Batley Variety Club

The Batley Variety Club was a variety club in Batley, West Yorkshire, England. It was financed and co-founded by the late Yorkshire showman and businessman Peter Fleming in partnership with James Corrigan. It had a capacity of around 1,600 people, and when it opened offered cabaret with an inclusive dinner for 6s 6d (six shillings and six pence) (33p in decimal coinage). At the peak of its success, the club was said to have had 300,000 members. It closed circa 1978 and reopened as the Crumpet night club. It closed again shortly afterwards and its contents were auctioned off. It has since reopened as the "Batley Frontier Club".

The Variety Club of the 1960s was a step up from the traditional working men's clubs, usually carpeted and with a meal included in the price of admission. The Batley club was fitted with plush velvet benches installed in a circular "pod" that could seat five couples, with an open end facing the stage. Hundreds of these pods were arranged in tiered rows. Food was served, typical fare being "chicken and scampi with chips in a basket".

During its heyday the club staged concerts by performers including the Spinners, Bee Gees, Shirley Bassey, Tina Turner, Tom Jones, Roy Orbison, Eartha Kitt, Louis Armstrong, Olivia Newton-John, Morecambe and Wise, Alvin Stardust, Jim Bowen, Gene Pitney, Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons, Dusty Springfield, Guys and Dolls, the Brotherhood of Man, Ken Dodd, the Grumbleweeds and many more.

References

• Yorkshire Evening Post, 20 February 2004
• Worlds Fair Newspaper, No 5191 - April 2–8, 2004
• Article on Batley Variety Club

External links

• Peter Flemming Tribute site