nelson imp
 

i know this is accy, but who remembers nelson imp,i only went a couple of times but there was loads from accy there-saw big dee irwin first time 2ndtime the who,what a great old place for atmosphere,mind you being exceedingly drunk may have contributed.

Re: nelson imp
 

COME ON can't believe no-body ever went to the imperial at nelson, your lives wern't that sheltered surely?lol.

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Where abouts was the Imp in Nelson?

I once went to the 'Trop', known by it's Sunday name as El Tropicana... it almost put me off Nelson for life. :D

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we had some good times at the nelson imp,,,we also used to go to the accrington con in the late 50,s ,oh to be footloose and fancyfree again ,,,i met my hubby at the empress ballroom in burnley ..

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thank god iv'e actually found someone who remembers,i know i used to drink copious amounts but i was thinking i was hallucinating lol.accy con was also a great monday night in the early-mid 60s

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Never got to Nelson Imp, but heard a lot about it, a lot of the groups at the time played there, eg, Dave Dee, D, B, M, & T, The Hollies, Wayne Fontana. Wwnt to the trop a couple of times,

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dave dee lives about a mile from my apartment in spain sin him about a couple of times when i'm out there.

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In the late 1940s a group of us used to rotate Saturday nights going to Blackpool Tower Ballroom via the "Passion Express" excursions from Burnley Bank Top (Central now) station -- or to the Nelson "Imp" via BC&N corporation bus from Burnley town center.

Always a great orchestra and jitterbugging at the Imp -- at intermission it was up the hill to sneak a couple of pints at the Pub -- at the end of the evening hiking back up the hill to catch the last train to Burnley (11:30 I believe) -- the driver would blow the whistle to hurry up the stragglers. We missed the train many times -- then it was off to walk back to Burnley (not a big deal in those days), stopping for meat and potato pies at a shop about half way back to Burnley.

Oh, happy days!

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hi, i remember the imp,i was ther when it burnt to the ground another good place gone forever mal

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i thing the eltrop is still going still a dump as well

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my mums cousin owned it at the time!!!!

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just reminded me and made me laugh jamesicus, although we missed the train many times after the mirabelle in blackburn and had to walk back to accrington. happy days indeed! unfortunatly just memories now its a shame we have to grow up lol:) :)

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Sorry never made it to the Imp. Walked home many a night from the Blackburn Mecca though and once or twice from the Ace Of Spades in Whalley.

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Inever did go to the nelson imp. but went to the rawtenstall astoria a couple of times,did do the mecca, mirabelle,tony's in blackburn all great places for "bopping" as we did then ....as was accy con (monday nights) empire ossy once went to morts. then it was the vic in clayton oooo didn't i "bop" my teen years away .......i loved um all.

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I remember going to Nelson Imp, it had a really bouncy dance floor. Monday night was Blackburn Mecca. I used to work behind the bar at Burnley Mecca at the weekend, not that I should have done as I was only 17 at the time! There used to be five of us girls which worked really well as if one or two were 'courting' there was always someone to go out with. It's a shame I can't remember all the names...........Marilyn, Josephine and Sharon is all I can come up with........it will come to me!!

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i went to the imp every weekend best place in any town
saw all the top stars from rolling stones emiel ford chuck berry little richard billy fury searchers p j proby saw him 5 times could not beat a good night down the imp made all my memorise come back thankyou:Banane32:

the yellow brick market
 

well xmas is upon us but what about the tarmac and tinsle what a sight our town as become ,only 3 pound shops ,dont no how many card shops.
i think who ever put the seating on their must have come from the artic never felt any thing like it . But not to worry they dont want us to stay in accrington let all the pigions take over .Well thats all for now

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Went to a Nelson Imp Exhibition today at Haworth Park Gallery, met a few old faces from back then, was a damn good little exhibition wi a film of some of the big names that played yon, all in all a good afternoon.:)

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Hi cashman, is it possible I saw the Hollies at Nelson Imp in about 1963?

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I would have thought it was very possible Sue, especially because they hale from that neck of the woods

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the Hollies were at nelson imp susan, they did "Stay" which was in charts at the time, so would be around 63.

Re: nelson imp
 

You might like this

60s Memorabilia | Posters | Fliers |Tickets | Autographs.

Re: nelson imp
 

What a great site wadey, some good picks too, I so dell Shannon at the cave in the 70s he was total crap, and Dave Berry used to pop into the Grate Tree in Haslingden on a regular basis, he had a mate lived round the corner, and I knew him from the numerous appearances at Martholme Grange in the late 70s

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Dave Berry still doing the rounds unlike The Great Tree

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Too young to have attended the Imp but have family who worked there in it's heyday and what a heyday a real A to Z of not just rock.

