The Nite Spot of the North
The Pavilion, Strathpeffer, in the 60s and 70s
The Pavilion, Strathpeffer, was opened on the 12th August 1881 by Her Grace the Duchess of Sutherland. The splendid new Pavilion was erected for the recreation and amusement of visitors, at a cost of about £2500. This building became a necessity because of the growing popularity of the Spa, and the increasing numbers who annually found their way here. At the opening ceremony the following statement was made. ”Here in sunshine or in rain visitors may assemble, here healthful recreation and profitable social intercourse may be enjoyed and here the rich and the poor may meet together. Health and pleasure may be mutually enjoyed”.
The Pavilion played host to many events in subsequent years: Lectures, religious services, film shows, concerts, grand balls, service as a military hospital, dances, wedding receptions and so on, all in themselves worthy of a separate study. Arthur has written a book detailing some of these events and it is available from him in person, or by post, at craigvar@talk21.com
However the period which remains most vivid in the minds and hearts of all those who passed through its doors are the events of the 60s and 70s, when it truly became the
“Nite Spot of the North”.
Strathpeffer underwent a revival when Mr Harry McGhee took over the Ben Wyvis Hotel in the late 1950s. He had spotted the potential of Strathpeffer as a holiday centre, with its beautiful surroundings, its fine climate and central location. The refurbished Pavilion was officially opened on the 1st April 1960 with bars, tearoom and the ballroom. However there was just as much activity taking place after the opening as before, with the Gardens still to be completed and the outside of the building still to be given a freshening up by the painters. New gates were built at the entrance to the Gardens with a crazy golf feature and other amenities. In July 1960 Mr McGhee also acquired the Highland Hotel, which reopened on 10th May 1961 with a Hydro Board Conference.
Are Ye Dancin'? by Eddie Tobin, with Martin Kielty
Your visits to the dances at the Pavilion started long before you ever set foot in the place. The week leading up to a Friday night was filled with anticipation but centred mainly on two things: what would you wear and who would you meet. I remember being told in no uncertain terms that Cuban heels would not go with bellbottoms. What did I know? And as for who you would meet – well it was potluck but if you were lucky you wouldn’t be turned down for a slow dance. Realistically however most of the patrons would go away already looking forward optimistically to the following week.
Your first impression of the Pavilion was its height. You found yourself looking up at it because you approached it from the front by way of two short flights of steps and as you got near the front door the sound of the music punched its way out past the bouncers. You would walk over an image of a highland dancer in full tartan regalia, cut like a mosaic into the floor covering, and pay your cash at the double-windowed booth, which stood like an island in a stream, diverting people left and right into the main ballroom. Tickets were issued from a machine like the ones you’d see at the cinema. And then the full noise would hit you and you’d be in amongst the dancers who would regularly number up to a thousand. As your eyes got accustomed to the darkness the glitter ball overhead would temporarily blind you with its flashing, lighthouse welcome. The main threat when making your way round the ballroom to the bars was not from the crush of bodies but from the many cigarettes brandished by dancers and onlookers alike. Of course, if you arrived before ten o’clock it would be relatively deserted since many folks would have got off the buses and decanted into the Strathpeffer Hotel or the Clachan to save some money on the prices charged in the Pavilion bars. In order to get ready for the rush just after ten the staff in the Toddy Bowl bar would set up glasses of whisky on trays stacked four or five high. The beer to ask for was Oranjeboom and many of the lady drinkers would steer away from the usual vodka and lime or Bacardi and coke and ask for a Moscow Mule or a Blue Lagoon.
A good place to go to get away from the crush was the balcony. It had, at one time, a small bar and toilets. And of course, apart from the Toddy Bowl there was another bar area to the left of the stage.
The music in the early days was provided on a Saturday night by local dance bands like the Ambassadors, The Melotones and the Strathpeffer Dance Band but as pop music got going touring bands from the west and south of Scotland began to make an appearance. Typical of these were Johnny Law and the MI5, Johnny Little and the Giants and The Chaperones.
These bands played with support on a Friday and usually on their own at the shorter Saturday night dances.
