Hull's Welly club celebrates 100th birthday

FROM ballroom dancing to punk rock and acid house, it has played host to a century of musical trends.

In between, it has survived police raids, condemned electrics, the odd fire and a succession of different } owners to stand the test of time.

Now. Hull's legendary Wellington Club is turning the clock back to celebrate its 100th birthday.

Two former regular DJs – Ragna Gift and John Peters – are set to revive their one-night shows from the 1980s and 1990s in a series of special Bank Holiday events being lined up at the club.

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And current owner Dave Mays is appealing for information from anyone who might be able to help piecing together the club's colourful history.

He said: "It sound like a bit of cliché but the Welly really is an institution in Hull.

"I've managed to track down the original premises licence for the building but I would really love to hear from people who used to come here.

"When we first bought the place, we needed some steelwork doing because one of the walls was nearly falling in.

"The two lads who were doing the work got talking about how they used to come to the club when they were teddy boys."

The Beverley Road venue first opened in 1913 as the Wellington Assembly Rooms.

It was initially used as a ballroom for dancing but after the Second World War became a cabaret venue and private members' club.

Mr Mays said he was particularly keen to find out more information about the club's legendary secretary Doreen Wilson, who worked alongside former owner Harry Shaw during most of the 1960s and 1970s .

• Gallery: History of Hull's Wellington Club in pictures

She was later immortalised on a compilation of Hull punk bands called Mrs Wilson's Children, released in 1981.

Ragna, who ran Sugar Shack nights at the club for four years in the 1980s, said he came across Mrs Wilson as a teenager at the venue.

"She used to stand at the top of stairs next to the entrance door and tell you off if she thought you were under-age.

"She didn't take any nonsense and was a bit of a fierce character who was probably old enough to be my grandmother but she didn't seem to be fazed by being surrounded by punks and skinheads."

John, who DJ'd Shaft nights at the club for six years in the 1990s, said:

"The one thing that sticks in my mind was the insistence by the owner at the time to chuck everyone out at 2am on the dot.

"We used to have 500 people dancing away in quite an intense atmosphere and then, all of a sudden, he would switch all the power off. I will always remember that moment because everyone just used to scream."