17 replies to this topic

[lizthemeerkat]

am new onto this forum - wish I had known about this before now!! - I was born and brought up in St Helens and lived there up to 1984 and I used to frequent both 'Chessie's' (nickname for Exchange Vaults of course!!) and the infamous Geraldo probably around 1976 to 1983..around the College St / Lord St area?? great times, heavy rock stuff at the geraldo mainly - headbanging etc and some great characters. it was always very dark from what I remember probably so you couldn't see the stains and rips in the furniture etc! I used to go along mainly with one of my sisters and in fact when my other sister got married in Oct 1980 they had a 'makeshift reception' at chessies !anyone have any memories of these 2 places ??

[Handsome Johnny]

welcome to the pleasure dome, i remember the geraldo really well but i only ever went on soul nights, in fact i did quite a bit of dj'ing there as well.

[Dave]

I used to go in Chessies quite a bit around 1975/76. Mainly because it was an easy pub to get into if you were only 16 or 17. It had a good juke box with the right kinds of sounds. I went in the 'raldo a few times but it wasn't really my scene.

This one reminds me of Chessies (although it dates to '71)

[-Oy-]

Played Geraldos a few times with the band I was in - the early 80s - SLOWDOG we were called

[Alan]

I remember Chessies being on the under-age circuit in late 1950s along with Turk's Head. I preferred Purple? Parrot near Gas Showrooms to Geraldo, if only for the roulette table

[Dave]

It was the 'Blue Parrot' Alan.

I think it was called 'Trios' when I went up there.

[Alan]

Ta Dave. I think we called it Purple Parrot as it seemed to sound better. It was a kind of down-market version of Southport's Kingsway Casino but very popular in the 1960s

[Olliebeak]

I used to go in both Geraldo and Chessie's - but a bit earlier that the rest of you, probably between around 67-69. The Geraldo was quite nice in those days - don't think it had been open all that long. From what I can remember, Chessie's always had a bit of a reputation for being easy to get a drink under-age. My first under-age drink was in The Travellers - lunch-time Christmas Party from Cowley Hill Works 1967!

[kizzy]

I used to go to the Geraldo when I was about 15/16 that would be 60/61..ish (even earlier than Ollie . I was fresh out of school and innocent - dancing was the only thing I was interested in. Music was provided by way of records. Chessies was a bit later, about 1962/3. Live groups, alcohol and boys was now part of the equation. I loved those times.. they are still a highlight of my teen years. I'm getting a bit worried that I probably belong to our older members group..though not in my head :-) Welcome liz, it's good to 'meet' you

[HORT]

Inbetween being called the Blue Parrot and Trios, it was called the Baccardi Club, but unlike the Parrot, there was no gaming licence in the Baccardi, so out went the roulette and poker.

Over at Chessies, the landlord Jack had a pin table in the bar with a weekly prize of 8 pints for the highest score. I spent a small fortune trying to win that 8 pints but never did.

[SKYMAN]

didnt chessie, (chesworth )or one of the family have a pub
in bridge st later, the one next to the post office,

[john b]

I used to visit chessies and the geraldo in 78 to 84,being a biker it was probably the only two places you could get into wearing a leather jacket,i was always playing on the bar football or the pinball machine .I was a little bit wary on my first visit to chessies because i heard it had a bit of a reputation,it was a saturday night and packed out,i ordered a pint of lager and when the barmaid put it on the bar this guy picked it up and drank it in one go,me being seventeen years old and nine stone wet through at the time, i thought i will have to say something to this guy,just has he put the glass down on the bar he threw me a quid and said sorry lad i didn't have time to get served because i'd be late for work.

[Dave]

I bet you'd get a few pints for a quid in 78. In 75/76 it was about 20p a pint.

[Phyll]

Hi Liz, to Connect and you too John b, great story about the pint.

I used to go The Geraldo in the 70's, I particularly remember this song by Free.

Edited by Phyll, 23 January 2012 - 08:32 AM.

[DJGAZZA]

That song won me a pint in O'neill's on Saturday night. A bloke bet me (a DJ) that it was 1967, I said it was on the pink Island label in 1970. We googled it, pint to Gaz. I have to wait until this week for it