6d., indicates that dance organisers and commercial dance halls were aiming at a working-class audience. I used to work part time evenings in the bar at the Palais during the 1960s. 13).Footnote 70 The sense of theatricality was enhanced by the entrance to the main dance hall being reached via a glass-sided covered air bridge, two stories above ground level, which linked the tower with the main building above the shops. We set up camp, we liberated the floor with a dosing of talc, we were joined by our mates later on and there we stayed until 10pm. 8889Google Scholar. On its growth in northern English towns in 1920, the Cheltenham Chronicle commented: Dancing, with the pictures and football, fill in all the non-working hours in our great manufacturing towns, and, as a consequence, dancing masters not only teach the young how to step, but provide handsome dancing halls for them. [2] It was designed by the Nottingham architectural practice of Evans, Clark and Woollatt for W. A. Walker at a cost of 30,000. As always you can unsubscribe at any time. Chinese motifs were repeated throughout the dance hall, particularly in the trelliswork and painted panels that replicated oriental paper screens, backlit to enhance the artwork's colours and effects. Nice post Martin I still see Tommy Cragg from time to time the last time I saw Pete Smith was at a Stafford Top of the world allnighter early 80's must look him up see how he's doing I see his brother Chris from time ot time,saw Curly yesterday he don't change mate. You've brought even more memories flooding back with the CB thing. 47071. the next time im up that way will be for andy riley's 50 atb steve. One record that stands out for me at the Palais is Lester Tipton, this won't change. www.ten-years-after.com and www.alvinlee.de. We also may change the frequency you receive our emails from us in order to keep you up to date and give you the best relevant information possible. The budget was large and the quality of the building located on a prime corner site adjacent to the city's busy central market area (Fig. It was known as Greyfriars Hall and was opened by the Lord Mayor of Nottingham, Walter Wessen, on 8 October 1929. Frank Hanford used to run it but Dorothy Richards I never saw. Ladies Boudoir, Mayfair dance hall, Newcastle, 1961 (Tyne and Wear Archives and Museums). We used to go to most of the Nottingham ballrooms,The Palais, The Queens , The Elizabethan Rooms, The Sherwood Rooms Etc. Those in the mill towns of Lancashire, for example, attempted to recreate some of the splendour of the Blackpool ballrooms.Footnote 17 Entrepreneurs were also inspired by the cavernous dance halls that had emerged in the United States before the First World War such as the one in Pawtuxet, Rhode Island (Fig. 4145CrossRefGoogle Scholar. But most of all I love the Palais because I got see my dad. Must have enjoyed myself because I remember it so well. Not just because it's quality but because of the crowds thunderous claps at the right times. Also known as Palais de Danse, The Palais Nov 16 1986 Level 42 at Palais, Nottingham, England Artist: Level 42 , Venue: Palais, Nottingham, England Edit setlist May 26 1986 I remember Love on amountain top being a big spin too. The width and direction of floorboards also had to be given careful thought, with some experts arguing that a floor of secret-nailed, tongue-and-groove floorboards in narrow widths gave the best effect. See also Harwood, Elain, Space, Hope and Brutalism: English Architecture, 19451975 (London, 2015), p. 317Google Scholar. Postcard view of the interior of the dance hall at Pawtuxet, Rhode Island, 1911 (author's private collection). Lita Rosa, Dennis Lotus ans Dicky Valentine sang with the band. 96 See Nott, J., Contesting Popular Dancing and Dance Music During the 1920s, Cultural and Social History, 10.3 (2013), pp. It was really the Good Old days. 71 Architect and Building News, 19 July 1961, pp. My first encounter with the Palais came about 1971. Only the coming of war halted the project. Wollaston offered several anonymous offers for anyone who could isolate palladium, so the elements discovery was credited to Richard Chenevix in 1803. I thought "Statue" was great at the time, now it doesn't seem to have any soul at all. Also used to got to Roy & Mary Knight's on Cranbrook St. My wife and I with friends used to go to Enid Colman's. The way in which the space was used also differed according to class. 66 Manchester, City Archives, M117/4/4/2, Registers of Music, Dancing and Rooms 190237. I used to walk up from Mansfield Woodhouse. The seats were always taken as when someone got up one of the walkers would sit down. 22 Morton, Francis Junior, and Co, Sprung Floors for Dancing (London, c. 1925), p. 2Google Scholar. Although dance halls were comparatively egalitarian spaces, this quality should not be overstated. Remnants of this approach to atmospherics could be seen in some dance halls as late as the 1950s and 1960s, despite the more functional Contemporary style taking its place. 