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Bozeat, Easton Lane c1960
Bozeat, Easton Lane c1960 Ref: B701017
Memories of Bozeat, Easton Lane
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 Wollaston, the Square c1955 (ref: W421009) |
Year: 1969
The Nags Head A memory of Wollaston, Northamptonshire One did'nt have to travel to London to watch pro bands plying their trade.The Nags Head public house was a much attended venue during the late 60's and early 70's for watching many of the (what was then known as) progressive bands of that era. The pub was run by the a very large man by the name of Bob Knight, Bob was a God send to Northamptonshire in attracting many bands from London to play in our county. These were the days of Afghan coats, velvet trousers, large floppy hats and ridiculous stack heeled boots! 'Make love not war' was well and truly in fashion and although the place was full every Friday night I never witnessed any trouble there in the five years that I visited the venue, yes, the 60's had alot of good points as long as you did'nt look to hard at the shopping malls etc. Some of the better known bands who played 'The Nag's' were (I must make an apology here for the sheer length of this list) URIAH HEEP, THIN LIZZY, SUPERTRAMP,ATOMIC ROOSTER (with Carl Palmer on drums), MEDICINE HEAD,UFO,BLOSSOM TOES,RARE BIRD,BLODWIN PIG,WHITE TRASH,BREWERS DROOP(with Mark Knopfler on guitar),EDISON LIGHTHOUSE,SKID ROW (with Gary Moore on guitar),KILLING FLOOR,BRONCO(with Jess Roden),BLACK CAT BONES,THE ACE KEFFORD BAND(ex MOVE),WISHBONE ASH,T2,BLACK WIDOW,FORMERLY FAT HARRY,PALADIN,GROUND HOGS,SAM APPLE PIE,IF,AUDIENCE,LITTLE FREE ROCK etc etc...I remember ROD STEWERT & THE FACES playing for free and handing out copies of their latest album, they also handed out free pints of beer, the reason for this was the fact that they did'nt turn up the first time they were booked to play! Another memory was seeing a Danish band called BURNING RED IVANHOE appear there and for the only time in my life I saw the same band twice in one night as we travelled down to London after our Friday night at 'The Nags' to attend the Lyceum all nighter where at 4am Burning Red Ivanhoe were appearing again. The greatest band (in my opinion) to play the venue was FREE (Paul Rodgers,Paul Kossoff,Andy Fraser,Simon Kirk) they were fantastic and I obtained Paul Kossoff's autograph by de-fault. The band were sitting in the bar of the pub signing albums etc I happened to pass a letter across the table to my friend for him to read and Mr Kossoff signed it and gave it back to me (I still have the autograph but sadly Paul Kossoff died 19/3/76 of a drug related problem) The 'Nags' was one of the first gigs that FREE ever played whilst under the wing of another great artist ALEXIS KORNER. Bands at the Nags were easily approachable and one could talk about music,recording etc at ease. The room in which the bands played was situated upstairs where the clock (installed to celebrate the coronation in 1952) is pictured. The smokey,dark room had a small bar which was all too regularly swamped by the audience during a break in the music (bands played two sets until RAREBIRD started a trend to play straight through). Mick Abrahams (of Blodwin Pig) was also renowned for asking the audience to sit on the floor during their performance which became the norm. Another well known character who appeared regularly free of charge was the lovely JOHN PEEL, he loved the place and never lost contact with some of the people he came into contact with there until his death a while back. The road through Wollaston was by-passed in the 80's but in the 60's-70's it was a busy road with night trunker lorries passing all night. Bob Knight is still alive and organizes a few gigs inviting many of the old Nags audiences to the annual re-union, playing 60's music and giving the money to charity. He must have been responsible for countless weddings due to people meeting their partners at the Nags. He was a a man not to be messed with (probably another reason why there was no trouble) I remember him having a heated argument with CARL PALMER over the bands late arrival! He did lose alot of weight at one time, he looked great but he never lost the name BIG BOB. The regular DJ was JORK, I believe he lived in Wollaston and was part of the furniture at the pub. Today the 'Nags' is still there and looks exactly the same from outside but inside it is now a trendy wine bar/restaraunt and goes by the name of The Wollaston Inn (I think). Only yards from 'The Nags' was another pub called The St Crispin Arms, I often wonder if the landlord there ever cast a grudging eye towards the Nags Head as so many people were leaving at about midnight to walk,hitch or drive back to