Rip The Wirrina Peterborough

[Pauldonnelly]

https://www.peterboroughimages.co.uk/blog/?p=2644

[Guest soul over easy]

paul i use to frequent the warrina in peterborough and it was a superb venue for me, loved it there it was amongst my top three haunts along with the casino and samanthas back then.My best night there would be the night major lance was on,i was a little too young to see major at the torch,but didnt miss him at the warrina ,also got him to sign my lp of his recordings.Use to frequent the fleet in peterbro in the early 80,s trying to relive the warrina days ...ktf tommo.

[Guest southpaw]

Tommo, yes mate remember doing a few nighters there with the Notts crowd

[Guest soul over easy]

can remeber billy garner and crew use to go there, i was a bit younger than that lot but always looked up to them...ktf

[Steve G]

Shame, enjoyed DJing at the Niters several times.

[Guest]

Great memories one of the best night for me was promoted by the allnighter club of Great Britain ? I think it was - Live Eddie Holman Junior Walker Bunny Sigler etc packer never saw as many people there before also remember the Allnighter with the bomb scare cant remember think it was early 80s may be wrong ?

another one gone but not forgotten !

[Steve G]

Yep about 84. I Djed at all those, and was on straight after the bomb scare. Boy was there an atmosphere when everyone came back in.

What a shame the promotor legged it before paying most of the DJs on more than one occasion....even got one DJ to help jump start his car, then legged it, didn't even pay him! Tossbag. Some of us made sure we got paid before we went on after that.

[Soulman]

Great memories one of the best night for me was promoted by the allnighter club of Great Britain ? I think it was - Live Eddie Holman Junior Walker Bunny Sigler etc packer never saw as many people there before also remember the Allnighter with the bomb scare cant remember think it was early 80s may be wrong ?

another one gone but not forgotten !

Remember it well too.... and the bomb scare. Who was it though who supposedly did it... Keith somebody if my memory serves me right. Psychobilly look to him, flat top haircut. Go on....remind me please.

Steve

[Guest martyn]

Remember it well too.... and the bomb scare. Who was it though who supposedly did it... Keith somebody if my memory serves me right. Psychobilly look to him, flat top haircut. Go on....remind me please.

Steve

Didn't know it was him

[Guest]

Steve -Sure you are right from what I remember -

[Guest Unionjack]

Keith Wilcox lol

[Philb]

My very first allnighter was the Wirrena around 82, i walked into the hall and the Formations was on hundreds of soulies dancing an clapping in the right places and from then on i thought this is for me and never looked back, tis a great shame.

[Little-stevie]

Great memories one of the best night for me was promoted by the allnighter club of Great Britain ? I think it was - Live Eddie Holman Junior Walker Bunny Sigler etc packer never saw as many people there before also remember the Allnighter with the bomb scare cant remember think it was early 80s may be wrong ?

another one gone but not forgotten !

I was at this event, all them far right scooter lot doing an hitler salute while Eddie Holman on stage, had never seen that at soul all niter before or thankfully since.. I think that night told me to get off the scooter scene for my soul fix bigtime... Would that be around 1983???

[Guest Unionjack]

Although I didnt get on too bad with the geezer I never really liked him, though I did make it to his 2nd wedding. Hes about now again I see. Spent some time having a hol with HMP as the General of Milwall!! There was alot of crap going on between whats losely called 'promoters' and BOTH were calling different emergency services giving false bomb and fire scares and IF my grey cells are working I think the EASC had a couple when at the Fleet. Well I remember having everyone having to leave at silly oclock and it was mid winter. Not nice! But I always thought that both lots were a bunch of divs so nothing surpised me at that time. They were never doing it for any purity values of the music. Just some dosh. But that was the story with a few promoters in the area I liked Dave Mindham alot and got on well with the geezer and spent many long trips up T'North verballing to him but he was all about the money as mentioned about the Betty Wright episode. There was others lol.

[Karl s]

Any one remember the bomb scare in early 80s

Keith willcox nutter dj totally brilliant ,used to drive up from west london regular in my beetle , st ives , leicester odd fellows , hinkley , stafford , warrington parr hall , ashby de la zouch , manchester ritz , rotters

[Peter99]

Any one remember the bomb scare in early 80s

Keith willcox nutter dj totally brilliant ,used to drive up from west london regular in my beetle , st ives , leicester odd fellows , hinkley , stafford , warrington parr hall , ashby de la zouch , manchester ritz , rotters

What like the one people have been discussing in the previous posts?  

 

Just joking - but look up there

 

Peter

 

Edited December 28, 2013 by Peter99

[Karl s]

Aargh i ll get me coat , this is a different page i am seeing , went off line came on again tapped iin wirrina this one came up and its not the one i cant find any more i was looking for earlier , must read before i pontificate never mind , confused i am

[Peter99]

Aargh i ll get me coat , this is a different page i am seeing , went off line came on again tapped iin wirrina this one came up and its not the one i cant find any more i was looking for earlier , must read before i pontificate never mind , confused i am

[micky gynn]

Being a Peterborough lad the Wirrina had a special part in my life but not through Soul music,

 

When i was 13/14 me and a few friends started to play 5-a side football up there in the league against older and stronger lads.