It's the stuff of legends in these parts and the website that Wadey has posted also has a stall in Nelson Market which is always fascinating and I can stand there awestruck looking at who played the Imp on the posters, tickets and flyers.

I did frequent the Trop in the 80's & part of the 90's which had something of a reputation;)

Sadly the Trop closed a few years ago leaving not a lot of night life left in Nelson especially with all the pubs closing down but my birth place of Brierfield is even worse with only one pub and two working mens clubs left, at least Barrowford is still busy and a good night out:)

Re: nelson imp
 

Quite right wadey, was a really good local, just what local pubs were all about, it was like a little community on its own, kick one they all limped, some good traditions too like the annual pilgrimage to the rising bridge club on new years day to renew your subs, sadly that's gone too

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Obviously being a few years younger than most of you I missed it's heyday. Did go later in it's life, was handy for staggering home a few hundred yards away :D

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Would have got the T-shirt if they had them in those days Cashy - mid 50s for me, working in Burnley lots of the other apps, and lots & lots of the girls lived up that way.;);):D

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When I lived in Walsden I went to the Imp pretty regular. One day in 1963 ish I got a 1957 Oldsmobile Rocket 88 and me and a few lads and lasses (it held eight if you crammed four front and back), turned up at the Nelson Imp. While we were looking for somewhere safe to park (not easy) there were a gang of screaming girls running after us, they must have thought we were the group which was appearing that night.
What a let down when when us lot, a bunch of yokels from Yorkshire, climbed out.

Here is a clipping from the brochure which was still in the car glove box when I got it.
Funny thing is although I don't qualify for any prize for a handsome hulk of a man I was never short of a girl on my passenger seat.
http://i107.photobucket.com/albums/m...den/img043.jpg

Anyway back to the Nelson Imp, a good night out and great groups which were just on the verge of famous, oh! and a few battles outside where more than one Ted has finished up in the cut.

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Photo here

Rising Bridge Working Men's Club (Now a private house) | Flickr - Photo Sharing!

Re: nelson imp
 

I posted on this much earlier but it must still be in cyberspace. Would have got the T-shirt Cashy if they did them in the mid 50s. As an apprentice in Burnley, lots of the lads and lots & lots of the girls lived that area, so it was a natural place to go - Burnley Empress as well.;);):D:D

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Twas this Barrie "Post29" aint in cyberspace, perhaps you are?:D

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Thanks wadey, I've actually seen photos of it before, Jen sent me some a while ago, its a shame really it was a nice little club, but when it was snowing or icy under foot very hard to get to and even harder to leave, the road was very steep, especially when you had a few under the belt:D

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Well plastic Mancs usually are cashy:D:D:p

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The chap who owned the house a few years ago, maybe he still does, was a very good carpenter and panneler. He did a chimney breast wall in an old house I owned a while back and did a great job with the panels looking like something out of a great hall.
I went to his house to pay him and he had made a fantastic job of refurbishing it.

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My brother used to hire a 20 seater bus every Saturday night to go to the Nelson Imp mostly.Everybody met outside the Odeon and there were usually a few spare seats for passers by who decided to come too.
Great memories of the place and the groups. Never did see the Hollies there but saw them at Burnley Mecca, but we enjoyed Gerry and the Pacemakers,Wayne Fontana and the Mindbenders,Freddie and the Dreamers(a great stage act and very funny),Billy J Kramer and the Dakotas, Cat Stevens and many more.
Once or twice we bypassed the Imp and headed for Liverpool...we saw Hermans Hermits at the Cavern,The Searchers(my fav group) at the Iron Door Club and we also saw a very young Cilla Black singing there.
Happy memories of days that will never return.

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Perhaps past my bedtime Cashy;):D

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Correct, in fact the house was featured on a TV "house" type programme, think they had a buisness on Carrs Industrial Estate

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a guy used to run one from odeon to blackpool mecca in 60s TaL that wasn't yer brother also was it?

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Can,t remember ever going there ....no,but then again I didn,t go every week.

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He had just about finished the house when I was last in it Bob so it must have been before the TV program, I very rarely watch TV and didn't know the program was on.
If Carrs Industrial Estate is the one off the Haslingden by-pass that's where he had his work shop then.

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That's it, think it was Spring Vale Mill

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I can still hear to this day the Searchers singing "Needles and Pins(Ah)" at th'Imp. The only other thing I remember about that night is trying to detach the girls from their mates and the piles of handbags they had on the floor.:(

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Like you Redraine, the one i remember was "Big D.Irwin" -Swinging On A Star, n he apologised cos the lady that sang wi him on the hit, was not yon,cos she was on a tour of her own, so he had to do it solo, the lady actually on the record was "Little Eva";)