The Friday dances were advertised to start at 9 p.m. but rarely got going till after 10. In order to have a late licence each Friday dance was sponsored by a local club. This allowed the dances to go on till 1.30 a.m. When the dances came out there was a period of mayhem, likened by some to the Wild West, when travellers found the correct bus from the fleet of free buses, new acquaintances cemented their budding relationships and a small police presence herded stragglers away from the Square.
The Pavilion also hosted the record breaking Highland Cabaret which ran for 17 years from 1962 to 1978. It showcased local talent on Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursdays and ensured a lively continental atmosphere in the village as hotel visitors and tourists came out after dinner to attend the shows. The death knell for the shows came when the hotels found it cheaper to have entertainment in-house, and of course they got the profit from their own bars.
In addition, the Tuesday Show started in June 1969 and ran for five successful seasons until 1973. It was designed to complement the long running Highland Cabaret by giving visitors and locals a different type of entertainment
By the mid 60s the Pavilion was catching up with other venues in the North and started to feature some well known names such as the Merseybeats, Kenny Ball and his Jazzmen and Brian Poole and the Tremeloes. However, the best period of all in my opinion was 1967. This was the ‘Summer of Love’ and the Pavilion bill featured Freddie and the Dreamers, Stuart Henry, Millie, The Poets, The Rockin’ Berries, Whistlin’ Jack Smith, The Nashville Teens and the Fortunes. These were all artistes who had appeared on TV and radio. The Fortunes in particular were absolutely fantastic and their standout number in the act was ‘I was made to love her’ a cover of a recent hit by Stevie Wonder.
The end of 1967 saw the beginning of the residency of the Sterling Showband. They were to remain for about 18 months during which time they built up a loyal fan base. Everyone looked forward to their version of ‘Please stay’ by the Crying Shames since it provided you with at least one chance of actually getting your arms round someone. The Pavilion continued through the late 60s and 70s with a mixture of showbands, discos and pop groups but social habits were changing and after a couple of closures and attempted resurrections the place finally closed down for good in 1978.
Since I have been compiling information about the Pavilion dances for www.thestrath.co.uk I have been told many stories by people who have fond memories of the Pavilion. My favourite relates to a young woman from the Ferry in Inverness who was having a ‘quiet drink’ with her friends in the Toddy Bowl when she was accosted by an acquaintance, who started an argument. It got heated and at the point where it was about to turn violent the young lady in question, feeling threatened and trying to defend herself, in one fluid gunslinger move loosened one of her white stilettos, flicked it up with her toe, caught the toe of the shoe in her hand, reversed it and brought the heel down on her assailant’s scalp, causing a great deal of blood to be spilt. Needless to say, she didn’t get the value of her ticket that night, quickly finding herself three hours early for her bus home. She was not the only one to be ejected from the premises. Any fighting or aggressive behaviour resulted in a swift ejection through the emergency door in the men’s toilets. There was a lot going on behind the scenes that few knew about. The windows above the stage were hidden from general view but were used to observe the crowd and this was where the door money was counted. At the end of the night one of the bouncers would walk up and down with a wide broom sweeping the floor as the crowd dispersed. But that wasn’t necessarily the end of the evening. There would be people wandering around waiting for lifts, looking for buses that had gone and emerging from all sorts of dark corners. And the band stayed on. Bands playing on Friday and Saturday nights had accommodation at the top of the Pavilion and would be locked in and not allowed out since the building was alarmed directly to the Fire Brigade in Inverness. It was known that a member of a band appearing at the Pavilion broke the curfew one night and, when trying to climb back in an upper window, slid down the slates and landed on the roof of the band's van parked below. Some members of one of the regular bands were in the habit of tiptoeing down at night to get milk to drink from the vending machine.
I think the effect the Pavilion had on folks at the time is best summed up by a conversation I had with a long standing acquaintance. He complained that “every week the Pavilion used to keep me awake every until the early hours of the morning”. When I replied that he didn’t live in Strathpeffer and asked how the Pavilion could possibly have kept him awake, he replied “Both my daughters were at the dances”. This was no doubt a scene repeated in many households across the region.
