Hi. I am after some information on this boys club. I was wondering whether anyone had any information on it and its history?

I recently learnt that my mother in laws grandad, who was called Francis Gratton and his nickname was Ianto. He was, according to my mother in law, not one of the founders in name, but definately heavily involved with the set up of the boys club.

Would be very interested if there was any information about this!

Thanks in advance

Hi BennyBoy www.shaftesburyouthclub.org.uk/about/history/

bert1 has a book about the Shafts when it was the juniors entrance in Jackson st and the seniors entrance in Thomas st.
It is now split up, one part being the House of Pain and the other what used to be the Atmosphere club.
I'm hoping sometime to go to the House of Pain and ask if I can have a wander around it.

http://www.shaftesburyyouthclub.org.uk/home/

Still going strong in Birkenhead,very well established club.

There's a big event coming up in a few weeks time which may be of interest to you.

http://www.knowhere.co.uk/town/user_board/messages/3622

their is a book called the shaftes by C.L.BIBBY its a bout the story of the shaftesbury boys club published by the club you may want to try them and see if they still have any copies left

I don't recall any reference to the gentleman in the book.
The pic around 1910.

Thats great Bert, I will contact him and find out. There is a book which mentions him, not sure how many there are in circulation. But I will get dates of his involvement, but judging by what my mother in law said, he was there when it started and was heavily involved. Would love to find something out about him and maybe even a photo.

Just to clarify then Bert, my mother in laws grandad would have been born around the turn of the 20th century, meaning that he would have been involved with the move to the ebenezer chapel. Does that narrow it down slightly? I will find out some more information tonight from her and see in what capacity he worked within the club

The chapel was purchased in 1903 for £1,250. The new building was ready by 1911 (Thomas st)

Ok, so that would be the time when he was involved. Just spoke with the Youth Club, and a woman is ringing me later as she is organising the renunion (125 year anniversary) as she has amassed a lot of information and history of the club. That failing, I will go to the archives as they have a variety of different documents I could look through.

You have the hardback version of the book, that is for sale on amazon for £50! Apparently there are the paperback versions for sale around birkenhead and the guy from the youth club said that there was one for sale in a military memorabilia shop in Birkenhead market?

£50, I'll hide it under the mattress then.

After speaking with my mother in law, she has said that he had her father in 1931, making him too young to be involved from the beginning. We are assuming that he was involved on some sort of committee or on the board of some sort around this time and later.

Bert, before I get the book, would it be possible to see if there is any information on him from this period. I am going to the archives this week as they have a catalogue of minutes of meetings, starting in the 1930's

Benny, I'm pretty sure he's not mentioned in the book i have, its a while since i read it but i have flashed through it again today and can find no trace of him, even so if you can get hold of a paperback copy at a reasonable price its well worth the read.

I used to go there in the early 70s (Mendip Rd). As a kid under 12 I was even allowed to do air rifle shooting in the gym. Upstairs there was a "bar" which sold soft drinks and had a pinball machine. There was also a quite enormous Scalextric rig which I never saw in action as I was told it was broken. Downstairs there was a library and a room which was designated as "quiet" and for teenagers only so that they could do their homework in peace.

The date is wrong, it is Thursday NOV 3rd not nov 2nd I've just phoned

My son plays football for shaftes under 12s all the teams had their photos taken for a display on thursday

I'm thinking of going there, anybody else

A good night, packed, free grub,wine and a show

couple more pics
I think the food was in 3 parts Victorian,1950s,present day
Nice stew didn't get round to trying the curry

I didn't realise that Camell Lairds workers helped to subscribe to (the buying of the land and the building of the new club?) by having money stopped out of their wages each week for it

How good is that,well done Camell Llairds workers!

Is that the Welsh section?

Haha sorry,i can't help it,its in my genes!!

we are the members of the s b c everybody knows we know are manners how to spend are tanners we are respected wherever we may go andwhen we travel on a railway line we open our windows wide we know how to stamp our feet icilyisight down our street we our the shaftsebury boys.

i went to a few judo and kendo classes there in1969/70

I was involved in the Judo at the shafts for many years and helped neil mcadam,who was the main sensi there, also was very keen on the Kendo sessions Neil ran there
I also went for quite a few years at the mendip rd site helpng dave rogers, in the dojo,,,
and for my sins ran a fishing club myself, "my" kids winning many competitions along the way... and many years later helped instruct the youths with Joe waterhouse...
went back many moons later as a volunteer, also...

without the help and support of the many volunteers from Lairds, over many decades the Shafte would never have been the success it has been....I remember loads of the guys with fondness and am grateful for their support........

i played footy for them for 13 years from 1991 to 2004.
we had a very good side then too.

We live in Mendip Road and my daughter does Taekwondo in the Shaftes and loves it, Mr Kelly and Mr Carr are great instructors and at £1.50 a session you can't ask for more.