Retro South Shields: The Shields club which reckoned it had a 'cure' for lonely people
Loneliness was on the way out if you lived in South Shields in the early 1980s.
A new singles club was being launched at the Chelsea Cat and it was unveiled with a very particular slogan to encourage people to come along.
‘Join in the party spirit. Meet and make new friends’
“Feeling lonesome and blue, we’ve got a cure for you, ” an advertising poster proclaimed on behalf of the club in Thomas Street.
It was unveiled in 1983 and the opening night was held with a 50/50 dance for entertainment.
Bosses encouraged people to ‘join in the party spirit. Meet and make new friends.’
All this happened in 1983 and there was a cover charge of 50 pence for anyone who went along.
Meals while you waited
Membership cards were free and you could get a meal while you were there. Tell us if you joined the singles club and whether you made friends.
That same year, two entrepreneurs were hoping to restore an old South Shields cinema.
The Savoy, in Ocean Road, had closed the previous December, leaving the town without a picture house.
David Bage, 26, of South Shields, was assistant manager at the cinema, and his business partner, Lawrence Younger, 25, was the projectionist.
Life was hopefully a cabaret in South Shields
“We hope that it will be more than just a cinema, with live cabaret-type shows, ” Mr Bage told the Shields Gazette.
Planners were also changing the image of South Shields town centre, with the new Denmark Centre being about to open, along with the arrival of the Metro network.
Changes included traffic lights at the town hall, a buses-only zone in Keppel Street and entry from Anderson Street to the rooftop car parking at the Denmark Centre.
Back in 1983, South Shields no longer had a cinema to its name and the town’s movie-lovers were forced totravel out of the borough to get their film fix.
That provided an opportunity for the President cinemas in Chester-le-Street and Houghton-le-Spring to attract custom from South Tyneside.
The blockbusters of the day included Flashdance, Superman III and Return Of The Jedi.
Tell us what you remember about South Tyneside life in 1983 by emailing [email protected]