7 We should be careful to exclude from this definition dancing schools and other places where the main purpose was to teach dancing, with public dances put on as a secondary attraction. It was commissioned in 1924 by the Midland Palais de Danse Company, formed by several local entrepreneurs. Conversions were common not only in the early days of dance-hall construction (around 191823), but also in its closing days (195560). Our first opportunity to assess the size of the queue and who we could spot. Indeed, the first palais de danse in Britain, the Hammersmith Palais, was opened in 1919 by two American businessmen (Howard Booker and Frank Mitchell) who had seen these developments at first hand.Footnote 18, Fig. Two records I remember from there were, Love of the common people Nikki Thomas, The latter people would sit in the floor in front of each other sitting between the person behinds, legs, and rock backward and forward and side to side. for this article. We are both still alive and live in a rural area of the Wairarapa 90 minutes drive north of Wellington. We married in February 1961 and emigrated to New Zealand in October 1962. Used to be a group around at that time called the "Jaybirds." I remember Love on amountain top being a big spin too. Met my late wife there in 1963. By this point, Mecca also employed its own group of in-house architects for interiors, Kett and Neve, perhaps best known as the designers of one of the first motorway service stations, Trowell services on the M1 (also for Mecca).Footnote 50 The Stevenage Locarno (Fig. Average weekly earnings for industrial workers grew by 34 per cent between 1955 and 1960, and by 130 per cent between 1955 and 1969. In October 1930, the Birmingham Palais de Danse was refurbished in Japanese style, and the following year Maxime's Dance Club in Edinburgh was entirely redecorated using herbaceous landscape scenes, Riviera painting and floodlighting principles.Footnote 89. Under new management, the Palais continued as a ballroom but was converted, after damage by vandals in 1973, into a bingo hall and used as such throughout the 70s and 80s. 38 Parsonage, Catherine, The Evolution of Jazz in Britain, 18801935 (Aldershot, Hampshire, 2005), p. 130Google Scholar. The dance hall's emergence as a distinct social and architectural space was shaped by its varied roots in both the social world of the elite and the growing leisure industry of late nineteenth-century Britain. The Palais de Danse, built by Midland Palais de Danse Limited, opened on the corner of King Edward Street, John Street and Convent Street (now Upper Parliament Street) on 24 April 1925. It was originally designed as a dance hall and billiard saloon. The Majestic dance hall in Crewe, for example, was opened in 1961 by the Rank Organisation (which had diversified into dancing as cinema-going declined) following its conversion from a Gaumont cinema in a building originally erected as a picture house in 1911.Footnote 29 One of the most famous conversions from cinema to dance hall was the Rivoli Ballroom, Brockley, south London, opened in 1959.Footnote 30 The Locarno, Blackburn, was converted by the Mecca group from the former Olympia cinema at a cost of 130,000 in 1959.Footnote 31 Mecca became the largest name in dance-hall ownership and was particularly influential in the development of the building type. Music - Helping Handicapped People and people less fortunate than myself. The New Bristol Centre was perhaps the zenith of these multi-purpose buildings. Are nurses striking in Leicestershire this week? The site became vacant when Nottingham Prison was demolished. Something went wrong, please try again later. The site became vacant when Nottingham Prison was demolished. Loved the Palais in the late 50s and early 60s. The floor could be adjusted to provide varying degrees of springiness, and locked to prevent movement when not required for dancing.Footnote 23, The space above the dancers heads was just as important as that beneath their feet. The Music Hall and Theatre Populist Palatial, postcard view of the rich, colourful interior of the Palais de Danse, Derby, 1923 (author's private collection), Fig. But my relationship with this venerable Nottingham landmark started much earlier in my life and carries much more emotional attachment than simply being a placed where we danced our youth away to great dollops of soulful tunes and partaking of a chicken in a basket meal if we saved enough pennies to purchase grub in the restaurant downstairs. The new dance halls of the late 1950s and early 1960s were typified by sumptuous, colourful interiors along coordinated, modern lines in the Contemporary style. Two bandstands, one at either end of the dance floor, allowed multiple bands to play for the dancers. I was drummer for a Kirkby based group called Roy Ravelle & The Gamblers. 