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Great days that won't ever be seen again
Ian Ogden8/12/2007
ROCHDALE Observer writer, Ian Ogden, looks back at the halcyon days of the Carlton …
AH, THE memories. The bands, the Rack, the jiving, the smooching, the Friday night works dances.
They all came flooding back when the news broke last week that the building that was once the Carlton Ballroom is to be demolished.
To those of a certain age, the Carlton was THE place to be.
No one will be able to come up with a true figure, but from the late Thirties until the advent of rock ‘n’ roll nearly 30 years later, dancing to the music of bands led by Freddie Platt, Ernie Mills or Les Moss led to thousands of romances, the majority of which resulted with the walk down the aisle.
Sadly, it also has to besaid, it was also the place where many marriages foundered because of dancefloor dalliances, particularly on Fridays; Amarmi – or grab-a-granny nights as they were more familiarly known at the time.
The more adventurous – or those with an extra pound or two in their pockets – went further afield to Froggetts in Oldham, the Locarno at Sale or Manchester’s Ritz.
But for the bulk of Rochdalians with a spring in their step, Great George Street was invariably the destination.
The building had led a chequered life – it had been a foundry and woollen mill - until a couple of shrewd businessmen spotted its potential as a ballroom.
It opened in 1934 and was an instant success. It was to remain so through the Second World War, the Forties and most of the Fifties.
In its heyday there was no bar, except on New Year’s eve, but the place was packed on Saturday nights, as were the works dances on Fridays.
Those who didn’t dance or had two left feet used to spend most of the time eyeing up the talent from the balcony – or the Rack, to give it its more popular name.
Then Bill Haley, Elvis Presley and rock ‘n’ roll came along. The days of the big bands were finally over and the writing was on the wall for ballrooms up and down the country.
The Carlton was no exception and it closed it doors to dancing for the last time in the 70s, when it became a bingo hall.
Then came a disastrous fire in 1989 and that was that...until early 1995 when Mike Foy and Ged Clark took the plunge and refurbished the old place.
The re-opening night was spectacular and brought hopes of a ballroom revival.
But, instead, it became a popular Friday night disco until the placed closed again in 1999.
It re-opened eight weeks later as Liquid Rock, but last December it was shut on magistrates’ orders.
Plans by the owners to make a fresh start never came to fruition and now a local businessman has bought the property with the intention of flattening it to make way for housing and shops.
Rochdale will never be the same.
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6/03/2008 at 15:35
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