The Deck - Page 2

Wynonie Harris · 01-09-2004, 07:11

The cafe opposite the town hall was actually a Wimpey during the mid-60's. Then it changed to become the Grill Bar in the late 60's. It didn't have much merit in itself (no jukebox, boring decor, mediocre food) but the window seats were a great vantage point from which to survey the comings and goings on the Deck. The Blue Dahlia was THE place to be, though - frothy coffee and a great jukebox! The Olympus in Union Street was also something of a hangout but mainly for rockers.

Darby, I remember Ollie Rowley. Lived up Craven Street. Nice bloke, but things always seemed to "happen" to him. I remember sitting in Leonard's Chippy in Ranger Street one day when Ollie walked in with a plaster cast on his leg. He'd been on a pub crawl in Burnley, gone to the station to get the train back to Accy and fallen off the platform (fortunately there were no trains coming at the time)! Very sorry to hear he'd been beaten up. A damning indictment on today's sick society when a harmless bloke like him gets attacked.

Darby · 01-09-2004, 07:44

Wynonie,

Lens chippy.....I remember him, use to be the best chippy in Accy..nice bloke as well.

My missus always used Lens chippy, although it was a bit of a walk from Charter Street. Names....and memories come rolling back.

You must be from the same era as me, Blue Dahlia and all that. Do you remember the Spiders Web on Blackburn Road just before the Arches, across from Little Jacks? That was the place to be in the late 50's - Sunday afternoons (before I took to the demon drink). Turned into the first Chinese restaurant in Accy. First owner was a Mr. Chung, who ran away with our neighbours wife...but that's another story!!

Wynonie Harris · 01-09-2004, 08:07

I agree, Darby, Len's chippy was definitely the best! I think it's because he stuck to what he knew best - fish, chips and peas (with a few bottles of Tizer and packets of Park Drive stacked in the corner). No pies, puddings or sausages. It worked, though, because they tasted better from Len's than anywhere else in town. His popularity was such that the queues sometimes stretched outside his shop and up Ranger Street.

Don't remember the Spider's Web but if it was late 50's I'd still be in short trousers and too young to frequent such places. Remember the Chinese though. In the mid-60's we sometimes used to walk over from the Deck and have our lunch in there. It seemed incredibly exotic at the time!

kestrelx · 01-09-2004, 11:31

Dont recall any railings on the Deck,outside the Townhall.The only railings were people used to hangout was opposite the Jewelers I think?

Darby · 01-09-2004, 11:45

Quote:

Originally Posted by kestrelx

Dont recall any railings on the Deck,outside the Townhall.The only railings were people used to hangout was opposite the Jewelers I think?

May have been removed before your time. See the thumbnail at Atarah's posting on page 1 of this thread!

Bazf · 01-09-2004, 12:23

I do remember when the Wimpy opened they gave away free coupons for burgers, is it an Italian cafe now?

Wynonie Harris · 01-09-2004, 12:37

No, it's still just an ordinary cafe. From the outside it doesn't look to have changed much from 1969.

The Italian cafe ("Si") is on the next block, on the corner of Dutton Street where MacDonalds used to be (or where Woolies used to be for those of us who are getting on a bit!).

Wynonie Harris · 01-09-2004, 13:20

Incidentally, Darby, could you tell us some more about the Spider's Web? Was it some favourite haunt of Accy teens in the 50's? I'm intrigued!

Darby · 01-09-2004, 14:49

Quote:

Originally Posted by Wynonie Harris

Incidentally, Darby, could you tell us some more about the Spider's Web? Was it some favourite haunt of Accy teens in the 50's? I'm intrigued!

I'm going back a bit...but age plays tricks ye know
!!

However, I think it was the first cafe in Accy to have a jukebox (be about 1957 or so). And that was upstairs.
It was next to what was Gibsons Sports, and downstairs was a normal coffee type cafe. Upstairs was quite large (or was I just small?), with the outstanding feature being the Jukebox, you know the type, one that plucked records out with an arm and turned then horizontal onto a turntable (only 45's). Naturally the highlight of each week was the introduction into the Jukebox of the latest entries into the Top 20 (New Musical Express).

Saturday nights was OK until the "Teds" came in from "Morts", but by that time I'd gone to the flicks (Empire or Princess in Edgar Street). Sunday afternoons was the main event. Everybody who thought they were anybody had to be in the Spiders Web, and there was a great deal of eyeing up from both sides. Eventually, you might slip off with a girl (or try to), and that after making a coffee last 2 hours!

I think the place only lasted about 2-3 years before Chung took it over in 1959. What it was before, I can't remember....

But to my memory it was the forerunner of Cafe's in Accy, those for the youth of the day at least.

Wynonie Harris · 01-09-2004, 15:05

Thanks for that, Darby, an interesting piece of Accy social history. Wonder if anyone has any pics of the place?

pendy · 02-09-2004, 14:23

I remember the Blue Dahlia, was one of the posher places, unless my memory serves me wrong. I was in Blackburn by then (having been at school in Manchester for a couple of years), a student nurse at the Infirmary, so we couldn't often afford coffee! I do remember the KJ in Blackburn - anyone remember that?

I also remember being taken out to dinner by a boyfriend in Hurst Green - I wasn't sure how much money he had, so I said all I wanted was a green salad. He ate steak!

Wynonie Harris · 02-09-2004, 15:14

The KJ Coffeehouse on the corner of Jubilee Street and Bridge Street on the Boulevard. First coffee bar I ever went in as a nervous 13-year old in 1964. I loved it and it was the start of a misspent youth in various coffee bars/cafes around the area!

Alan Gilmartin · 02-09-2004, 23:49

I remember the KJ Coffee house, used to go there, sometimes after college, or at lunch times, I was a fulltime catering student, at Blackburn Tech, in 60s. At that time they also had lunchtime sessions at the Mecca. It was free to get in and you could buy pies and coffee, but the DJ played some great soul, the session went from 12 to 1 pm. There was also the pub accross the street from the tech called the Vulcan. The pubs in Blackburn the Mods hung out was the St Johns Tavern or the Adelphi, or the backroom of the Olde White Bull. I seem to remember the Odeon in Accy opening a bar called Pickwicks in the early 70s, also a bar & grill called the Astronaut?. never went im there.

Darby · 03-09-2004, 05:36

The Astronaut was on Union Street, near where Corals is now. It was first a Massey house and then changed to one of them midlands breweries. It didn't have any special signs outside it and looked more like a cafe than a pub. Got filled with a lot of posers in the mid-60's, and we never went in there much.

The Pickwick Grill & Bar ran down the side of the Odeon. Didn't go in there much...I think it was mid to late 60's when it started...by then I was off to other lands.

Thanks for the memories Alan!

Acrylic-bob · 03-09-2004, 05:56

I remember the Pickwick. I spent a lot of my time and money in there from 1975 onwards. It seemed to be part of the town centre circuit; Pickwick, Bees Knees, Regency, Bridge, round and round all night. They used to do a brilliant home made potato pie in there at lunchtime and they served Lager in dimpled glass mugs. My grandparents used to frequent the Astronaut during the mid sixties.