We more than held our own and it was a good grounding for me before i moved to Posh as an apprentice then onto becoming a pro.

 

Even as a pro club at Pboro we on occasions used the Wirrina if the grass pitches were frozen.

It was a great place to train and get a sweat on.

 

For those reasons i remember the place well, not connected to soul music i know but just another insight into what else went on there all those years ago

in the late 70s/ early 80s

 

Kind regards

 

Micky Gynn.

[Soul-slider]

I used to frequent the Wirrina (and the Fleet) with the King's Lynn crowd, 80's/90's. Good times.

[Steve G]

Although I didnt get on too bad with the geezer I never really liked him, though I did make it to his 2nd wedding. Hes about now again I see. Spent some time having a hol with HMP as the General of Milwall!! There was alot of crap going on between whats losely called 'promoters' and BOTH were calling different emergency services giving false bomb and fire scares and IF my grey cells are working I think the EASC had a couple when at the Fleet. Well I remember having everyone having to leave at silly oclock and it was mid winter. Not nice! But I always thought that both lots were a bunch of divs so nothing surpised me at that time. They were never doing it for any purity values of the music. Just some dosh. But that was the story with a few promoters in the area I liked Dave Mindham alot and got on well with the geezer and spent many long trips up T'North verballing to him but he was all about the money as mentioned about the Betty Wright episode. There was others lol.

 

The Wirrina promotions at the time were being done by a guy from Stoke  - Chris Burton I think his name was (?) blonde haired fella with an old car…..anyway whoever it was those nights were packed to the rafters…..one room event too with everything under the sun being played. 

[Steve G]

I was at this event, all them far right scooter lot doing an hitler salute while Eddie Holman on stage, had never seen that at soul all niter before or thankfully since.. I think that night told me to get off the scooter scene for my soul fix bigtime... Would that be around 1983???

 

Yep good point Steve. Same with Tommy Hunt when he appeared there. At the time I did a cartoon strip of it which I sent to friends who I knew would be as horrified as I was…..Basically had Tommy Hunt on stage in a pair of Spencer bags singing "loving on the losing side" and these skinheads with bull necks going "Oi Oi Oi" and one asks "ear what's this black geyser doing on the stage?", "We ain't coming here again…." "Oi Oi Oi" That kind of thing….I probably still have it somewhere.

 

There was only ever going to be room for one NS promotor in Peterborough back in the 80s…..Also remember doing a soul night in Stamford. Anyway these Peterboro lads turn up mid evening, kick some tables over and generally make a nuisance of themselves. Young DJ called Russ comes out of the toilets with blood everywhere - basically he'd been head butted bang on the nose, broke it wide open. Anyway it was turning nasty and a few of us were up for giving them a kicking, but before the posse got organised and anything happened the Peterborough lads left pronto……but we found out later they'd also done a number of cars in the car park too.

 

At the time we couldn't believe this sort of thing going on at a soul do.

Edited December 29, 2013 by Steve G

[Nit3owl64]

It was the same with Edwin at the IOW Scooter rally same promoter, I think he's still doing stuff in the Stoke area, funny how some peeps forgot, must be an age thing

[Soul-slider]

Unfortunately, in the UK hooligans and black music have always gone hand in hand. Some 1980's Skinheads took it further and started preaching racism while ironically attending Soul/Ska/Reggae nights!!! DOH!!!

[Little-stevie]

Yep good point Steve. Same with Tommy Hunt when he appeared there. At the time I did a cartoon strip of it which I sent to friends who I knew would be as horrified as I was…..Basically had Tommy Hunt on stage in a pair of Spencer bags singing "loving on the losing side" and these skinheads with bull necks going "Oi Oi Oi" and one asks "ear what's this black geyser doing on the stage?", "We ain't coming here again…." "Oi Oi Oi" That kind of thing….I probably still have it somewhere.

 

There was only ever going to be room for one NS promotor in Peterborough back in the 80s…..Also remember doing a soul night in Stamford. Anyway these Peterboro lads turn up mid evening, kick some tables over and generally make a nuisance of themselves. Young DJ called Russ comes out of the toilets with blood everywhere - basically he'd been head butted bang on the nose, broke it wide open. Anyway it was turning nasty and a few of us were up for giving them a kicking, but before the posse got organised and anything happened the Peterborough lads left pronto……but we found out later they'd also done a number of cars in the car park too.

 

At the time we couldn't believe this sort of thing going on at a soul do.

See if you can dig it out Steve..

 

So many of these f"ckers were around in the 80s, i am sure quite a few were freinds of people reading this, many folk put up these bastards and  had them in the same scooter club or at soul venues.... Glad to say that many of these type got a good kicking in later years as folk got organised and chased these creatures back into the cave....

[Karl s]

Also remember before i could drive 3 of us turned up after fighting our way through snow hitched all the way and was told it wasnt on , luckily one of the lads on the door drove us all the way home top dude allways remember good things like that