘Just for Tonight’ which peaked at No 9 in the UK singles chart.

The venue was located on Newton Street in the Northern Quarter, a veritable stone’s throw from the legendary Roadhouse venue. It sadly closed in 2019 to create room for office space, but a new version sprung up a year later in Cutting Room Square in Ancoats and was a sister venue to their Liverpool branch.

Manchester Jimmys. Image Credit ilovemanchester.com

The residential location of the latter site has resulted in no musical licence being obtained and the requirement for earlier closing times than the former which had a later licence until 2am. I have never yet visited the Ancoats site but attended the Newton Street space a few times. The venue was very colourful and glitzy and resided over two floors. The ground floor containing the main room and bar with the music stage and a further bar situated downstairs, it was a compact but inviting space to watch a band.

They had their own beer supplied in conjunction with the local Holts brewery and even named a Jimmy lager after me, though unfortunately it was an acquired taste that I never acquired! I do seem to recall they only had one lavatory in total in the building, which was a far from ideal scenario.

They had regular gigs taking place there and I recall hearing about an early gig from local band the Blinders and even a DJ set from our very own mayor Andy Burnham! I attended five times in total, and all were part of multi-event wrist band events such as the Dot-to-Dot festival.

Jimmy’s Ancoats venue. Image Credit jimmys.group

My first appearance was in 2017 to see a London based artist called JW Ridley who had just released his self-titled debut EP. He provided some dreamy post-punk sounds and has been gathering some airplay on 6 Music and I noticed was listed on the recent Liverpool Sound City event roster.

My next visit was the following year was to see an artist/producer named Devon. He hails from the Forest of Dean in Gloucestershire and is obviously proud of his heritage as he displays a F.O.D moniker across his clothing when playing live. He also cites the remote location as inspiration for his music and bedroom DIY approach.   

My third visit was to see a four-piece indie act from Glasgow called Rascalton who had just released their debut single ‘This Is It’, I don’t know whether that was intended as a respectful nod to the Strokes whose debut album was titled ‘Is This It’. I next saw a band called Callow Youth from North Manchester who were formed the year before at high school and I would badge their sound as in the ‘lad rock’ mould.  

My final attendance in 2019 was the best of the lot as I witnessed a band called Secluded Sea. They were initially a collaboration between Halifax born multi-instrumentalist Blair Murray who has worked with Laura Cantrell, and ex-Foxtales singer Angela Hazeldine.  They expanded in a live setting to a six piece and created a very pleasing dream pop sound, though unfortunately they now appear to be no longer in existence.

The Manchester Crown & Anchor is situated on the corner of Port Street and Hilton Street within the Northern Quarter and has occupied that very spot since 1791. In its former life it expanded by incorporating the house next door and used to have a 150 capacity meeting room upstairs. Like many older boozers it was split into different areas, namely a wine and spirit vault, two parlours and a tap room.

Manchester Crown and Anchor with old signage. Image Credit alamy.com

It used to be under the auspices of the Chester Ales brewery in the 1960’s and 1970’s and this was reflected in the vintage signage before being extensively refurbished back in 2011 with the addition of a pool table and a roof top smoking area. It was also once featured in the Sky TV drama ‘Wolfe’. Members of the Stone Roses were reputedly visitors to the hostelry back in the late 1990’s.

It displayed an innovative streak during Covid by partnering up with the nearby Bread & Bowl to sell takeaway food and beer and enabled this pursuit by creating a new outdoor space because at the time the restrictions specified only beer gardens. It shut briefly at the end of 2021 but swiftly reopened under new owners. Due to its location, it can become busy on Manchester City match days, and they occasionally have live music. About a year ago after attending another gig, I saw a solo artist called Stefan perform there.