Forums Forums Wirral History : Chasing the Past Wirral Pubs Past & Present Does anyone remember the welly club in tranmere

Hi .... Does anyone remember a club at the top of the monkey steps in hillside road tranmere ..... It was first called sammys dance hall .... Then went on to be called the hillside club .... Then onto be called the welly ( the Wellington ) ........ Would love to hear of your memories of this place , once upon a time owned by my grandfather George Daniels .... I was born in the house next door to the club .

Went once in the 60s to see a group called The Hillsiders (still got one of their albums) and vaguely remember there being a balcony where we stood looking down at the group.
Possibly the group got its name from the club.

i am a voluteer at ashville lodge wsbaps and i heard one of our ladies talking about the monkey steps and going danceing inthe club willtry and get more data audrey

Thankyou Audrey .... Would be much appreciated .

Yes Derek indeed there was an upstairs balcony with tables and chairs ..... It was my grandfather who renamed it the hillsidebut I always assumed that was because it was in hillside road , I could he wrong ... Bit thankyou for your post ... Appreciated .

Hi,I remember it, it was quite small. My Uncle had the little General store at the top of the Hill, used to eat all the sweets.

Ahhh I remember the shop you mention , was quite a big shop as I recall was'nt it ???..... Was it " henshaws " ????

Around 1877 the Temperance Society had fund raising events in order to finance the building of a Mission Hall on the Holt, Hillside Rd. It appears the Mission Hall has had through various years, name and slight number changes as the road developed, depending on what directory and census, I'm assuming it was what ended up being the Wellington Club.

1911, Temperance Mission Hall
1916, Samuel Cartlidge & Mrs Constance, Dance
1923, as 1916
1938 Claremont Hall, School of Dance
Later years the Hillside Club and Wellington Club.

Perhaps just coincidental, but I wonder, there was Claremont Villas in Wellington Rd, Wallasey, Did that have any influence on the clubs name?

Thank you for that info Bert .... Extremely interesting .... I have no idea as to where the name Wellington came from .... I think that was post my grandfather's ownership, as I only remember it being the hillside when he owned it ... Very interesting information you have offered there though .... Much obliged

Hi Pauline520, reading your post sent shivers down my spine. My parents purchase the Welly around 1968 and ran it for around 18 years. I would have been around 5 at the time and for 2 of those years I lived in the house you was born in -55 Hillside Road. Why shivers I hear you ask - Well in our house your grandfather was very well known even though none of us ever met him. One evening my mum began shaking and swore she'd see what she thought was a ghost! On describing the person to a group of regulars the all looked at each other and said almost in unison Mr Daniels -apparently she had described your grandfather to a T. Never even knowing of his existence.
She got another scare several years later when very early one morning there was a hammering on the front door of the house. It was winter and the fog was thick rolling up from the Mersey. When she answered the door and there stood in the shadows was a man who said hello I'm Mr Danials. Apparently it was your grandfathers brother who had come looking for him. I think she was just relieved she wasn't talking to a ghost.

Your right it wasn't massive compared to other clubs but I have lots of happy memories as my parents owned it for many years. If the shop your referring to was Henshaws then that's where I'd spend my pocket money buying chocolate logs. I remember their son having an interest in photography and mum arranged for him to photograph me and my sister in our dance costumes and I also have some he took of me in my holy communion dress.