The Pavilion lay empty and derelict for some 25 years until it was restored and reopened in 2004 to become a venue once again for concerts and dancing, among other things. In the last few years there has been a number of appearances by high profile artistes such as the Proclaimers, the Saw Doctors, Red Hot Chilli Pipers, Showaddywaddy, the Kaiser Chiefs and Deacon Blue. It has also become a popular venue for weddings and some of those couples who met and married have now seen their children celebrate their own weddings in this unique venue.
The Pavilion played host to many events in subsequent years: Lectures, religious services, film shows, concerts, grand balls, service as a military hospital, dances, wedding receptions and so on, all in themselves worthy of a separate study. Arthur has written a book detailing some of these events and it is available from him in person, or by post, at craigvar@talk21.com
However the period which remains most vivid in the minds and hearts of all those who passed through its doors are the events of the 60s and 70s, when it truly became the
“Nite Spot of the North”.
Strathpeffer underwent a revival when Mr Harry McGhee took over the Ben Wyvis Hotel in the late 1950s. He had spotted the potential of Strathpeffer as a holiday centre, with its beautiful surroundings, its fine climate and central location. The refurbished Pavilion was officially opened on the 1st April 1960 with bars, tearoom and the ballroom. However there was just as much activity taking place after the opening as before, with the Gardens still to be completed and the outside of the building still to be given a freshening up by the painters. New gates were built at the entrance to the Gardens with a crazy golf feature and other amenities. In July 1960 Mr McGhee also acquired the Highland Hotel, which reopened on 10th May 1961 with a Hydro Board Conference.
Are Ye Dancin'? by Eddie Tobin, with Martin Kielty
Your visits to the dances at the Pavilion started long before you ever set foot in the place. The week leading up to a Friday night was filled with anticipation but centred mainly on two things: what would you wear and who would you meet. I remember being told in no uncertain terms that Cuban heels would not go with bellbottoms. What did I know? And as for who you would meet – well it was potluck but if you were lucky you wouldn’t be turned down for a slow dance. Realistically however most of the patrons would go away already looking forward optimistically to the following week.
Your first impression of the Pavilion was its height. You found yourself looking up at it because you approached it from the front by way of two short flights of steps and as you got near the front door the sound of the music punched its way out past the bouncers. You would walk over an image of a highland dancer in full tartan regalia, cut like a mosaic into the floor covering, and pay your cash at the double-windowed booth, which stood like an island in a stream, diverting people left and right into the main ballroom. Tickets were issued from a machine like the ones you’d see at the cinema. And then the full noise would hit you and you’d be in amongst the dancers who would regularly number up to a thousand. As your eyes got accustomed to the darkness the glitter ball overhead would temporarily blind you with its flashing, lighthouse welcome. The main threat when making your way round the ballroom to the bars was not from the crush of bodies but from the many cigarettes brandished by dancers and onlookers alike. Of course, if you arrived before ten o’clock it would be relatively deserted since many folks would have got off the buses and decanted into the Strathpeffer Hotel or the Clachan to save some money on the prices charged in the Pavilion bars. In order to get ready for the rush just after ten the staff in the Toddy Bowl bar would set up glasses of whisky on trays stacked four or five high. The beer to ask for was Oranjeboom and many of the lady drinkers would steer away from the usual vodka and lime or Bacardi and coke and ask for a Moscow Mule or a Blue Lagoon.
A good place to go to get away from the crush was the balcony. It had, at one time, a small bar and toilets. And of course, apart from the Toddy Bowl there was another bar area to the left of the stage.
The music in the early days was provided on a Saturday night by local dance bands like the Ambassadors, The Melotones and the Strathpeffer Dance Band but as pop music got going touring bands from the west and south of Scotland began to make an appearance. Typical of these were Johnny Law and the MI5, Johnny Little and the Giants and The Chaperones.
These bands played with support on a Friday and usually on their own at the shorter Saturday night dances.
The Friday dances were advertised to start at 9 p.m. but rarely got going till after 10. In order to have a late licence each Friday dance was sponsored by a local club. This allowed the dances to go on till 1.30 a.m. When the dances came out there was a period of mayhem, likened by some to the Wild West, when travellers found the correct bus from the fleet of free buses, new acquaintances cemented their budding relationships and a small police presence herded stragglers away from the Square.