21 September 2018. The band members were Keith Williams (guitar), Stuart Lane (guitar), Mick Hodgkinson (bass guitar & sax) and Ric Lee (drums). In later years it was Yates wine lodge for a couple of so called "Australian white wines" you could chat anyone up with a few of them inside you :-)). Mrz 2009 in Edmonton, Kanada.Der europische Teil der I Am Tour begann am 26. Also, will accept photos of the venues where they played. Dancers were thrilled by the opportunity to let themselves go. Then of course later as we got a bit older there was "Grab a Granny" on a Wednesday Night (Over 21's), boy I have some wonderful memories of the Palais. Innovation led to a unique architectural feature the sprung dance floor. Dancing had a cross-class appeal and yet, by the mid-1920s, it was predominantly an activity of the working and lower-middle classes. This multi-class audience for dance halls, and the democratisation it represented, was reflected in their design and even their names. The company installed floors in dance halls throughout the country, including the Grafton, Adelphi and Reece's ballrooms in Liverpool and, by the late 1930s, had installed over 400 sprung dance floors.Footnote 22 In the Valtor system, rows of light steel girders were laid under the floor, each divided into short lengths coupled together by special spring fitments. From the mid-1960s, Mecca began creating multi-purpose entertainment venues. People of different classes did attend the Nottingham Palais, but they did not necessarily mix. The one at the Mayfair in Newcastle, which opened in 1961 (Fig. From the mid-1920s to the mid-1960s, the dance hall occupied a pivotal place in the culture of working- and lower-middle-class communities in Britain. Juni 2009 in London, Grobritannien.Am 21. 92 MOA, WC, 48/C, 1938, p. 1. 23. The Palais de Danse is Nottinghams most famous nightclub. The last I heard (Mind you this was mid 90's before my sojourn to lands foreign,) they were still going in one way shape or form . .May not have played at the Palais but Im sure played in local pubs, I think both used to appear at the White Gates at Forest Town in the 60s /70s. Above the columns was a frieze of painted glass panels depicting Chinese scenes, and brightly coloured silk lanterns were hung around and across the dance floor. in 1938, by which time nearly 42 per cent of workers received paid holidays.Footnote 74 This gave rise to annual spending on leisure estimated at between 200 million and 250 million during the 1920s and 1930s.Footnote 75 The dance hall also arrived at the same time as mass democracy, following extensions to the franchise in 1918 and 1928 that finally gave every man and woman the right to vote. If any body remembers me Mansfield, Blidworth, Rainworth areas ladies and gents Hello. We would always aim to get in the queue early and watch it build as worshipers from all over arrived. Interests! Later, in the 1950s, large numbers of redundant cinemas and theatres were converted into dance halls, as dancing outperformed both as a form of entertainment. BTW is M Raynor any relation to Beryl Raynor who I worked with at Ladybrook Primary School in 1961? I have a long and fond relationship with the old Notts Palais. And for 15 minutes we had the whole of the Palais de Danse to ourselves. I think nowadays its called The late lounge possibly. 1. Coco Tang Bridlesmith Gate The Cabin not the Lion. It was designed by the Nottingham architectural practice of Evans, Clark and Woollatt for W. A. Walker at a cost of 30,000. Expert opinion eventually settled on Canadian maple as the best timber for dance floors because, although expensive, it was found to be particularly hardwearing, making it ideal for the high demands that dancers would place on it. Munro, Malcolm, Dancing Mad: An Autobiographical Dancing Diary (Liverpool, n.d.), p. 181Google Scholar. This ballroom dancing hall had an unusual dance floor created from oak and walnut mounted on 560 spiral springs, an area of 6309 superficial feet which could hold approximately 600 dancers. Originally named the Palais de Danse when it opened as a dance hall in 1925, it later became the popular nightclub Ritzy in the late 1980s. It was just like being in the Palais in 69 again except for the white hair ( on me as well as some of the band ). One of the main events of the year was the General Hospital Ball which transferred to this venue in 1929. The faade of the main dance hall was given a canopy edged in slate to match the surrounding buildings, while the rest consisted of red and grey dark-brick panels separated with recessed blind windows of brightly coloured glass mosaic, bordered above and below with fascias of Sicilian white marble.Footnote 71 The mosaic was the work of Fred Millett (192080), a mural artist with an extensive portfolio in both the public and private sectors, having worked on commissions for London County Council, Hertfordshire schools, the Post Office and National Westminster Bank.Footnote 72 The dance hall's internal illumination included strip lighting around the edge of the balcony and bandstand, interspersed with frequent use of sputnik-like spotlights in the contemporary style. In the 1920s, borrowing from US cinema designs, atmospherics was widely used to create escapism in the dance hall.Footnote 87 This design trend was about bringing the outside inside, with interiors made to resemble Spanish patios or Italian villa gardens (as seen in the Spanish Hall at the Winter Gardens in Blackpool, and the Italianate lake backdrop on the main stage in the Tower Ballroom). Yet there was a tension between this liberation and constraint. Then the Palais again, then Oceana, and currently Pryzm. I bought myself a pair and used to change my socks in the toilet when I got there and again on the way home! I worked at the Palais for many years. I remember a ex boxer guy the used to get a skipping rope out on the upstairs dance floor. The line-up of the orchestra had changed, also the name Carmen Sylva (for his