The sad demise of social clubs

In his weekly The Bar Man column, Jeff Hoyle, discusses social clubs past and present…Perhaps due to my trip to Australia, I only recently noticed that the Workers Club on Church Street has closed. I hadn’t been in for many years, but it still seems like another small slice of my life has disappeared.Shortly after moving to Lynn, I signed up to play for the Workers in the Friday night Clubs Darts and Domino League. Our domino captain was Frank, who used to run the shoe shop on Valingers Road, while other members included Fred Ess, Lou, Martin and, I think, the Hardy boys, father and son rather than the brothers of the books. A sociable bunch with whom I had many pleasant evenings.I also used to take part in regular quizzes down there, most of them run by Jimmy, whose broad Ulster accent was sometimes more difficult to comprehend than the questions. For a while, I represented Gayton Crown in the endless series of events which always seemed to end with me coming away with some little trinket that Jimmy had scrounged from the breweries. Maybe a T-shirt or the Websters low alcohol bottle opener that still decorates my key ring.Jimmy was also a genius at sourcing raffle prizes and sometimes it seemed that the draw for the prizes conducted by his random number generator lasted longer than the quiz. The beer was generally uninteresting, and being the time when smoking was allowed in bars, the atmosphere was usually less than pristine, with clothes demanding to be washed the next day, but we loved it. I can’t remember why we drifted away. I played dominoes for a year or two for Plumrose whose home was the Blue and Gold at the football ground, and the quizzes moved to Eddie Tann’s snooker club on Norfolk Street where Lidl is now located. There were other clubs around that have disappeared. Above what was recently The Street on the High Street was the RAFA club where the Top of the Town quiz took place, drawing in teams from many firms and organisations around the town.With its electronic wizardry and Doug Lewis presiding over the questions, it was the nearest many of us ever came to appearing on University Challenge, and after many years of trying, I was part of the Gaywood Park team along with Roger, Mike and Ann who won the final edition, helped by the fact that Paul Andrews had retired and that we won a tight semi-final against the West Winch Players who could field another perennial star in Richard Abel. By this time, the heats had moved to yet another club that has since closed, the RAOB or Buffs on St James Street, once a bank and now housing. There were others in town. The Gas Board club by the South Gates, the Railway Club in the car park by the station and St Margarets on Millfleet all spring to mind.Where is left? The Conservative Club on London Road, who we represented for a while in the Sunday night clubs league, along with the one in Gaywood. The excellent Ferry Lane Social Club which has the best selection of beer in town. After that, I am struggling. Much has been made of the closure of pubs and the efforts made to save them, but the demise of clubs has almost gone unnoticed. Some still survive in villages, and I have run a few quizzes to support the one at Runcton Holme. I am convinced that clubs provide a valuable community function, but they will only survive if people use them and help to run them.bar.man@btinternet.com