Jump to content

THE DANCING


JIMFURD

Recommended Posts

Hi All - I'm new to this game so please be gentle with me. I've read and enjoyed many of the topics on the forum and that mention is often made of various haunts of my youth. I rememember the dancing at the Caley, Meeting Rooms, 50/50 club and further afield at the Strath, the Ballerina in Nairn as well as Elgins 2 Red Shoes.. and of course the country dances! Many, many memories of these places - the drinking (and driving too), some times getting a girl and most times not. Was there not a "regular" club on a Sunday night at the Ballerina in the 60s with a resident band? Do you remember that or am I just havering? So what memories do you have of your dancing years before they fade away?

  • Agree 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

It was the Caley Ballroom for me too, Harry Shore (I think) and his orchestra on a Saturday night. Also went to the Strath, Nairn and anywhere else on a Friday night so long as there was a free bus. Great times they were too.

Went to the Meeting rooms a few times also, always entertaining watching the Camerons and the Black Watch having a scrap as they did whenever they met up with a few drinks inside them.

There was somewhere else I went too but I'm damned if I can remember where it was up the hill somewhere I think, Oh yes and the Dalneigh hut,  there were some good jivers there. Bill Haley music and the Clydesvalley Stompers era. Great man great.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yes, the Caley ballroom for me too, (and, yes, it was Harry Shore's band there), unless I was slumming it at the Meeting rooms.

 

I remember being stopped by the doorman on entering the Caley one night.  He pulled me aside and I thought I was in trouble.  Imagine my surprise, when he offered me a job as a bouncer!  I had to decline, because I was more keen on chasing skirt inside the place, than in chasing drunks away from it.

 

Happy days indeed.

  • Agree 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

The veune up the hill was possibly the 50/50 club which I think might have been on Raining Stairs? This is a bit before my time, but the Northern Meeting Rooms, where all the local toffs and nobs used to have their Balls (sic), were at the bottom of Church St and were demolished in the early/mid 60s to make way for the concrete block which is still there and used to include the Record Rendezvous. They were full of chandeliers and stuff and public functions used to be held there too.

Harry Shore's son Martin was a year behind me at school and was an international swimmer - including the 1970 Commonwealth Games if I remember correctly.

  • Agree 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Nobs and balls Charles ! whatever are you thinking of.....ah yes!........ they were quite visible when the Camerons and the Black watch had their barnies. Kilts flying all over the place,never saw them on the chandeliers though.........that would have been really something !!

  • Agree 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Nobs and balls Charles ! whatever are you thinking of.....ah yes!........ they were quite visible when the Camerons and the Black watch had their barnies. Kilts flying all over the place,never saw them on the chandeliers though.........that would have been really something !!

The Camerons and Black Watch they were there

Singing very loud.

Swinging from the chandeliers

And....... :lol:

 

There is a history of the Northern Meeting in the public library reference room and among the photos in the book is one featuring a young Lord Burton in about 1928 and I have to say that he was a surly, greeting faced looking little git even at the age of about 8.

Mods... don't worry about a possible defamation action there. As you probably know, the decidedly ignoble lord is deceased so defamation is not an issue. In any case it would not have been difficult to plead Veritas.

Edited by Charles Bannerman
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Are you one of them IHE? :lol: I think some of your posts may be..well.. now becoming  a bit "foggie". Just kidding , mate.

 

Better get with it Mr Tweeter . The Grim Reaper doth approach at a rapid pace.

 

I no longer try to keep up with the Jones's or the youngsters. Content with the pipe and  slippers and the computer .

And the daily news on the T V leaves me colder than ice- because I am beginning to think that this planet is headed for a  major disaster and that in the relatively near future, the way things are looking.

 

The only era I am reviewing is all past decades where I tried to be helpful and fruitful and learned a bit and had a good time outdoors with good companionship. Dancing was a great activity, maybe learned a bit at the Academy but practised anywhere in the world. Skiing--fantastic activity and such good people you meet--equates to hiking and joining outdoor clubs with varied activity along with a  fine variety of different individuals and often very fit ladies that can not only keep up but give you a run for your money too. Lovely grub.  

 

ERA? Why, it's only a place where there are Excellent Reactions Actually. :clapoverhead:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

IHE - I went to the dancng at the end of the 50s - 59 really and then carried on into the 60s. I also remember the nights at the meeting rooms when the Camerons and Seaforths and who ever else was mad enough got stuck into each other. I tended to beat a hasty retreat to the Rock n Roll upstairs especially if the Rebel Rousers with Sally, Gus and Adrian were playing. So do I qualify for the old fogeys then?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Deffo a foggie but sounds like good times - my era was the seventies. The Caley and the Strath were still going but the places like the Ballerina and the Shoes were coming to the end. But we had the Keppoch and the Lodge on the Dores Road or there was always the Nurses Home at Raigmore.

  • Agree 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Same era as Jimfurd and Scarlet.

Raigmore too far out for me.....Few could afford cars in these days..... so if you asked a girl if you could run her home she would put on her Gym shoes..............Infirmary was my hunting ground lovely girls these nurses were......... only problem .....if you wanted a snog you had to leave the dances early as they had to be in by 11.30.

Great times they were though, happy memories!..............sigh

  • Agree 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

:smile:  Lucky Sod.

 

Still life in the old fox yet ....eh?  You devil , you.

 

Bughtmaster--you're a WAG if you keep that twinkle in your periwinkle, your hand on yer wallet and your car still kept in the garage with the engine running and a small ladder in the boot to put up agin the back window  for a quick getaway if hubby comes home unexpectedly and catches you in your quickie. 

 

Or, if that doesn't turn yer crank, try reading  www.destiniesinmotion.com  for a thrill a minute ride. :wave:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Bughtmaster and Scarlet- I know what you say about a glint n your "ee or wherever else. Maybe it's true what they say that you only lose that glint when you're in "the BOX"

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

Is that taken from the little staircase down from the bar IHE  ?

 

It  does look smaller than I remember it too.and wasn't there a rotating mirrored ball hanging down where that central light now hangs ??

 

How time changes and blurs your memories, I spent many happy ( in more ways than one ) Saturday nights at the Caley but only vaguely remember it looking something like this. Mind you I only ever saw it with a crowd there.

When was this taken???

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Bughtmaster,

 

That rotating ball of fire was just IHE doing his  thing to impress the laddies--oops , sorry, ---- ladies. He was shimmering.

 

And why, on this occasion was he not hanging from the ceiling--why, on this occasion he wasn't ...high.

 

O.K. Now I'm for it... :crazy:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue. : Terms of Use : Guidelines : Privacy Policy