Beachcomber Sunday Morning. Wigan

[ulyssees]

Hi all.

Any memories of the Beachcomber cafe next door to the Casino, as I recall it used to be open from 8-10a.m. Think they opened this up to keep all the nighter crowd off the streets and out of the swimming baths. Never seen any photos from in there, anyone help out?

Ulyssees

[Guest POTTERIESPECK]

EVERY WEEK USED THERE USED TO BE A COLOURED LAD WHO SAT ON A COUNTER IN THAT LONG PASSAGE WAY, HE WAS ALWAYS POLITELY ASKING HAVE YA GOT 10p MATE TO EVERYBODY. ALSO A FEW OF THE ELDER STOKE LADS [ SLUDGE R I P was one] TOOK ME THROUGH THE BEACHCOMBER AND CAME OUT UNDER THE STAGE IN MAIN ROOM AT THE CASINO.IT WAS HOT IN THERE IN SUMMER +FREEZING IN WINTER.LOTS AND LOTS OF BUISNESS WAS DONE IN THERE, THINK THE D S THOUGHT THEY HAD MORE CHANCE OF GETTING JUMPED ON IF THEY BUSTED ANYBODY IN THE BEACHCOMBER THAN INSIDE THE CASINO.

Edited December 5, 2009 by POTTERIESPECK

[Guest]

HE WAS ALWAYS POLITELY ASKING HAVE YA GOT 10p MATE TO EVERYBODY.

Scouse by any chance?

[Ric-tic]

Scouse by any chance?

meaning?

[Guest POTTERIESPECK]

Scouse by any chance. --- No, but does it matter if i am a Scouse or Stokie ? Oh i thought POTTERIES might give a clue to where i live.

Edited December 6, 2009 by POTTERIESPECK

[Guest Scarborosoul]

Never went in on a morning, ut was in there one night before an oldies nighter. I had been sat there drinking my coffee when one of the Casino bouncers came over and said you finished? I said nearly.

He said "your finished get out" me being me said "when im finished" at that point be bopped me Fookin eruption. I had banged him 3 times then got jumped on by the other bouncers!!! Took a bit of a kicking but still danced all night.

I thought I wouldnt get in but the guy who origanally started the hassle had buggered off I cant remember his name but he was 30ish with long hair and stocky. Anyone remember his name??

Rick

[Guest proudlove]

Never went in on a morning, ut was in there one night before an oldies nighter. I had been sat there drinking my coffee when one of the Casino bouncers came over and said you finished? I said nearly.

He said "your finished get out" me being me said "when im finished" at that point be bopped me Fookin eruption. I had banged him 3 times then got jumped on by the other bouncers!!! Took a bit of a kicking but still danced all night.

I thought I wouldnt get in but the guy who origanally started the hassle had buggered off I cant remember his name but he was 30ish with long hair and stocky. Anyone remember his name??

Rick

Wern't they all called twat?

[Guest proudlove]

Fat,pissed,bullying twats!!

We were in there one night and it got a bit heated over something--------can't remember what-------------when the fat really ugly one was told to "F$"k off before I bite your F$"KIN' face off"

Can,t mention who used that succinct phrase,but he went very pale and wondered off mumbling to himself..................................

They were very good at picking on easy targets,but if it had seriously kicked off in there they wouldn't have been able to cope-------there was some seriously tasty people from allover the country in there.

Any way, hows the book Phil?

[Pauldonnelly]

We were in there one night and it got a bit heated over something--------can't remember what-------------when the fat really ugly one was told to "F$"k off before I bite your F$"KIN' face off"

Can,t mention who used that succinct phrase,but he went very pale and wondered off mumbling to himself..................................

They were very good at picking on easy targets,but if it had seriously kicked off in there they wouldn't have been able to cope-------there was some seriously tasty people from allover the country in there.

Any way, hows the book Phil?

Loved the Beachcomber after the nighter, full of tasty blokes who would nut ya just for smiling at them. Very Torch like imo.

