Phil Gillam: Of altar wine, organ pipes . . . and a 70-year-old youth club

Actually, it somehow seemed to me then to be a lot older than a 50s construction and somehow managed to convey the fact that Belle Vue Youth Club was originally formed way back in 1948.

I’m pretty sure our dad showed us round the old hut one evening during one of our explorations of the other side of town.

Years later, as adults, and having actually moved to this “other side of town”, we would go there to vote when the building was acting as a polling station.

And then in the year 2000 the old place was replaced by a brand new hall, bringing the youth club into the 21st century.

And this coming June, the Belle Vue Youth Club will celebrate its 70th anniversary. That’s quite an achievement!

There’s a fair old bit of history here. And it’s a story that also speaks strongly of community.

Let’s start at the beginning.

In 1886 a railwayman’s son from Spa Street in Belle Vue found himself in front of the magistrates for the second time in just a few months.

Local historian and author Gordon Stringfellow explains: "On the first occasion he’d been accused of breaking into Holy Trinity Church and, amongst other things, pouring wine into the organ pipes.

"But the kindly vicar had spoken up on the boy’s behalf and the lad had been let off with a caution.

"However, this time he was up on a charge of stealing.

"This time the magistrates showed no mercy and the nine-year-old child was sentenced to six strokes of the birch and three days imprisonment; a sobering insight into 19th century attitudes towards juvenile crime.

"In the same year, and in the same street in which the young lad lived, another event had recently taken place. It was the opening of a new mission room for Holy Trinity Church. The Bishop of Lichfield, in officially opening the room, said he hoped it might 'bring a smile into the homes of poor people'.

"Poverty was all around in those days, and the building of the mission room was part of a scheme to address the needs of the local people."

Gordon goes on to say that the vicar at the time was William Fletcher, known as a wise and caring shepherd of his flock. Believing that boys were more likely to get into mischief than girls, he set about forming a boys' club which met at the new Mission Room. This is the first recorded instance of a youth club in Belle Vue.

Now this was all well and good for a time and undoubtedly there was a very strong community spirit in these parts. The houses that had been built (in the 1870s and 1880s) had sprung up following the building of two large locomotive works along Scott Street which were subsequently known as The Sheds. And the streets adjacent to them became known as “The Back of the Sheds” - a name still used today, even though the locomotive works have long since disappeared.

However, after the Second World War there was a bit of a lull in activities in Spa Street.

The time was right to start a whole new chapter.

Following pressure from some local young people to get things going again, Mr and Mrs Harry Lewis of Bynner Street formed a brand new youth club in 1948.

They called it - you’ve guessed it - Belle Vue Youth Club.

Eventually, members set to and built their own premises in Rocke Street, as we’ve said, in 1957. It was intended that the building last just 25 years but it went on for 42. Then they were awarded a grant from the Millennium Festival Fund to build the new headquarters (2000) we see today.

The club is thriving. The story goes on.