At: Groove Pad, 48 Saltaire Road, Shipley BD18 3HN
Venue (not Club) Tel: 01274 586542

Est: 1956

Map

Topic Folk Club Guest List Through The Years: Compiling the Historical Records
by Trevor Charnock

January 2011

This is an update on the post I made in 2004. Some things have happened and I am amending the post to bring it up to date.

When I started with the guest list in 2004 I compiled it from handouts that I had in my possession at that time and copies of Tykes' News that I had from its inception in magazine form from late 1975. With this I managed to put together the guest list from October 30th 1970 to the end of 1991. This list, however, had some omissions in 1971 and 1972, as well as everything before 1970.

I said that I hoped to do a more complete guest list if and when I managed to recover the club minute books covering 1958-1982. I discovered that three of the club's Treasurers' Books were also missing; these of course would have helped greatly as they would have had the record of payments to guest artists. For quite some time I tried to track these books down with no luck and I had just about given up hope of recovering them, but at the end of 2009 I was given a case that had been used to carry the club's equipment for running the club's admissions table. Much to my surprise, when opening it I found it contained the missing minute books and one of the Treasurers' Books covering November 1968 to October 1974.

When going through the Minute books I found that the guests booked were mentioned, but in a lot of cases not the dates that they were booked for. There are no minutes at all from November 30th 1962 to January 29th 1964. The Treasurer's book had a period - around 1970-71 - where the date and the amount that the guest was paid was entered, but not the name of the guest. Some of these gaps could be filled in, though there are quite a number of holes.

It is worth noting that in the very early years of the club guests were not booked on a regular basis, as that was not really what the club was about in those days. It was mainly to learn about folk music and develop the singing and musicianship of the members. This allowed the club to provide its own entertainment. It does appear to be the case in those days that if concerts or Hootenannies were held they would be on a Saturday in the clubroom, with Fridays being mainly for the social gatherings and self-entertainment. Due to the fact that in the early days there were not many folk clubs about, especially outside London, guests could be booked at very short notice. Towards the end of the 1960s guests became booked on a more frequent basis and Singers' Nights became more rare.

I have to thank the following for their help. Geoff and Mary Twentyman, who put me in touch with Terry and Audrey Stott. Terry was the club treasurer from 1962-1969 and had at one time copies of all the club's accounts over that period. Unfortunately the only ones that had survived covered the period November 19th 1965 to November 11th 1966, so my guest list dates for this period are down to him. Eddie Saxton, a very early member of the club, who let me copy some of the photographs he had taken in the clubroom. In the background of one photo were posters on the clubroom wall which gave me four dates for 1960. Malcolm McGeorge, a former club Secretary between 1963-64, who let me have copies of some booking forms he had for 1964. Elaine Carter (nee Claffey), who sent me a handout covering a three-month period. Also Jacquie Wilks, who let me know from notations in one of her diaries a guest night that had been changed at short notice.

These people have been a great help to me, and there may still be others out there who might be able to help. At this moment in time I think I have gone as far as I can go. The missing two Treasurers' books may still turn up, in particular covering 1958 to 1968. One can hope.

It has been suggested to me that I could go to Central Library and look back through the editions of the Telegraph and Argus that they have stored there, more than likely on microfilm. This of course would be a very time-consuming exercise. One problem in the past is that even when I knew the club had an advert in the paper it took some spotting. The time I would have to cover is between September 1956 and December 1971, excluding the weeks I have already got. I do not totally rule this out but it will be a case of finding the time, as it would be a big project.

If anybody out there has any information on the club including photos you can get in touch with me via the web site or e-mail me at tc.number1@gmail.com

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August 2013

On my last post on this matter I mentioned it had been suggested I look through the Telegraph and Argus Archives to see if I could find anything. I knew this would be a time-consuming exercise, however at the back end of 2011 I started to do this.

As I said before, I knew that the club did not always advertise the nights and this proved the case. I started out at the beginning of September 1956 as the club started in September 1956, though some people think it was earlier. I was right about the lack of advertising but was surprised how little was done. One can only assume that the club was popular enough without having to advertise.

One thing as I was going through the papers was the amount of other music that was on in Bradford at that time and in particular The Students' Club which mainly featured Traditional Jazz. It ran five nights a week and the Saturday all-night sessions were legendary. I know this as I used to attend them and the Thursday Rock and Roll nights. If you drive in the direction of Manchester Road past The Odeon you are driving over the cellar where the club was. I was also finding other interesting articles in the paper, so much so I had to give up looking through the whole paper and just concentrate on the entertainment adverts or I would never finish.

I got up to the end of May 1969 in December 2012 when I took a break for Christmas intending to go back in the New Year. However at the end of 2012 Central Library closed down to allow repairs to the building to commence; unfortunately at this point (August 2013) it is still has not reopened. There have been several articles in the Telegraph and Argus about it and the problems, though there is more positive news about it now and it looks as if sometime next year (2014) I may be able to return to the task.

For the early years of the club I would be pleased if the Treasurer's book for that period turned up as that would answer a lot of questions. It may yet turn up. I had at one point given up on the Minute books turning up but they did, so one can have hope. There are some people who might be able to help from the early days who were either acted as treasurer, secretary, committee members or just club members. John (JB) Stewart, D Mills . Isobel Arlott, A M Browne, Hilary Stevenson, Sandra A Kitchingham, Molly Brown, Vince Lacey, John Barraclough (Brother Harvey lives in either Australia or New Zealand) Terry Sheals, M Seals, Dave Gledhill, J Wilcox, V McCabe. These are names taken from early minutes and Christian names were not always used. It might be useful to hear from M Pickles who was the treasurer in the early seventies and might be able to give more information on the nights when we knew the fee paid to the guest but not the name as he recorded these notes. I understand he moved down south and I think was an accountant.

I will resume my search of the T & A archive’s when The Local Studies Department along with Central Library eventually reopens.

Watch this space!