One ear on the music, the other for whoever you were standing with at the time.

One eye out for your mates the other for those you thought were mates but weren't, while M's and the Casino were right on brother and keep the faith, the beachcomeber was all about " you're hear for a reason so anything can happen"

[Guest POTTERIESPECK]

We were in there one night and it got a bit heated over something--------can't remember what-------------when the fat really ugly one was told to "F$"k off before I bite your F$"KIN' face off"

Can,t mention who used that succinct phrase,but he went very pale and wondered off mumbling to himself..................................

They were very good at picking on easy targets,but if it had seriously kicked off in there they wouldn't have been able to cope-------there was some seriously tasty people from allover the country in there.

Any way, hows the book Phil?

Coddy + Sludge from STOKE were just 2 .

[Guest proudlove]

Knew Coddy very well(and Mickey)...Coddy hated my driving.............mind you I've always been quick........took him home to Burton one morning,he swore never to get in a car with me again,can't think why.

[ulyssees]

I sometimes enjoyed the beachcomber more than the Casino, It resembled the "bar scene" from Star Wars some mornings. Can't remeber if it was open from the first days of the casino though.

Ulyssees

[Gilly]

Wern't they all called twat?

What i could never understand was why did Harry Green spend so much time shouting "no pushing at the back"if he opened the f&&kin door there would'nt have been any pushing at the back thick bast$d regards Gilly and Nicola

[Gilly]

ame='POTTERIESPECK' date='06 December 2009 - 08:15 PM' timestamp='1260130521' post='1210146']

Knew Coddy very well(and Mickey)...Coddy hated my driving.............mind you I've always been quick........took him home to Burton one morning,he swore never to get in a car with me again,can't think why.

I used to find although Coddy looked propper evil and i take nothing away from his abilities,if he had a liking for you he was bang on,if he did'nt like you it would be bang on regards Gilly and Nicola

[Guest proudlove]

I used to find although Coddy looked propper evil and i take nothing away from his abilities,if he had a liking for you he was bang on,if he did'nt like you it would be bang on regards Gilly and Nicola

That would have made him smile--------------nice post.

Steve

[Gilly]

That would have made him smile--------------nice post.

Steve

Thanks Steve,hav'nt seen Micky for a long time,he was going to the 100 club a few years back.Last time i remember was when i was invited to DJ at the mothers birthday/and what was her wedding anniversary regards Gilly and Nicola

[Guest POTTERIESPECK]

ame='POTTERIESPECK' date='06 December 2009 - 08:15 PM' timestamp='1260130521' post='1210146']

Knew Coddy very well(and Mickey)...Coddy hated my driving.............mind you I've always been quick........took him home to Burton one morning,he swore never to get in a car with me again,can't think why.

Do you mean Mickey who was Coddy's brother Steve.

[Gilly]

Do you mean Mickey who was Coddy's brother Steve.

Yes i do mate Gilly and Nicola

[davenalicarlisle]

oh yes i rememeber the beachcomber very well our first bus back to Horwich Sunday morning wasnt till a couple of hours after the niter had finished so that came in handy there was some sights in there in a morning i can tell u and if it had been pissin down there used to be a puddle in the middle of the floor the good old days eh ktf

[Paul Shirley]

Scouse by any chance?

he was from manchester

[Guest suehey]

I don't know where I was after the Casino but I don't remember any coffee bar, cafe or for that matter

bouncers either. You lot should have been in the same place as me..good times

Sue

[Guest suehey]

Forgot to say

one moring after the torch in the cafe nearby,having taken my false eyelashes off,I found myself sitting next to Coddy .............with a gun........... only being young ...well 20 is quite young ..I sh..t myself don't think I've been the same since

[Paul Shirley]

We were in there one night and it got a bit heated over something--------can't remember what-------------when the fat really ugly one was told to "F$"k off before I bite your F$"KIN' face off"

Can,t mention who used that succinct phrase,but he went very pale and wondered off mumbling to himself..................................

