The Grafton

[FKoE]

Looking forward to that, cheers

Well I'll get on it this weekend, I shattered at the mo'..

[reelcrazy]

Yes, I went with a mate once and he phoned me at 6am the next morning, not knowing where he was. He was attempting to leave a block of flats somewhere.

It turned out to be middle of Kirby

I did the same thing. Do we know each other?

[FKoE]

[PhilipG]

1937 & 2006.

[peewak]

oh deary me the grafton eh...... i bet everyone in the city and beyond has a few tales about that place, i rememeber i was in greece on holiday

on year and became friends with some scottish lads, telling me that they used to come down here to play footie. one time,the guy said they all went to this

nightclub and dont remember much, but must've been good cos the scored(if ya catch my drift) with some 30 odd yr olds. for days they were trying to think of

the name, then, one day one of the guys comes up to me shouting "the grafton, it was the grafton club" oh f**k me, i shoulda known, i thought

[sweetpatooti]

During the 40s and 50s The Grafton was THE place to go. It

had a sprung dancefloor and it would bounce when they jived on it. All the big bands used to come and play on there. My dad sung on the Grafton during the

50s - they called him "Liverpool's Boy Wonder" and his photo was outside in the display. My mum said she only needed her hips replacing cos she wore them

out jiving at the Grafton! It was a very respectable place in them days. No alocohol - just tea and orange juice.

[Waterways]

The Grafton was a very Ritzy place inside. You only had to go to the toilets to see that. Leather

clad buttoned doors and a room off the toilets with only fiull length mirrors all around. It put modern places to shame. And that is no

exageration.

I met a Londoner, in London, and he told me of his experiences of Liverpool in the 1950s. He said the Grafton was brilliant, far better

than anything London had at the time.

[scouserdave]

We lived across the road from the

Grafton in Hughes St. Me Mum and Dad were never out of the place in the early 50s and mum learned all her dance steps on the top floor of The Olympia Pub as

a kid. Her mate Jean Rogers was the daughter of the parents who ran the pub. I've still got a couple of their dance competition medals somewhere.
Here's

a few pics. The first one is of my Mum's mate (far left). She reckons it was taken in '48 or '49. The others were taken earlier this year when I popped in

to see a mate of mine. If anyone's old enough to recall how it used to be, they'll be dissapointed how it looks

nowadays.

[Kev]

I was in there during the mid/ late 1990's when I was 17/18. Still

the same then.

[Max]

Did you grab a granny?

[Kev]

Courtesy of Liverpool City Library and the Records Office

[MikeDainty]

Joined up just to post this poem I wrote. Posted it on a site called Authors Den, but You lot might like it too>>>

Grab a granny, grab a gran.
Do the business if you can.
Down a bevvy, down a few.
Anything in a skirt will do.
Hit the dance floor, hit it fast.
Don't know how long the band can last.
One more shimmy, one more beer.
Kicking out times nearly here.
Out the night club, off yer head.
Donna, taxi and home to bed.
Grab a granny, grab a gran.
Do the business if you can.

[Liverpool Streets]

Joined up just to post this poem I wrote. Posted it on a site called Authors Den, but You lot might like it too>>>

I like it.
I know he has a broad Mancunian accent, but the rhythm is well suited for John Cooper Clarke to recite.

[phredd]

SWEETPATOOTI

If you can go that far back in time we may have danced togther.
The Grafton was the place to be seen to the more "well-behaved" clientele. Tea and coffe was the order, but NO crumpet while the "Lacarno" was the place to pull or have a punch-up
Many a friday and saturday spent in both, with my Merchants seamans discharge book sticking out me sky-rocket (back pocket) pre 1959.
As for "Grab a Granny", no such things in them days. Teddy Boys and Italian style suits and haircuts where the order of the day.
In the days when we had nothing, we had fun.
Phredd

[lindylou]

In my grandmothers days the Grafton was 'select' and would host tea dances. No shenanigans then - it was all very respectable.