In 1930, Hyde Lads Club moved to new premises in Beeley Street after becoming too popular for their old site in the Town Hall and then the Wesleyan Church. Here they remained until the building was demolished c1993, and the Club wound up. This building included a gymnasium, assembly room, games rooms, library, reading room and lecture rooms. The new Club was declared open by the Duke of Gloucester on 6 February 1930.
Hyde Lads Club stood on Beeley Street.
The Club's ethos was to provide a safe and "sound" outlet for the energies of the young men of the Borough. The Club ran football teams, physical training, boxing and games such as ping pong and bagatelle.
Hyde Lads Club giving a gymnastics display.
I used to go here in my early teens, I was never much good at football so while most of my mates were kicking the ball about and arguing I be having a quiet game of Snooker on the 3/4 size tables... Hyde lads club had an excellent large scalectrix setup.. I'm sure it was six lanes.
ReplyDeleteI used to be on the shooting team... air rifles... when I say team... ha! one was hastily thrown together as the club was invited down to Manchester Armory to enter a Lads Club Contest... I was asked to join as I said I could shoot.... I had an air rifle... we got there and I found out we were shooting Royal Enfield 303 rifles... ha! I hit the target a few times so I did not make such a fool of myself. That was about 2 hours of my life from many many years ago but is still very clear in my mind..
Hyde Lads Club should never have been allowed to be pulled down... the building should have been well maintain... at one time Hyde Lads Club was the talk of England... councils from all over the country came to Hyde to see how it worked.. and went away and set there own clubs up copying how it was done in Hyde... Hyde Council had pride in this venture.. what a crime to the people of Hyde it is no longer there and available to todays youth.
Used to love going to the Lads Club. We used to play snooker there....as I recall, the far table had been gashed and stitched up, it looked like an appendix scar. Our group used to joke that if you hit the scar at the right speed, the white would be in perfect position for the blue! (Dont think it ever did though).
ReplyDeleteI clearly remember Harold Senior the head honcho, and Colin on the door and Paul Taylor (we used to call him Duckarse for some juvenile reason). Paul has written a couple of excellent books on Hyde, one on the pubs of Hyde and the other I am not sure of.....must dig it out. Used to love the lads club, great memories.
It is a sad indictment of Hyde’s lack of care for some of its more historic buildings that the Lads Club was torn down. (IMHO!). I seem to recall that it used to be a courthouse, famous for being the seat of Judge / Author Thomas Hughes for a few years. Oh well, at least the site makes a good car park or supermarket or something. Just while I am on a roll here, during my time in Hyde, 1961 - 1983 there doesn’t seem to have been a whole lot done to enhance the townscape....I was there when they built John Grundy House, Chartist House, not that I have anything against those buildings, the mall was redeveloped and those appalling square concrete offices and buildings constructed above the shops.. Does anyone remember that circular fountain in the Market Place that had cobblestone seats around it.....it became an unofficial rubbish bin! Oh, and don’t forget the multi storey car park and the M67. All greatly enhance our town. (I also quite never got why they ripped the town apart for the motorway.....all it does is help you reach the nightmare bottleneck of Mottram and Glossop much faster, although admittedly, it makes getting to the airport and Manchester a lot quicker. Or at least it did when I lived there!
The fountain was the biggest rubbish bin in any town centre... as a fountain it was rubbish... the wind used to blow it on people sitting on the benches... or walking by the shops... a complete waste of time and money.
ReplyDeleteI recieved a message on facebook today from Nick Hopkinson, one time Hyde lad now living in Florida. I asked if it was OK for me to put his message here in the comments and I'm thankful he said yes.
ReplyDeleteWhat Nick said was as follows......"Got me thinking of the last time I went into Hyde Lads Club (played soccer for them for a couple of years). It was the late 70's, I think 79, and the British Nationalist party (I think that was thier name) walked/marched down Market Street. Well that night I was on duty with the Ambulance Service, we had two vehicles parked at the Lads Club with hundreds of Bobbies. The old gym was filled with tables and benches and Bobbies eating/drinking. Funny how I now remember the Lads Club, just a sea of Bobbies stuffing thier faces!"
.......................................
Cheers for this Nick.. this as bought back one of my memories from my past... oh! dear how your past can catch on you and bite you in the ass..
Nicks memory above bought up the night that the National Front.. or one of their leaders - Martin Webster - walked down Hyde lane to speak to the people of Hyde..
ReplyDeleteI seem to recall it being a mid-week early evening. At that time in my life I think it is fair to say I was a bit of a tear-away back then... On that day I had been drinking in the Werneth Pub on Stockport Road with another Gee Cross lad, Dave Edwards.. or Edder as he was know... This was the second meeting/rally that the N.F. had held in Hyde. It offered up some fun for me and Edder, so we went into Hyde to see what was going on... Hyde was full of the Anti-Nazi league chanting and shouting... there were very few N.F. supporters there, and what were there had been kept well away from the others. We were stood in front of Hyde town hall very near to where the 210 bus stops on its way up to Gee Cross.. I was just talking to a Bobby from Preston one minute.. the next I was pulled forward by another Bobby and was arrested... ha! I'd been in a spot of bother in the weeks leading up to this night... fighting in the Lamb Inn, Gee Cross, and another incidance outside Gee Cross's forever famous chippy.. Tommy Chows.... Anyhow it seems a local Bobby passed word down the ranks I was wanted and I was arrested... I was charged later at Oldham Police Station and taken to court the next day.. where I was refused bail and put on remand at the infamous HMP Risley.. in Warrington.. That was bad enough.. but because what happened the night before in Hyde town centre was news.. the TV cameras were in Hyde.. The next day my mum was putting tea out... no sign of me until Granada Reports came on... my bother said he nearly choked on his food when all of a sudden I appeared on screen between two big burly Bobby's being led away.. not showing an ounce of compassion he turned to my mum and said: "Tom wont be back for his tea then... I'll have it".. ha! If you are wondering of the out come... I did get bail the week after... but when it all came to court I was sent to prison... and rightly so.
Hi Nancy and Tom, and all other readers.First of all, what a brilliant site this is for Hydonians. I dropped on it by chance the other night at about 8pm, and left it at 4pm tne next morning. I was looking for some stuff about Hyde Lads Club, but then got into all the other stories, photos etc. Some of the posts brought the memories flooding back, and I will definitely recount some of mine at a later date. I've got a photo of myself and Dennis Lord taken outside The Round Table cafe in 1976. If you want to put it up on the site, let us know. It's worth it for the jeans, hair-styles and the moustaches. To Hydonians everywhere, have a great Xmas and an evev better New year, All The Best, Jack.
ReplyDeleteHi Jack...
ReplyDeleteThanks for this comment, I had to laugh at how long you spent on here... but very glad it kept your interest... Our email is hydonian@gmail.com please send in the picture and anything else you think we can use... I'm sure I know Dennis Lord... did he have a younger brother as well?
Tom
I've just done a new post about the club on Hyde DP
ReplyDeleteCheers for letting us know Gerald... we have one lined up ourselves soon as well...
ReplyDelete