Janet Chand

Well, I knew it first as the Bermuda.

I was about 15, and in those days what you did was you went round the town with your mates. So you'd get dolled up and then you'd go to town and you'd walk around the town because you'd meet lads up there. I always remember the Bermuda in the corner, and we did go in a couple of times, but we only had pop. I always was frightened my mom or my dad'd know that I'd been up there because it didn't have a very good reputation at the time, and it was always dark inside and it was narrow so if there were people there you'd gotta get past them to get to the opening which was at the other end, where there was a bit of a space. 

I can't say that we actually liked it that much.

We were involved with motorbikes and stuff like that, so we progressed off to the coffee bars, cuz in them days it was coffee bars. The Gainsborough was down, I think it was Berry Street, and we used to head off down there. We were school kids, and we hadn’t had a lot of money, but we could sit in there all night with a bottle of coke. And sometimes some of the fellas, who were older than us and were working, they'd buy us a coke. And we had a lot of fun. There was a lot of camaraderie. . 

I can remember...it seems childish now, but it was so funny, I have a friend named Deirdre and they used to take the mick out of her because of her name really, and the one night we were in there and she'd got a...they called them Sloppy Joes...a long jumper. Do you remember a long Sloppy Joe jumper? Anyway, it was her sister’s and it was ever so big and  they pulled her sleeves down and they crossed her arms and tied it round her back, she couldn't get out of it. I know, it sounds ridiculous...but you know when you're young, we were all laughing and we couldn't stop laughing.

There was a pub called the Darlington Arms which is long gone, and that was another place where rockers used to go, and so we'd go there and we’d talk to who we knew in the long passage over there and then we’d go over to the Gainsborough, and at the Gainsborough you'd probably sit for hours and you'd just have a bottle of coke, but you'd know everybody and they'd come in and there was a camaraderie and then they'd decide that they wanted to go to Bridgnorth.

My dad was very strict, you know, I'd have been really in trouble if he knew what I was up to. I used to have to be in...I don’t know whether it was 10 o'clock or half past 10, and they might decide say at a late time that they were going to Bridgnorth and I wanted to go.

It was in the days of like a lot of black eyeliner and white lips, you know, panstick and your hair'd be up here, you know, really sky high. And there'd be that much...I woh say hairspray cuz it was lacquer in them days, you know, in plastic sachets and a plastic bottle. But it never moved! They'd open the throttle but that never used to move. And anyway, we'd hop on the back of the bike and off we'd go to Bridgnorth. 

There was a cafe in High Town and we'd just go up there to ride up there. Sometimes they went in, had a chat with whoever and come back. And actually I've got a scar on my knee where I come off a bike coming down from High Town and as we were coming down he kind of turned and we went down and I cut my knee and then I had to kind of lie to my dad that I'd fell over taking the dog a walk, cuz I'd got this cut on my knee. 

It's happy times of youth really, you know, and that's all it was...happy. I know they go on about mods and rockers and I can remember a bit about that, but it wasn't really the vindictive fighting kind of thing, but I do remember the rockers going to the Milano which was the mod coffee bar. There was a bit of trouble there I think. But I wasn't involved in that.  I say this could be 1965 maybe round… give or take a couple of years either way. 

I got married and was busy doing the things that women were supposed to do in ‘those’ days, rearing kids, working etc. And I later got divorced so now we've got a big jump of time from 1965. I started going out again with a group of girls...women. As you did on a Friday night, and so now the Tavern was included on the drinks round of a Friday night.

It was still dark. It was a very dark place, you know, and like in the late 80's early 90's it was still rocker. A lot of people went there before they went to the Giffard.  

I don't know if he owned the place, or if he was just the barman, but he was a big tall fella named Mark who was there...this is after like I got divorced and I started to go out. He was either the barman or the licensee. 

And then funnily enough when I did remarry it was somebody from Bilston, and now here's a rocker pub...The Cock. I had to dress down to guh to The Cock. You didn't get dressed up to go out to The Cock did you, eh? And of course, my husband and his crew, his mates, that was like their pub as in one of them was one of the bouncers. There was Big Mark, Wrecker, God rest his soul...he's dead now, Burger. Do you know any of these names?

Anyway, we started going there. I liked it. It was loud. In fact I believe that the Angels actually blew the toilets up at The Cock. It was rough. But it was nice. Well, I liked it any road.