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!
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.
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
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
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?
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.
God help us, Come yourself, Don't send Jesus, This is no place for children.
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.
£50, I'll hide it under the mattress then.
