NIGHTCLUB CLOSURES ‘ONE OF THE GREATEST BLOWS TO AREA SINCE OUTSOURCING OF THE POTTERY INDUSTRY’
Looks back at the good times of Hanley nightlife... and asks if the declining scene will recover in the face of hundreds of clubs closing nationally
THERE was a time when Trinity Street had to be closed due to the amount of revellers who would descend on Hanley in the evening.
That once vibrant street is now a far cry from queues outside bars, promoters attempting to tempt in punters with a range of offers, and a buzz of simply being out.
Today, the scene in Hanley is very different. Pubs remain and the surviving late-night bars are doing their best.
Live music venues The Sugarmill and The Underground continue to work tirelessly to attract musicians to the Potteries while nightclub Fiction has been rebranded ‘Electrik’ as its owners continue to show faith in the city’s night-time economy.
But the scene on a Friday and Saturday night is far removed from what it was during the 1980s, 1990s, and into the ‘noughties’.
For those of a certain age it was having to wear a shirt and shoes to get into Valentino’s or The Place or a night with a world class DJ at The Void.
From those clubs there was a raft of late-night bars such as Walkabout, Revolution, Fluid, and Chicago’s all adding to the range of choices on offer.
That isn’t even touching on Monday’s ‘student nights’ and packing into Flacketts, Millionaires, and Manhattan with those famous ‘Love Jugs’ cocktails.
Meeting at the ‘blue clock’ and seeing scores of people heading into a whole host of venues just gave you those butterflies.
While the iconic clock is still there, there aren’t hoards of excited drinkers meeting under it at 8pm.
However, this is far from a Potteries issue. We are a city well regarded for our love of a good time going all the way back to the Northern Soul scene bringing punters from far and wide.
As Bob Dylan once famously sang, The Times They Are A-changin’.
And while our other towns boast some great pubs – as of course does Hanley – the sheer volume of weekend revellers has dropped sharply.
The very thought of a street having to be shut to allow punters to wander from bar to bar must be alien to our younger readers.
But this isn’t an issue confined to Stoke-on-trent, it’s a national problem.
It was debated on Jeremy Vine’s BBC Radio 2 show this week where the host told listeners that nightclub closures have been put down to ‘higher running costs and fewer customers’.
He told listeners: “Put that into the national perspective and the UK had around 3,000 nightclubs 20 years ago, now there are around 850. They are still closing at a rate of knots – and that’s a similar story with live music venues.
“So we need to find out why? The cost of living crisis is part of this, young people don’t drink as much alcohol as they used to, maybe we all got used to not going out during the pandemic, maybe some of us quite like being in with a boxset. Maybe we are doing less dancing?”
It wasn’t long before Hanley got a mention with Matt from Staffordshire getting in touch.
Jeremy said: “Matt says: ‘I grew up in Stoke-on-trent. Through the 1990s there were two big clubs at either end of Hanley, with a string of bars and nightlife spots in between. The gradual closure and disappearance of these venues has been one of the greatest blows to the area since the outsourcing of the ceramic industry’.”
Matt was no doubt referring to the much-loved Valentino’s and The Place with the latter once playing host to the likes of Rod Stewart,
Eric Clapton, David Bowie, and Elton John – who turned up when he was still Reg Dwight.
We still have The Underground and The Sugarmill flying the flag for live music and they continue to show packed dancefloors as fans show their appreciation.
It’s not to say the pubs aren’t busy places and JD Wetherspoon, along with those nearby pubs, all get a decent showing. Then there is Piccadilly and the mix on offer with independent bars all trying to provide something different.
There remains a determination in Hanley to make sure it doesn’t simply become a shadow of those packed streets that many of us so fondly remember.
As debated on Jeremy Vine there’s cost of living and also the impact of the lockdown – there may well be a generation that don’t want to be in crowded places. It’s to be hoped the independent bars and quality pubs Hanley does boast can provide that middle ground.
The city has a university – Staffordshire – with another just over the border in Newcastle –
Idnset, dancers at the old Place nightclub.
Keele – and these students provide a real economy.
Student accommodation is still being built and perhaps just one day that tide will turn and nightlife will be embraced once again.
But sadly many once popular venues have either been cleared or stand empty with the problem of vacant buildings representing their own issues.
Just this month we have seen the once popular former Yates’s all but destroyed in a huge blaze. It has provoked memories of when it formed part of a pub crawl around Hanley at night – and sparked questions of the city centre’s future.
There could again be a trigger that sees the ‘next generation’ meeting their future partners on sticky dance floors, striking up long chats over just who Stoke City or Port Vale should sign with a stranger in a long queue to a nightclub.
Many of us have such special memories of a night up ‘anley or Newcastle. It would be nice if the next generation can create some of their own too – just don’t baffle them with ‘Love Jugs’ just yet.