They were very good at picking on easy targets,but if it had seriously kicked off in there they wouldn't have been able to cope-------there was some seriously tasty people from allover the country in there.

Any way, hows the book Phil?

er? yeah right . me being a wiganer who knew most of the door men up there i take that as bolocks ,a couple o those door men ive personly seen knock f... out of one of the bigest blokes you have ever seen and all for not drinking up when he was told to f.. off n put the drink down the guy tried to take a drink and the glass was smashed out of his hand just mising his throat . now ive also seen the decent side of them as well as i was a cleaner got in for nowt along with a handfull of others i was on a good number and i stupidly thretend one of them i ended up having a right good laugh with them , they delt with 2000 people up there most wknds considering that and all the goings on . i think compared to the pricks that are suposed to be doormen these days i think they did remarkebly good , compare what they did and put up with ......f.... sake man these days you can get killed by just going for a drink . tatsty people lol more bag theves n beggars than owt

Edited January 6, 2010 by steptoe

[Paul Shirley]

oh yeh and the cafe was next door to the casino or beachcomber as it was same building other side of the alley

[Guest proudlove]

er? yeah right . me being a wiganer who knew most of the door men up there i take that as bolocks ,a couple o those door men ive personly seen knock f... out of one of the bigest blokes you have ever seen and all for not drinking up when he was told to f.. off n put the drink down the guy tried to take a drink and the glass was smashed out of his hand just mising his throat . now ive also seen the decent side of them as well as i was a cleaner got in for nowt along with a handfull of others i was on a good number and i stupidly thretend one of them i ended up having a right good laugh with them , they delt with 2000 people up there most wknds considering that and all the goings on . i think compared to the pricks that are suposed to be doormen these days i think they did remarkebly good , compare what they did and put up with ......f.... sake man these days you can get killed by just going for a drink . tatsty people lol more bag theves n beggars than owt

Take it as "Bollocks" if you like mate,but people who know me will tell you I don't bullshit.What you have to appreciate is that some of the people that went to wigan when it first started were in their twenties and in some cases early thirties and went there after doing a shift on the doors in places like Manchester and Liverpool---------some were well known Football crew,half of my local in Manchester city centre that was used by doormen,boxers and assorted faces went in the early days.There are people on this forum that would tell you about people they knew that went that were as hard as nails.Im not talking about young teenagers I'm talking about people that just wouldn't take bullshit from a load of bullyboys.Bag thieves and beggars???----there are a couple that are still doing the doors now...................................

[Guest Scarborosoul]

er? yeah right . me being a wiganer who knew most of the door men up there i take that as bolocks ,a couple o those door men ive personly seen knock f... out of one of the bigest blokes you have ever seen and all for not drinking up when he was told to f.. off n put the drink down the guy tried to take a drink and the glass was smashed out of his hand just mising his throat . now ive also seen the decent side of them as well as i was a cleaner got in for nowt along with a handfull of others i was on a good number and i stupidly thretend one of them i ended up having a right good laugh with them , they delt with 2000 people up there most wknds considering that and all the goings on . i think compared to the pricks that are suposed to be doormen these days i think they did remarkebly good , compare what they did and put up with ......f.... sake man these days you can get killed by just going for a drink . tatsty people lol more bag theves n beggars than owt

Dont care what you think fella. I was young and took shit off no-one didnt matter how big or hard and as I got older I joined the Army did the bit. Then became a doorman and at 1 time was the only English Doorman in Perth at a club called The Sub Club!!!! Scotish members of SS will take umbrance to that lol. I have done many things since then along the lines of Concert ecurity, Police replacement teams at football etc etc. I have mellowed out so much over the last 10 yrs and even more since I remarried.

They may have delt with 2000+ per weekend but most were teenagers. A minority of those attending were evil tw@ts who the bouncers would never mess with and Ive got to say after the incident with myself I never had any problems with them afterwards.

