Bristol club has long working life ahead

There was a time when working men's clubs were a familiar sight up and down the land. Places of cheap pints and dart boards; sticky lino-floored rooms enveloped in clouds of smoke and clinking to the gentle music of the snooker balls.

They were a comforting retreat for generations of factory weary spirits; a place of rest for the aching limbs of the dockers, and for a long time they were a cornerstone of the community.

But successive waves of unemployment through the last 30 years have proved too much for most of these great working class institutions.

Without anyone really knowing when it happened, they disappeared from our communities.

But one former working men's club in Southville has reinvented itself in order to survive the current economic downturn and the fickle shifting sands of fashion.

Formerly the Holy Cross Working Man's Club, the simple gabled building has been a familiar sight in Dean Lane for decades.

Once it had been a vibrant hub of the local working class community. But over many years the club steadily went downhill.

The paint began to flake from the walls, and few of the clientele were true "working men" any more.

But a couple of years ago the building was given the kiss of life when it was bought by a not-for-profit community dance organisation, Dancequarter, and was transformed into the Southbank Club.

As the new club prepares to celebrate its second anniversary, project manager Jess Newton says they have had to balance the regeneration with a respect for its working men's club heritage.

"We've kept the skittles alley in the backroom, and we still have weekly matches," Jess says. "Only now, during the day, we often use the space for art exhibitions, too."

The cheap and cheerful bar would be familiar to any former members of the working men's club too, though there was uproar among regulars last year when the beer went up by 10p a pint – up to the dizzy heights of £1.50 a pint.

But these days, it's not all beer and skittles.

"We have all kinds of events," Jess explains. "Everything from weekly salsa and Latin dance classes to yoga sessions.

"We have ballroom dancing every Tuesday evening, keep fit classes, and Argentinian tango sessions."

There's ballet for the children, and Middle Eastern dance classes for the mums.

On the first Sunday of each month the main hall is converted into a cinema for the film club, and on the second Sunday of the month it becomes a market space, for the monthly bazaar – where locals sell vintage clothes, music, books and general bric-a-brac.

"We've made the place so much more vibrant than it was," Jess says. "It's a slow process to let people know that it's changed and it's not just a working men's club these days, but word is getting out and more and more people are coming forward from the community to use the facilities."

The Southbank Club is also finding its feet as a live music venue.

"Over the past year we've had a number of big-name bands, including Chumbawamba," Jess says.

"We're keen to encourage promoters to bring acts here, because it's the perfect space for gigs. We've certainly come a long way in just two years."

The venue is celebrating by holding a second anniversary party on Friday evening.

"There will be a real party atmosphere, with acoustic Latin jazz from Nick Rolle and Pete Airey, as well as music from DJ Metisse," he says.

"There will be opportunities to try a bit of salsa, with free dance demonstrations throughout the evening."

● The Southbank Club's Second Anniversary Party is on Friday, October 9, from 8.30pm to midnight. Admission is £7, or £5 for concessions. For more details, call 0117 966 5552.