I'm sure Peter will join with me to welcome Pamela and hope she will find time in future to tell us some more tales from the 60s.
Pam writes:
I started going to the Iron Door in 1963,I had recently left school in 1962 and wanted to see the Undertakers and so My friend Joy and I bought the Merseybeat newspaper that listed all the bands and venues for the week.The Undertakers were to appear at the Iron Door.
That one visit changed our lives to the horror of our families!We went from erstwhile schoolgirls with ponytails to black clad beehived haired, cellar goers!As I related in my original article,I can well remember walking down those wooden steps for the first time,heart beating very fast,the darknes,the smell,the heat,the fantastic atmosphere.Needless to say after that,we attended as often as we could afford to.I received my formal education at school and my education of life at the Iron Door Club!We both grew up very quickly.I was sad when the club was extended into the next cellar,to me it lost all its atmosphere and we then started to go to the Cavern which didn't really compare to the old Iron Door.I was so sad when I found out that it had been demolished some years later.
However thanks to the web I began to read about our old 'Dive'and was prompted to write the article about it.As a result Geoff Hogarth invited me to the unveiling of the plaque which commemorates the 40th anniversary (9th April 1960)of the opening of the club which is positioned on the new building in Temple Street which replaces it.The plaque was unveiled by Tommy Hughes of the Swinging Blue Jeans fame,and Kingsize Taylor along with Geoff himself.Many band members also attended the ceremony and afterwards we attended a reception at Sam's Bar where some of the band members regaled us with their favourite songs.It was wonderful.
My eldest son lives near Detroit and he took us to Hitsville USA,the studio in Detroit where the Motown sound began at the same time that Liverpool was becoming famous for its Merseybeat,it seemed to bring things full circle for me.
