BOLTON SOCIALIST CLUB
A SPECIAL APPEAL FOR DONATIONS FOR THE RESTORATION OF 16 WOOD STREET
The following article was printed in the Bolton Evening News on Thursday June 13.
BRITAIN'S oldest independent socialist club is in danger of closing, members said today.
The headquarters of Bolton Socialist Club, founded in 1887, are crumbling and vital improvements and repairs are needed.
Yet the cash-strapped organisation, better known simply as "Wood Street", cannot afford to maintain its town centre building.
It has just four months to complete the work or else it will be banned from selling alcohol - a major money-spinner.
The building, which has been used by the organisation since 1905, was inspected last month as part of an application by the club to renew its drinks licence.
It was granted by Bolton magistrates, providing the work can be finished by the end of September.
Volunteers are busy fund raising in a bid to save the club, home of many campaign groups such as the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament.
Club spokesman Eileen Murphy said: "We do not have the resources to do this work in the four months allowed by the magistrates, but unless it is completed in that time there is a very real danger the club will have to close."
The club opened - ironically, in view of its political orientation, in the house that was the birthplace of local capitalist Lord Leverhulme.
In those days, the Socialist Party was a force in its own right in British politics. Members still technically sign up with the party, but it no longer exists.
For years, however, the club was known less for its ideology than for its unusual opening hours.
In a court hearing in 1979, which led to the club losing its licence, its 3.30pm to 5.30pm afternoon session was blamed for providing a rough and ready refuge for drinkers during pub closing time. It won its licence back in 1980.
Today the club is used by various socialist groups. Bolton Trades Council, trade unions and campaign groups hold meetings there.
It houses an educational organisation, which provides courses for asylum seekers and homeless people and a drop-in group for Asian men
The socialist club also has a long association with the Irish community. James Connolly, one of the instigators of the Easter Uprising, spoke there in 1910.
Members of Irish club Comhaltas Ceoltoiri Eireann, which runs a weekly Irish traditional music class on the premises, are organising an evening of traditional Irish music at the club on Saturday, June 29, starting at 8pm.
They are hoping to raise enough cash to fund the repair work estimated to be more then £5,000.
A BRIEF HISTORY OF BOLTON SOCIALIST CLUB
Bolton Socialist Club was formed in 1888 and is one of the oldest (if not the oldest) surviving independent socialist clubs in Britain.Originally based in Back-Cheapside, the club moved to 13 Lorne Street in 1899, and to 16 Wood Street in 1905, where it has been ever since.
In the early years of the 20th century the Club was home to Bolton Socialist Party, and was a hive of political and cultural activity, including educational classes, meetings, a library, a cycling club, a choir, and a socialist Sunday school. Among many internationally known speakers who visited the club were Mrs. Pankhurst, Eleanor Marx (Karl's daughter), James Connolly, Tom Mann, and Ben Tillett.
From the beginning the club saw itself as being in the fore-front of the fight not only for socialism, but also equality of the sexes.
After the First World War, socialist propaganda work from the club declined. The club gained an unenviable reputation as a drinking dive. But even during this period its socialist aspect never completely disappeared.
In May Day 1984, the club was re-launched after a procession around the town headed by striking miners and nursery nurses. The Clarion Cycling Club was revived, union branches began holding meetings, the Trades Council and the Unemployed Workers Centre both moved in, and once again the club throbbed with activity - bands, poets theatre groups, talks and discussions, videos and exhibitions.
The following groups are using the club at present:
NUT
MSF
AEEU
Trades Council
Socialist Labour Party
NEARIS - who provide an education for asylum seekers.
B.A.N.D. - they use the club on Wednesday mornings as a drop - in centre for Asian men with mental health problems.
Comhaltas - An Irish cultural group, who run a weekly Irish traditional music class on Thursday's
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PLEASE SUPP0RT THE BOLTON SOCIALIST CLUB IN THEIR APPEAL!
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Updated: 1 October, 2002