Rick

[Citizen P]

Take it as "Bollocks" if you like mate,but people who know me will tell you I don't bullshit.What you have to appreciate is that some of the people that went to wigan when it first started were in their twenties and in some cases early thirties and went there after doing a shift on the doors in places like Manchester and Liverpool---------some were well known Football crew,half of my local in Manchester city centre that was used by doormen,boxers and assorted faces went in the early days.There are people on this forum that would tell you about people they knew that went that were as hard as nails.Im not talking about young teenagers I'm talking about people that just wouldn't take bullshit from a load of bullyboys.Bag thieves and beggars???----there are a couple that are still doing the doors now...................................

Welcoming Commitee-Rowntrees !971-1973 inc.

T

[Harry Crosby]

Hi rick n everybody, was this the cafe at the front between the doors? we used to go in before the nighter opened, the first record i ever bought was in there, it was off a lad with the arctic penguins all over his bag, and his record sleeves anybody remember him. Anyway the record was Gwen owens-you better watch out-Casablanca. PS Still got the cardboard sleeve at me mums

[Davetay]

Welcoming Commitee-Rowntrees !971-1973 inc.

T

Rowntrees Manchester, great time to be a teenager.

I knew I had seen these lads before, when I watched the film.

[Guest Scarborosoul]

Hi rick n everybody, was this the cafe at the front between the doors? we used to go in before the nighter opened, the first record i ever bought was in there, it was off a lad with the arctic penguins all over his bag, and his record sleeves anybody remember him. Anyway the record was Gwen owens-you better watch out-Casablanca. PS Still got the cardboard sleeve at me mums

Ey up Harry,

Thats the place, Sleeve worth more than the record m8?

Rick

[Harry Crosby]

Ey up Harry,

Thats the place, Sleeve worth more than the record m8?

Rick

probably rick, the princelly sum of 50p was paid at the time lol

[Guest]

Hi rick n everybody, was this the cafe at the front between the doors? we used to go in before the nighter opened, the first record i ever bought was in there, it was off a lad with the arctic penguins all over his bag, and his record sleeves anybody remember him. Anyway the record was Gwen owens-you better watch out-Casablanca. PS Still got the cardboard sleeve at me mums

Can anyone clarify why the Arctic label logo was a penguin , when penguins only come from Antactica ?

Malc Burton

[Harry Crosby]

Can anyone clarify why the Arctic label logo was a penguin , when penguins only come from Antactica ?

Malc Burton

Good point, my friend

[Guest]

Hi rick n everybody, was this the cafe at the front between the doors? we used to go in before the nighter opened, the first record i ever bought was in there, it was off a lad with the arctic penguins all over his bag, and his record sleeves anybody remember him. Anyway the record was Gwen owens-you better watch out-Casablanca. PS Still got the cardboard sleeve at me mums

we used to go in the night before the casino opened. Can't remember going there in the morning, but can't remember much about the mornings after....................................

[NorthernDancer]

Don't think it was open in the morning used to some times go in there before casino started atb carl happy days

[manus]

Don't think it was open in the morning used to some times go in there before casino started atb carl happy days

Hello - it was definitely open in the morning for a few hours after the niter - I had to be pulled out of there a few times to catch the train home - didn't want to leave - it had some strange seating arrangements at some point with rows of seats that went up like terracing or theatre seats or was I hallucinating

All the best

Manus

[NorthernDancer]

Hello - it was definitely open in the morning for a few hours after the niter - I had to be pulled out of there a few times to catch the train home - didn't want to leave - it had some strange seating arrangements at some point with rows of seats that went up like terracing or theatre seats or was I hallucinating

All the best

Manus

Hi manus i never went in the morning think you may have had another upper not a cupper in there atb carl

[manus]

Hi manus i never went in the morning think you may have had another upper not a cupper in there atb carl

Anything to avoid the ultimate downer of having to go home Carl

Cheers

Manus

[grantdyche]

I may be wrong here so don't jump down my throat,

Did the Beachcomber stop opening in the mornings about 77ish,And they re-opened M's in the morning??,

Once again sorry if I'm wrong on this one(and many others I may add)

[Guest allnightandy]

When i first started going to Wigan there was a third part to the Metropolis of Soul .When it was all over you used to file outside into The Beachcomber Bar usually only for what seemed about an hour

this was great for us as our buses didn't start running till later on, on a Sunday

all i remember was it was dark tatty and the DJ i think was Kenny Spence (what ever happened to him?)

the only sounds i can remember were Spookie and Sue I've got the need

and an instrumental version of Band of Gold which was an LP track , i think by the Armada Strings

Anyone else joG my now declining memory ?