orchestra) vanished. Adrian, who now lives in Durham, joined Ivor following a summer season at Torquay. Average weekly money wages rose from 1 12s. 45 Dancing Times (September 1929), p. 551. Especially in new buildings, which were liable to So in 1971 I found myself in this wonderful exotic place called the Bali Hai with strange looking plastic trees, surrounded by sandwiches, cakes and jelly, listening to "Chirpy Cheep Cheep" by Middle Of The Road. 2,376 talking about this. Its Stag Room offered men electric shavers, hair cream and free shoeshine. Ultimately parquet blocks, which could be arranged in multiple directions, provided the best flooring for fixed dance floors.Footnote 20, Perhaps the most important consideration in the construction of dance floors was the ability of the surface to absorb and dissipate energy. Happy days mate. . We moved down to Kent in the late 80s. And another one on my list! Hi Bill and John. Special thanks to Dr Julian Holder whose sterling work in editing improved this piece immeasurably. then Mapperley Hall Drive, finally Tudor Court, Watson Avenue, where she died, a lovely lady we got on so very well as I did with Freddie, she was close friends of Dorothy Hinton who resided adj, also in the music trade, ran the Eight Bells. They also advertised the fact. They remained in residence until a Fire caused its demise and its closure in 1967.The format was Mondays General Dancing (with an Half Hour Jive Session to Records (later replaced by An Organist (Freddy Carlilse) Tuesdays I believe was Personal Tuition Wednesdays was STRICTLY BALLROOM DANCING mainly for those who were receiving Tution and those who were involved in the finer aspects of Ballroom Dancing with Tutors in attendance Thursdays I seem to think it was not open unless it again was put on one side for Dance Lessons Fridays was always available for Private Dances and Functions (tickets only) This was the Only Night there was a Bar Saturdays was Similar to Mondays ( If you attended On that night you were given a Token which allowed Two for the Price of one (providing one of each Sex) for the price of 2/6 In their early Career Adele And Freddie were very much involved in Old time dancing being not only Judges Nationally but they had invented several Dances and won many competions nationally most notably a dance called Lingering At times Championship Ballroom Dancers would do an Exhibition during the interval and on a few occaisions a variety act. For example, at Tony's Ballroom in Birmingham, in the mid-1930s, there were two halls with sumptuous interiors on an Eastern theme. Seen you pop up on a few of Coop's images now and again. Contensis.Framework.Web.JavaScriptManager. Common locations were town halls, assembly rooms and church halls, but public dances were also held frequently in swimming baths, department stores, political clubs, hotels and restaurants. } For each dance, different coloured lights would be lowered blue for a waltz, red for a foxtrot, and so on. Palladium is one of six metals belonging to the platinum family, and it has a melting point of 2831 degrees Fahrenheit. 23 The Builder, 14 November 1924, p. 799. Purpose-built dance halls had a confident street presence that was not always the case with conversions. Keith also told me that Ric Lee is writing a book and once some legal wrangles are sorted it should be published under the title From head stocks to Woodstock. lol anyway attende every palias dayer and all the niters that followed d.jed ther in the bali hi saturday nie session i used to run in the early 80''s we used to do that then get a taxi to stafford's top of the world awesome times used to attend with mick .h ,dennis lambert , shaun turner, dave taylor ,tony garnett, the brit crowd of the day plus the colemans regulars. The architect commissioned to make the conversion was Bertie Crewe (d. 1937), one of the country's leading theatre architects, who had designed over a hundred theatres, music halls and cinemas throughout Britain, including the Piccadilly and Shaftesbury theatres in London and the Palace Theatre, Manchester.Footnote 34 Booker and Mitchell's decision to employ an architect of national standing was indicative of their determination to make an architectural statement as a way of enhancing the reputation of their new venture. He remembered the bands female lead singer, Pandora, was married to the Palaiss manager. Like you said they where playing at other venues so it really does come down to where you heard them as to where you get the memories, Outsiders, JC Messina, Kelly St Claire , Gerri Thomas, Harry Betts, John Hendley, Barnaby Bye, Frankie Crocker, Three Degrees (Contact), The Apollas , Billy Purcell, Bobby Diamond, KIki Dee, + lots more, all massive records at T'palais .. love em or hate em, they were a part of the scene in those days, still very vivid to this day, Ian. It had a small revolving circular dance floor. Nottingham Palais paid more than laying a new dance oor, and in October the Hammersmith Palais spent on a maple oor.19 The installation of dance oors required consideration of several crucial issues. 57 For a full discussion of the moral panic associated with dance halls, based on allegations of immorality, misbehaviour from youths and concerns about race, see Nott, Going to the Palais, passim.