Tag: Preston Mad Ferret

Preston Venue 52 Moor Park – Part 1

Somewhat remarkably I have arrived at the door of my 200th (and 201st) blog so I cogitated long and hard about to what to cover in this particular piece and eventually decided to write about what was arguably Preston’s biggest ever music event in terms of national exposure in my lifetime.    

On returning from a holiday in early 2007 we were informed that astonishingly the Radio 1 Big Weekend was to be held in the sleepy backwater of Preston in May 2007, and not only that but the venue chosen was Preston Moor Park, a ten-minute bumble from where I lived at that time. This event was Europe’s biggest free ticketed event, with 35k punters in attendance over the two days.

   Moor Park with an outdoor stage in approximately 1955. Image Credit flickr.com

Moor Park is Preston’s largest and oldest park. It was the site of the Battle of Preston in 1648 where there was a four-hour scrap between the New Model Army, commanded by Oliver Cromwell (commemorated in song by Elvis Costello) and the Royalist and the Scots. Horse racing was held there annually between 1736 and 1833, and there is still in place the stone that was the starting point for the races.

Also, in 1833 it was rebadged as Moor Park and the original Serpentine Lake and ‘Ladies Walk’ (Moor Park Avenue) remain to this day. Preston North End began their existence initially as a cricket club on the park before changing over to football and moving location onto the other side of Deepdale Road.

During the Great War, it was utilised as a hospital and in the Second World War as a prisoner of war camp. The observatory was installed in 1927 just before a rare occurrence of a total eclipse in that year.

Moor Park with Deepdale in the background. Image Credit blogpreston.co.uk

There was an open-air baths in existence there until the early 1970’s, just before my time though I do recall visiting the other open-air baths in Haslam Park across town before that closed, though from memory the water was brutally cold! I do also remember they had a decent pitch and putt golf course in the middle part of Moor Park in the 1980’s.  

The first challenge was to purloin a ticket for the Radio 1 shindig, and they did thankfully allocate a vast proportion to local postcodes. After submitting applications from several addresses (with prior agreement!) I was notified we had been allocated two tickets for the Sunday bill, though confirmation was only received ten days before the event. The tickets were free though that did not stop many greedy charlatans trying to sell them at hugely inflated prices, before thankfully the sites were shut down!

It was obviously broadcast live on Radio 1, and coverage was also available on BBC Three, with Edith Bowman, Jo Whiley and Chris Moyles amongst others in attendance. There was a huge encouragement for attendees to use public transport as there is very limited parking facilities in that area, two separate park and rides schemes were set up to assist in this venture.   

There were many Fringe events with local bands playing at the Mad Ferret, 53 Degrees, Bitter Suite, Kolor Bar and the Venue. They featured acts such as Jelly’s Last Jam, King Casanova, How’s My Pop and Redwings who had recently had a support slot with the Subways.

King Casanova playing Oxjam in Preston in 2007. Image Credit flickr.com

On the Saturday there was an exciting vibe as festival goers walked past the end of my road and I could hear the music from the bands in the distance. My pal Rick Clegg was in attendance and acts playing that day included Razorlight, Kasabian, The Gossip, Biffy Clyro, CSS, Scissor Sisters and LCD Soundsystem.

Preston Venues 28 and 29 – Strettles/Bitter Suite

Down an alley on the left-hand side of the entrance to the Mad Ferret pub on Fylde Road lies the Strettles Bar. That was the original name when the bar first came into existence around the turn of the century.

I think it was linked to the Strettles Property Letting company which was located in Lancaster Road in the old Coconut Grove pub building. The Coconut Grove was a short-lived surreal attempt at a beach bar that endeavoured to resemble Club Tropicana, somewhat unsurprisingly it was massively under populated and subsequently closed. Opposite in the early 90’s was the Spindlemakers Arms which I recall had a commendable three pool tables located within.        

Strettles changed to a new moniker of Bitter Suite in February 2006 and was run by the former landladies of the New Britannia pub on Heatley Street. It quickly became a haven for real ale drinkers with a plethora of handpumps available. It was formally recognised by CAMRA and was twice a winner of the prestigious George Lee Memorial Trophy award. On 31/01/14 it became the Ale Emporium and was run by the previous landlords of the Sun Hotel on Friargate. It then became Speakeasy but unfortunately, the latest update I can find displays this venue now as permanently closed.

Strettles in its final incarnation as the Speakeasy. Image Credit blogpreston.co.uk

Throughout this twenty-year period the bar remained unchanged and always resembled to me a slightly spruced up social club. You could always obtain some fine ale in the downstairs area which stretched round to a decent pool table at the back of the bar, I also watched a couple of football matches in there. It was a regular venue for a break between bands when attending the adjoining Ferret.

My first musical outing there was in Strettles Upstairs Bar which was more of a function room that could be hired out for private events. In July 2002 I saw two local bands called Head2Wall and Freak Jesus.

In the Strettles Downstairs Bar I attended six gigs in total. The stage was immediately to the right as you entered the venue. It was mainly a blues-based venue and my first foray there was to see a band called Silvertones on 25/09/10.  

In Feb 2013 and July 2014, I saw the Band with No Name there. On the second visit, I witnessed our neighbours Jean and Bill Hunt jigging away at the front and discovered that their attendance was for a very justifiable reason as their son was in the band. They were an older couple who lived a couple of houses away at our last Preston house in the Withytrees area of the city and they were very accommodating when we moved by storing boxes for us. Bill was a real character and had a laudable musical heritage as he had been a member of many folk bands over the years.

The Band With No Name
Band with No Name on stage at Bitter Suite. Image Credit blogpreston.co.uk

Around the time was also saw Route 66, a five piece covers band from Barrow in Cumbria and Ramshackle, a four-piece blues band. I additionally saw a combo called Frayed at the Edges there.

My final gig I am covering from 2013 was a special one as it was to celebrate local musician and friend Jez Catlow’s 50th birthday. It was very well attended and what Jez had decided to undertake was sets by all three bands he had been part of. The first was Last Orders which I don’t think had played together for an age.

The other two were more instantly recognisable as Pike and Deadwood Dog. Jez played for about 2.5 hours that night but took a well-deserved rest as Dan Donnelly topped off the night.