Andy

[Guest allnightandy]

When i first started going to Wigan there was a third part to the Metropolis of Soul .When it was all over you used to file outside into The Beachcomber Bar usually only for what seemed about an hour

this was great for us as our buses didn't start running till later on, on a Sunday

all i remember was it was dark tatty and the DJ i think was Kenny Spence (what ever happened to him?)

the only sounds i can remember were Spookie and Sue I've got the need

and an instrumental version of Band of Gold which was an LP track , i think by the Armada Strings

Anyone else joG my now declining memory ?

Andy

Sorry Mr Moderator can you remove one of these posts i somehow have managed to post it twice !

Thanks

Edited December 18, 2011 by allnightandy

[Guest]

Is there an echo in here?

[Mike]

best sometimes to try the search out as some of subjects have had a fair bit of talk about

here's just one - may be more

[Guest allnightandy]

best sometimes to try the search out as some of subjects have had a fair bit of talk about

here's just one - may be more

I did tap beachcomber into the search box and the posts that came up seemed to only mention it as a single word in a sentence

or be about the one in Nottingham ? if its been covered remove it

Andy

[Mike]

yep, guessed you aint seen it thats why I posted

will merge this and that in a bit

[Guest]

I remember the little hatch where you could get a new membership card......I remember it well because I used to lose mine on a weekly basis.

I think they started opening it early 74 because of all the crowd gathering around the place, and it was better for dealing I cant remember it being open from September 73, We used to bring a football and have a kick about in the multi-story till opening time.

[Guest]

Can anyone clarify why the Arctic label logo was a penguin , when penguins only come from Antactica ?

Malc Burton

It was the one who got lost in Happy feet

[Guest allnightandy]

I remember the little hatch where you could get a new membership card......I remember it well because I used to lose mine on a weekly basis.

I think they started opening it early 74 because of all the crowd gathering around the place, and it was better for dealing I cant remember it being open from September 73, We used to bring a football and have a kick about in the multi-story till opening time.

That could be why most people's first visit to Wigan was with someone else's membership card

we used to swap them about if someone wasn't going we could take someone who hadn't been before !

[wiganelli]

When i first started going to Wigan there was a third part to the Metropolis of Soul .When it was all over you used to file outside into The Beachcomber Bar usually only for what seemed about an hour

this was great for us as our buses didn't start running till later on, on a Sunday

all i remember was it was dark tatty and the DJ i think was Kenny Spence (what ever happened to him?)

the only sounds i can remember were Spookie and Sue I've got the need

and an instrumental version of Band of Gold which was an LP track , i think by the Armada Strings

Anyone else joG my now declining memory ?

Andy

Hi Andy sadly Kenny Spence passed away a good few years ago late eighties i think, he was from Aspull were i still live he was a father figure to many people from our village Ste Whittle, Ian Wills, Kev Murphy, to name just a few, beachcomber was open prior to the nighters but that was early Wigan days 73-74 cant comment on what went on thereafter,the cafe i think you mean was next door to the Beachcomber but still entered it from the same door way Emp cafe it used to be called,and i must say in ref to all the comments made i Never in all the time at Wigan saw any trouble,,,,,

[Guest]

I had a fight recorded on tape from around 74 ish.....right hand side of the stage looking from the dancefloor. Russ`s voice can be heard "Any bouncers to the stage, any bouncers" but by the time they got there it had been broken up. Record playing was Levi Jackson - This beautiful day.

Edited December 18, 2011 by Guest