An Entertaining Story

[Guest topcatnumpty1]

It was some time in 1977,Myself ,Paul Gibbons and Tats(from Brompton -on- swale) were sat in the Bay Horse in Catterick Village discussing how much we were looking 4 ward to the upcoming anniversary at Wigan Casino on the Saturday night,coming.We were chatting about what records would be played,who would be there etc, when on the next Table a guy we knew ,who worked with us called Barry Edwards(a guy 15--20 yrs older than us ) piped up"Are you silly young buggers off to Widnes again ,and coming back ,like Zombies for the next few days at work!!--How we laughed. The next night in same pub(Friday) we were all very subdued, our lift had let us down and we could hardly manage the train fare between us,Barry was as usual sat down playing Doms and asked Why we were all so quiet,Paul explained the problem ,and he said--"I,ll take you" we explained we were all Fairly brassic,and he peplied i know where you all live and when you when you all get paid.The next night about 6-30 we(Me,Pam,Paul and Tats) all set off in Barry,s new Fiat,We arrived at Wigan without Mishap( well apart from the olb bill stopping us for going over one of those stupid mini roundabout things on the outskirts of Wigan!!)We had a couple of Pints in The Dog and Partridge(The Bees KneesPub) in Wigan Town Centre,At about 11-30 ,the 4 of us set off up Station Road,Barry announced he was going 4 a "chinky"and would then get in his car--wrap up in a blanket and see us at 8 in the morning!!.we went in and a brilliant night ensued ,at about 5 a.m i was sat on the balcony verballing to someone, when Barry walked past me, i jumped up "What the bloody Hell ,are you doing in here?"--"Well i was sat in the car-park in the car outside,The bloody din was that loud,and there,s that many folk milling about i got out ,and was talking to a bouncer,and that nice lady let me in"--I gave him a tour---Toilets,Mr M,S,Coffee Bar,Our Corner< after about 90 mins Barry decided the music All "Sounded the same,and was too loud for him" and he retreated back to the car.Safely back in Catterick Village at about 12-15 sunday lunch(Bay Horse again)We all thanked our Driver profusely and promised to pay our debts s.a.p.,When Barry announced--"I actually enjoyed the experience,I bet not many people can say they went to Woodstock(the festival) and Wigan Casino".Barry had been a fitter doing work with the American Navy,years before.Barry has passed away now,but whenever i go back home(to my mothers) and pass his cottage,i always remember that trip!!

Excuse my middle aged ramblings ,but i thought i,d share it with you

T.C

[Steve Edgar]

Tony...spot on memory, mate! thanx for sharin'

steve

ps. hope you and Rani are well!

[Gilly]

Thats a great and indeed sweet story Toney,hope your both ok Gilly and Nicola

[Mach]

Nice one Mate!

[Guest topcatnumpty1]

Tony...spot on memory, mate! thanx for sharin'

steve

ps. hope you and Rani are well!

Cheers ,Steve --yeh 1977 no problem,but ask me the last record i bought or what i had for lunch yesterday????

T.C

[Guest topcatnumpty1]

Great story,TC......just a couple of things l can relate to ,mate....Widnes????? That's where l was born and bred.......Was The Bay Horse on a corner in the village and white and a lot nicer than The Walkerville which then to make it more popular changed it's name to The Scorpion...........and l spent a weekend camping in Brompton-On-Swale and our old mate Jinksy (l've never really known his real name....) Showed me how to tickle trout........Never seen him dance but he knew his stuff.....What's the latest on him....l was talking to Les and Kev last year at Whitby......ATB Phil

Phil-----Barry always called it Widnes Casino,luckily we put him right b4 we set off!!

Bay horse --middle of the green,you,re thinking off The Oak Tree (The Twigg) on the corner)

Jinksy---Philip Mccewan

T.C