dave woodcock

I started going in when I was seventeen. It would have been 1984, not long after my seventeenth birthday. My elder brother Paul who's no longer with us, God rest his soul, dragged me up there. I was into my rock music. Wasn't particularly a biker but I was into my rock music. And he thought it'd be a nice evening out for me so he dragged me up there. I went there from '84 until it closed actually. It became Moriarty’s, didn't it? For a while. And then it closed down and we all moved on to the Giffard as our main residence then.

I broke my leg in '87 and I was out of circulation for about six months or so. It became Moriarty's during that period. And then, as I said, it closed down which was obviously a shame. I mean although it was called Moriarty's it was still the Tavern.

When I first heard about the Tavern, I'd just heard that it was a place that played good music, a good group of people, you know. Friendly, etc. All the clichés you can think of.  And I was open to it. I hadn't really been going out anywhere. We used to live on Pendeford at the time and The Pendulum had not long opened, so that was really my only place that I'd gone for a drink. I said Yeah, why not? 

When I went up there first was when you used to have to go in the back entrance, you know where the Shakespeare sign is. That's where you used to have to go in cuz they'd just started the refurb. I must admit the minute I walked through the door I thought Bloody hell. What's this? It was absolutely jam packed and you couldn't move. So yeah, it was interesting. I kept going back, so there was obviously something right about it.

My definitive Tavern jukebox tunes were Black Betty, Solsbury Hill and Silver Machine.  Those are the ones that spring out at me, cuz they were on repeat all the time. Those are the ones that I remember from those very early days. Obviously they changed over the years as new things came out.  I know some people, they'd put their pound in…and you got seven records was it? They'd put the same one on seven times. I’m like Why have you done that?

It was me and Paul at first, we were joined at the hip to some degree, and obviously there was his friends as well. There was Phil Wynter. Various other people. Groups of friends that I've made and still got. Friends for life. And then obviously, you've got all the characters as well that everybody knew. The Angels. Don behind the bar, and Pam.  

I thought Don and Pam were absolutely fantastic. I possibly had a slightly different relationship with them than most customers because Paul worked behind the bar. I would wait for him to finish so I'd get...not locked in...you didn't get a drink after hours necessarily, but I waited for Paul so we could go home together type of thing. So I got to speak to Don and Pam probably more so out of hours than perhaps some other people, and I always found them very approachable, and caring. Don was hilarious. Don was so funny. Their daughter, Sue, was there as well at the time. 

Pam was in charge! Pam was definitely in charge. Don thought he was in charge but he wasn’t. I always remember his Canadian accent Come on, you turkeys! He was a very loud, outgoing personality. Didn't take any mess off anybody, you know. He knew what he wanted and how to get it. But in an approachable, nice way. He was a lovely bloke. And you know, you could tell that he loved being there, and he really enjoyed what he was doing. Always had a smile on his face. As did Pam. I never saw 'em upset or angry at anybody. I mean they may well have been, but I never saw it myself.

At that particular point in time I was a gardener for the council. I wore jeans and a denim jacket with rock patches all over it. I've got some pictures of me from around that era. I had long hair – and a moustache, to my detriment – but never mind. Yeah, I was your typical rocker at around that time so. Stank of patchouli. Smoked. Drank Tennants Extra. What can I say?

I was always on the coach trips that Gobbo organised, as I'm sure he'll tell you. I was usually very drunk on those. Sleeping in the luggage rack or something like that. But I did do a lot of concerts, too. Music as well as the Tavern was my big thing. Me and a group of friends used to go to loads of concerts all over the place. Birmingham, predominantly. Wolverhampton, when bands were on at the Civic. Seen so many bands it's unreal, we used to do a lot together. 

My band tickets and vinyl would have been from Goulds, that's where we got all our records from. Time Machine Records, which used to be up a little alleyway, can't remember the name of the place now, round the side of the Art Gallery, I used to get a lot of my second hand stuff from there, and rare stuff as well. They used to have some really good stuff in Time Machine. But yeah, Goulds, HMV obviously, Ruby Red on Cleveland Street occasionally. I can't remember when Mike Lloyds appeared. Do you remember Mike Lloyds Records? It was just down from Queen Square in between where the Tavern and KFC was. They used to have some artists there as well, doing signings. I met Fish out of Marillion there when he'd gone solo. 1989 that was. Met him just before one of his concerts. I can't remember when Mike Lloyds started. It was after Goulds closed down

Other memories of the Tavern is the games machines. I was a big player of the arcade machines. Dragon's Lair being one. Perry, he was a guy from London, he was the master at it and he taught us how to do certain bits because you used to have to knock the joy stick two knocks left one knock right to get round various obstacles. Yeah, I used to like playing the arcade machines in there, with a pint and a fag. It was all good fun. I think Perry worked in leather, not a saddler, but I'm sure he worked in leather. He made leather goods or something. But he was an expert at Dragon's Lair and he was a God as far as I was concerned back then. Actually he came to Paul's funeral a couple of years ago, and I hadn't seen him for years and years and years. Under the most awful circumstances it was actually nice to catch up with a few people that I hadn't seen for a few years.  

I was in the Tavern when a couple of drugs raids happened. They were interesting.  Standing there, minding our own business, having a drink and all of a sudden a dozen coppers come bursting through the door. Various people disappeared out the back doors for whatever reason. There was an odd smell in there on occasions, so I'm not surprised. I didn't partake so I'd got nothing to worry about. But it was a bit disconcerting. The police would empty the place, line people up in Queen Square, and search ‘em and speak to ‘em and whatever else. So people tried to sneak off to various other pubs.  

I don't remember the Tavern being particularly violent, but I do remember a couple of fights that were particularly bad where people got dragged out into Queen Square and had the shit kicked out of them, shall we say.  But I also remember the Angels tended to keep a fairly stable environment. I know that was probably because people were scared of them, but I never had any trouble with them at all. There was a couple of other people that I was always wary of. 

The 'man on the oss' frequently had a cone on his head or somebody sat on his back. In the summer people would sit out there and enjoy their beer, and nobody ever moved l’em on. You wouldn't get that now. Nobody ever seemed to really take any notice.  As I said, there was hardly any trouble, it's not like it was an intimidating or a threatening atmosphere for passers by. It was just a load of rockers sitting out there and enjoying themselves and having a beer.

I absolutely loved the place. I've got nothing but fond memories of it. I've got nothing but good things to say about it. I met some fantastic friends there. I had some brilliant times, you know. Some brilliant Christmases and New Years and parties and birthdays and whatever else. It was a rite of passage for me. It was my youth. That's where I grew up.