their homes in Wellingborough,Rushden and other towns and villages nearby. My kids have such a restrictive night life at weekends and I hate to say it but I don't believe the Bob Knights of this world are out there anymore, we had loads of different music venues based in local pubs, we would go to the nags on Friday, The Tin Hat Club, Kettering on Saturday and The George in Wilby on a Sunday, each venue would promote different bands on these nights but we now live in an age of the concert hall and video, bands no longer have to play live on such a regular basis to promote their work. Most of the musicians we witnessed playing the Nags are still out there earning a living in todays bands as session men,I've lost count of the times i've seen those 60 year olds holding their own in the backing line-up to a 'star' more than half their age. I'm sure all of them perfected their trade in pubs just like Nags, 'Where are the new kids going to learn the skills of playing live ? certainly not at Birmingham NEC or the Royal Albert Hall ! Thanks Bob for giving us a great past. Posted: 01/11/2007 14:46 by Mick Austin |
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 Earls Barton, the Church c1965 (ref: E97011) |
Year: 1963
The church where David Tall married Susan Ford in 1963 A memory of Earls Barton, Northamptonshire This is a photo of Earls Barton Church in 1965, just two years after Susan Ford of Earls Barton married David Tall of Wellingborough 21 Sept 1963. Posted: 21/06/2007 13:30 by David Tall |
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Year: 1973
Maypole Dancing A memory of Huntworth, Somerset I'm Ecton born and bred however now live 500 miles away, on the west coast of Scotland. A book was written by and about the village a few years ago and I was very surprised when browsing through my copy to find myself in a photograph of the school kids dancing round the Maypole. Posted: 08/12/2007 19:28 by Gary Sutherland |
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 Wellingborough, Midland Road c1950 (ref: W279025t) |
Year: 2007
Swangate Centre A memory of Wellingborough, Northamptonshire All the buildings on the left of the picture (nearly all Co-Op shops) were demolished to make way for the new Arndale Centre (now Swangate). Most of the local population still mourn the passing of this part of the old town. The public house at the top of Midland Road was The Old Kings Arms (this became Jones the furnishers and then a carpet shop) Posted: 02/11/2007 14:58 by Mick Austin |
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 Wellingborough, Traffic in Midland Road 1949 (ref: W279024x) |
The Lyric Cinema A memory of Wellingborough, Northamptonshire The Bedford O Type lorry is delivering fruit & Veg and belonged to Mackness Produce (a local firm) on the right is the old 'Cosy Cafe' which I remember 'doing' a great toasted tea cake and cup of tea. The Co-Op buildings are farther down (I bought my first 'stereo' hi-fi system from there on HP) I remember the Co-Op having an island shop window (you could walk all around it) it always facinated me as a young lad. Lower down the street was the Lyric cinema, The Lyric was always a cut above the Palace cinema in terms of decoration, on Saturdays they held a matinee which featured a live local group and cartoons, kids from Wellingborough all wore the famous ABC club badge. It was a fiasco playing to these kids (I should know...I did it !!) one got pelted with sweets and pennies, for anyone that can't remember our old currency, pennies were large and heavy....and hurt. Above the actual cinema was a club known as the Lynton Hall Palais, no alchohol was served here but yet again live music was the order of the day. I will always remember a drummer in a modern jazz band who would regularly turn up for the gig dressed in a smart shiny suit but wearing tartan carpet slippers with eyelets (the type your granny wore), apparently he could only play drums wearing this strange footwear. (I would be grateful to hear from any readers who remember his name) I feel sure his name was Leon. Many well known bands started their careers playing at 'The Palais' THE SYN' (later to become famous as YES) and JOE COCKER, Joe was from Sheffield (a gas fitter I believe) at the time of his appearance he had his first single out. The Lyric along with The Palais were reduced to rubble in the early 70's to make way for the new Arndale Centre (now known as The Swangate) we lost so much of Wellingborough's character when all these buildings were lost as did many other towns. On the left of the photograph is now the Post Office, a very 60's looking building, it survives today. Last edited: 02/11/2007 14:26 by Mick Austin |
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