A Merseyside nightclub now reduced to rubble was once loved for its '"50p nights."
Decades ago, New Brighton was home to many loved nightclubs, from The Chelsea Reach and The Golden Guinea to The Grand. First built in the 1850s, New Brighton's Grand Hotel was revamped in the 20th century and given a glitzy reopening by film icon Mae West.
One of the most popular and glamourous hotels in the area, the site attracted visitors from all over the country. But decades later, the building was transformed into a popular nightclub, seeing clubbers "run up the Marine Promenade" to enjoy the last hour at the venue.
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The ECHO recently spoke to Paul Chase, now 74, who worked on the doors at The Chelsea Reach, before becoming manager of the club between 1979 and 1985. Paul later managed The Grand and said amongst New Brighton's thriving nightlife scene, the venue "held its own."
Paul told the ECHO: "We redecorated, it was pretty run down and on its last legs when I bought it. It very much had an art deco feel to it.
"The Grand catered for a very similar clientele to The Chelsea Reach. There were some geographic differences – The Chelsea eventually catered for a Wallasey crowd, whereas The Grand tended to attract a lot of people from places like Moreton and Moels, as well as Wallasey. At one point The Chelsea was closing at 1am and The Grand would close at 2am, so people would leave The Chelsea at 1am and run up the Marine Promenade to The Grand for the last hour.
"It again was a disco based club with private function suites, as was The Chelsea. The Grand had its own crowds, as well as being a go to destination at the end of the night. On a Friday and Saturday night it was very, very busy.
"At The Chelsea in the early days we were open seven nights a week – at The Grand we would open Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Monday and it did well. It was never as successful or as crowded, as busy or as iconic as the Chelsea reach – but it held its own."
For years, The Grand held many promotions nights, something former clubbers still talk about today. For Paul, the purpose of The Grand, like other nightclubs at the time, was to create escapism for those who went there.
Paul said: "I think it is remembered for some of the promotion nights we put on there, like the 50p nights. You'd pay an entrance fee and any drink was 50p.
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"It became quite well known for that. A lot of people I bump into say 'I used to love the 50p nights at The Grand.'
"For me, it was always about being able to create a party atmosphere so that people could come and get away from the humdrum 9-5 life that most people had to live and to enjoy themselves." Paul later acquired what was the Penny Farthing club and transformed it first into an Italian restaurant called The Palm House, before it reopened as a bar called Coasters.
After leaving the industry for some time, Paul returned to The Chelsea Reach in the late 90s and then went on to run the Pulse club in Liverpool. Around the early 90s, Paul said he sold the Grand to his business partners, Roy Adams and his sons and eventually, The Grand closed down.
Through the years, several fires had ruined the inside of the building and campaigners were still keen to protect the impressive façade, which was an important relic of the town's Victorian past. But in 2006, the ECHO reported how the site had been demolished despite campaigners attempts to save it.
At the time, Cllr Bill Duffy said more should have been done to protect the hotel. He said: "When it was in its prime all the great and the good used to visit it.
"It was an important place for the town and it's a real shame the council didn't push the owner to do more with it."
Although the hotel was an important part of the town's history, English Heritage refused to list it in 2005. Over time, there had been a number of plans to redevelop the building, including turning it into a language school and casino.
The Grand, built before New Brighton's Marine Promenade, faced the sea and planning chiefs said the building added an important historical context to the seafront, and showed the typical regency detail of seaside architecture of its time. Dave Green, Wirral's director of technical services, wrote: "The building is of undoubted symbolic significance as a remnant of the 19th and 20th century seaside resort."
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Scaffolding was erected outside the hotel, with bulldozers moving in. Wirral Council previously said because the land was privately owned, its only responsibility was to make sure it was taken down safely. At the time, a spokeswoman added the hotel had attracted vandalism in recent years, as well as being gutted by fires and was in a derelict state. The owner was not able to be reached for comment.
Paul Chase said: "I was very sad to see it happen. It was like a disruption of a lot of memories."
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