The Pavilion also hosted the record breaking Highland Cabaret which ran for 17 years from 1962 to 1978. It showcased local talent on Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursdays and ensured a lively continental atmosphere in the village as hotel visitors and tourists came out after dinner to attend the shows. The death knell for the shows came when the hotels found it cheaper to have entertainment in-house, and of course they got the profit from their own bars.
In addition, the Tuesday Show started in June 1969 and ran for five successful seasons until 1973. It was designed to complement the long running Highland Cabaret by giving visitors and locals a different type of entertainment
By the mid 60s the Pavilion was catching up with other venues in the North and started to feature some well known names such as the Merseybeats, Kenny Ball and his Jazzmen and Brian Poole and the Tremeloes. However, the best period of all in my opinion was 1967. This was the ‘Summer of Love’ and the Pavilion bill featured Freddie and the Dreamers, Stuart Henry, Millie, The Poets, The Rockin’ Berries, Whistlin’ Jack Smith, The Nashville Teens and the Fortunes. These were all artistes who had appeared on TV and radio. The Fortunes in particular were absolutely fantastic and their standout number in the act was ‘I was made to love her’ a cover of a recent hit by Stevie Wonder.
The end of 1967 saw the beginning of the residency of the Sterling Showband. They were to remain for about 18 months during which time they built up a loyal fan base. Everyone looked forward to their version of ‘Please stay’ by the Crying Shames since it provided you with at least one chance of actually getting your arms round someone. The Pavilion continued through the late 60s and 70s with a mixture of showbands, discos and pop groups but social habits were changing and after a couple of closures and attempted resurrections the place finally closed down for good in 1978.
Since I have been compiling information about the Pavilion dances for www.thestrath.co.uk I have been told many stories by people who have fond memories of the Pavilion. My favourite relates to a young woman from the Ferry in Inverness who was having a ‘quiet drink’ with her friends in the Toddy Bowl when she was accosted by an acquaintance, who started an argument. It got heated and at the point where it was about to turn violent the young lady in question, feeling threatened and trying to defend herself, in one fluid gunslinger move loosened one of her white stilettos, flicked it up with her toe, caught the toe of the shoe in her hand, reversed it and brought the heel down on her assailant’s scalp, causing a great deal of blood to be spilt. Needless to say, she didn’t get the value of her ticket that night, quickly finding herself three hours early for her bus home. She was not the only one to be ejected from the premises. Any fighting or aggressive behaviour resulted in a swift ejection through the emergency door in the men’s toilets. There was a lot going on behind the scenes that few knew about. The windows above the stage were hidden from general view but were used to observe the crowd and this was where the door money was counted. At the end of the night one of the bouncers would walk up and down with a wide broom sweeping the floor as the crowd dispersed. But that wasn’t necessarily the end of the evening. There would be people wandering around waiting for lifts, looking for buses that had gone and emerging from all sorts of dark corners. And the band stayed on. Bands playing on Friday and Saturday nights had accommodation at the top of the Pavilion and would be locked in and not allowed out since the building was alarmed directly to the Fire Brigade in Inverness. It was known that a member of a band appearing at the Pavilion broke the curfew one night and, when trying to climb back in an upper window, slid down the slates and landed on the roof of the band's van parked below. Some members of one of the regular bands were in the habit of tiptoeing down at night to get milk to drink from the vending machine.
I think the effect the Pavilion had on folks at the time is best summed up by a conversation I had with a long standing acquaintance. He complained that “every week the Pavilion used to keep me awake every until the early hours of the morning”. When I replied that he didn’t live in Strathpeffer and asked how the Pavilion could possibly have kept him awake, he replied “Both my daughters were at the dances”. This was no doubt a scene repeated in many households across the region.
The Pavilion lay empty and derelict for some 25 years until it was restored and reopened in 2004 to become a venue once again for concerts and dancing, among other things. In the last few years there has been a number of appearances by high profile artistes such as the Proclaimers, the Saw Doctors, Red Hot Chilli Pipers, Showaddywaddy, the Kaiser Chiefs and Deacon Blue. It has also become a popular venue for weddings and some of those couples who met and married have now seen their children celebrate their own weddings in this unique venue.