Tag: Preston Caribbean Club

Heptonstall Festival

The town of Hebden Bridge in West Yorkshire dates back to the Saxon (not the band!) era and sheep rearing was the main occupation at that stage. When the industrial revolution commenced, there was an increasing need for water-powered weaving mills and the villages proximity to the river presented a considerable advantage. The transportation element was further enhanced with the opening of the Rochdale Canal in 1798 and the Calder Valley rail line in 1841.

In the 1970’s and 1980’s many artists, musicians and bohemians gravitated towards the town thereby increasing the tourism and reliable train links were created into the big cities of Manchester and Leeds. The town obtained fairtrade status in 2003 and was also chosen to be part of the Stage 2 route in the 2014 Tour de France.

On the cultural front the original video of Dream Academy’s 1984 single ‘Life in a Northern Town’ was filmed in the town as was the hugely successful TV series Happy Valley.  A renowned Blues Festival was held there in the early 2010’s and there is also the nationally renowned Trades Club where regular gigs are held, though I have never yet visited as tickets are regularly at a premium.

Dream Academy promo. Image Credit iheart.com

Luminaries such as Patti Smith, Teenage Fanclub, Public Service Broadcasting, Loop and Mark Lanegan have graced the stage there. Peel faves Bogshed were from the town, and I still recall their very lo-fi out there ‘hit’ single ‘Fat Boy Exam Failure’, and I also saw them at Preston Caribbean Club back in 1985.

Above the town lies the hilltop village of Heptonstall where the poet Sylivia Plath is buried. It is a throwback to an archetypal Yorkshire village further embellished by the fact that in the 1980’s the roads were returned to their original stone setts and late 19th century cast-iron gas lamps were installed.

Bogshed. Image Credit pinterest.com

The original church was damaged by a gale in 1847 and now just a shell remains. However, one of the lads in 2015 picked up on a more contemporary usage of the church with the identification of the annual Heptonstall festival where John Bramwell and Lottery Winners have graced the stage there.  

Thus, on the 04/07/15 we sallied over on the train alighting at Hebden Bridge station and after a couple of beers in town we headed up on the bus to the village. When I say up, that is a significant understatement as it is a very steep climb, one I have only yet walked downwards, but hope to rectify that upward trajectory at some stage.

The two pubs in the village and accompanying food stalls were doing a roaring trade and it was a very well organised and q friendly set-up. On the Heptonstall Festival Acoustic Stage we saw a band called Revisit and the Three Valleys Gospel Choir, who perform locally on a regular basis, mainly in the Todmorden area.

Top of the Heptonstall hill. Image Credit screenyorkshire.co.uk

On the Heptonstall Festival Weavers Square I encountered some electro-pop from the Manchester musician Zoe Stirling who is also known under the alias KOHL. The Hebden based eight-piece Owter Zeds who have been on the scene for 30 years followed with their ska covers. Next up was Catfish Skillet who are classed in the hugely niche genre of Pennine Appalachian and incorporate some quick picking bluegrass banjo playing. The final band were a decent post-punk band from Liverpool called Takotsubo Men.

I returned a couple of years later to attend the 2017 edition and on the main stage witnessed local folk band Johnny Powell & The Seasonal Beasts and a jaunty acoustic set from MK and the Escalators. They had set up a further stage in the evocative setting of the remnants of Heptonstall Festival Church where a Scottish influenced folk combo called Outside the Box played some foot tapping tunes.                 

Preston Venues 5 to 7 – Caribbean Club Part 2

When living near the Withytrees in Fulwood I quite often used to walk into work which took me across Moor Park and right past the location of the Caribbean Club, now a Cash and Carry store.

My first visit around 1985 was to see Bogshed on a cold Wednesday night. They were pretty forgettable and had one good track – ‘Fat Boy Exam Failure’. I recall I managed to get a lift home from one of my brother’s mates.

My second visit in July 1986 on another Wednesday night was eminently more memorable. Prior to the first band I won £10 on the £100 bandit which was my biggest ever win and a tidy chunk of money in those days, resulting in me drawing annoyed glances from the club members.

The support band was Howl in the Typewriter which wholly consisted of one bloke called Sam from Blackpool playing a guitar loudly which sounds rather limited in scope, but he was good fun. He went on to form a long running record label called Pumf Records and Tapes. His encore party piece was unveiling his array of 15 guitars and allocating members of the audience to each one which created an unusual cacophonous outro.

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Howl in the Typewriter. Image Credit last.fm

The interesting backdrop to the music was that England were playing Poland in a must win World Cup game in Mexico with an 11pm kick off. So, there was a runner coming in from the other side of the club whilst the main band were on stage to announce each goal of Lineker’s hat trick which generated loud cheers every time.

The main act was a Washington DC Hardcore/Blues band called Scream who were really enjoyable. They had to go off at midnight as residents were complaining about the racket and their last act was to ask the audience for the bed for the night. A postscript was that 3 months after I saw them a 17 year- old drummer called Dave Grohl joined the band. The night ended by tottering home and watching the last 10 minutes of the England game.

Continuing the theme of Caribbean based venues, there is another club Jalgos – Venue 6 behind Raiders nightclub. I visited there once around 1995. It was again a social club set up on the ground floor with the venue upstairs. They were many old and new punks in attendance that night.

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Jalgos Club. Image Credit facebook.com/Jalgos

Support was Jez Catlow’s band punk band Pike who I was watching for the first time. They had been ploughing the local circuit for many years prior to this gig and continued to afterwards, however they are scheduled to play their last ever gig later this year.

The main band were UK Subs who continue to this very day to play a legendary number of gigs per year. I can only think comparably of Status Quo who were as hard touring as the Subs. They are fronted by the timeless Charlie Harper, who is now aged 74.

I read recently that the continued existence of Jalgos is in doubt, which would potentially leave Preston without a Caribbean venue, which I think would be a shame as there is a thriving Caribbean festival that takes place each summer on nearby Avenham Park.

Venue 7 – Lion Pub was down the bottom end on Church St located between the George and Joplins hostelries. It had gigs virtually every night, however it was primarily a Jazz and Blues venue and as a result it was not a regular haunt. I did see one gig there around 1988, involving Human Nature referenced previously in the Blackburn King Georges article. I also recall John Inverdale hosting some interviews in the very pub for a Radio 5 live piece when they were undertaking a tour of Britain looking at regional variations.