A lost floating nightclub that boasted multiple bars and a restaurant was "the" place to go in Greater Manchester decades ago.
Bobbing gently on the still waters of Salford’s Pomona Docks, t he North Westward Ho! started its life as a nightclub in the early 1970s. Situated next to a De Havilland Comet aeroplane that had been transformed into a restaurant, clubbers would embark on the ship up a gangplank to dance the night away, play pool or enjoy a meal.
A business venture between George 'Jud' Evans and Colin Peers, after permission was granted, the ship was brought up the ship canal and be rthed at Pomona. It had originally been the Isle of Wight Ferry Vecta, built in 1938, and latterly the excursion ship Westward Ho! before becoming a nightclub with different plush bars, a restaurant and a venue room.
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It is also said to have been at the Dunkirk evacuation. But many still have fond memories of its life as a floating nightclub and how unique it was for a generation of clubbers.
Daughter of former owner George, Freja Evans Swogger, 57, grew up in Halewood, Merseyside and remembers the early days of the club before it officially opened its doors in 1974. She told the Manchester Evening News: " I spent quite a while there, sleeping on board while it was being done up before it opened as a club.
"I remember it being huge, it seemed like a huge boat. An awful lot of work had to be done, I remember a lot of drilling and nailing and painting and they were very busy.
"I know my dad did a lot of it himself. I remember it being a sunny place but not an awful lot going on or nobody else around.
"I do remember thinking why is this here, but I would have only been about nine at the time." Freja said George and Colin also had a floating nightclub called Clubship Landfall in Liverpool's Canning Docks.
Sue Davies, 61, worked at the North Westward Ho! for seven years and said the club always had a "great atmosphere." She said: "I started working on there when I was 19.
"It was absolutely brilliant, a great place to work. I started working as a cleaner but then I used to go the odd night and help out in the cloakroom.
"There was no trouble everyone behaved themselves. Me and my boyfriend, my late husband now, we used to go every weekend because I could get in there for free."
Sue said the owners and staff were all very friendly and that there was an à la carte menu at lunchtime, with a snack bar selling the likes of chicken and chips in the evening. She said: "It was heaving all the time, very busy. Not so much in the week but on Friday and Saturdays you couldn't move."
Jed Williams, 66, grew up in Wythenshawe and said he "immediately fell in love with" the North Westward Ho! when he first went in 1976. He said people who went to there often referred to it as 'the boat.'
He told the Manchester Evening News: "It was the place to go on a Friday and Saturday night. The place was, as I remember it, peculiarly small for a ship, with low ceilings, certain areas with small bars, but it was more intimate.
"It was easier to meet people lads and girls alike, but looking back the main thing I liked about it was it was always a friendly atmosphere. There never seemed to be any problems with people, if you lost touch with your mates you never felt unsafe."
Jed said towards the end of the night the dancefloors were the best place to be and that because of 'the boat,' he met his ex-wife there and together they had " two beautiful kids and four even more beautiful grandchildren."
He said: "The happiest memories I have from North Westward Ho! was the lads and I would get in early around 8pm and go for a game of pool downstairs in the lower bar. The stairs were practically vertical.
"Towards the end of a critical winner takes all black ball game, around 10.30pm, people used to get in the boat and it would tilt the cue ball. The black ball and the last colour ball would all roll to the side of the table and obviously screw the game."
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In the Dirty Stop Outs’ Guide to 1970s Manchester, author Rikki Wright also said the ship, originally known as the Vecta, was built by Thornycroft and retained many of its original features. An old fashioned diver’s suit could also be found standing guard near the entrance.
In her book, Rikki said: "Locally known as ‘The Love Boat’ it was said that if you couldn’t pull there, you couldn’t pull anywhere. The ship’s steps were tricky for women in heels or platforms to negotiate, and it wasn’t unknown for those having had a good night on the Cherry B to fall from top to bottom, and yet, the drunken body bounces, so most of the fallers seem to have walked away with nothing worse than a bruised bottom.
"Bruises were sometimes also the result of sliding down the banisters, in moments of wild abandon, and for the taller clientele, the result of heads coming into contact with low beams. The gangplank was likewise not easy to navigate after one too many Babychams."
The North Westward Ho! is also said to have had resident bands, including jazz bands, and DJ’s spinning popular discs, including the "ever popular ‘Rock The Boat’ by Hues Corporation."
Judy Corker, 76, first went to the North Westward Ho! with her late husband and soulmate Ken in May 1975. Judy said she hadn't heard of the nightclub before going and that it was "unique" for its time.
She said: "The first time I went was for our first date and I was really nervous because I really liked him. I met Ken at Blinkers in Manchester and I wondered where he was taking me for our first date.
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"But it was fabulous, you walked up the plank to board it and when you actually got inside I seem to remember it was lit with lamps with orange and some gold shades so it gave a subdued lighting. The dancefloor was in the middle and all the seating was around the sides. We went two or three times with different friends."
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Judy said the club had a good atmosphere and whatever music of the time that was played, it was "it was good music to dance to or smooch to - depending on your mood." She said: "I know there was a restaurant but we never went in it and there were different bars - it was like a big ship that you'd expect a pirate to be on, there were different decks.
"We just went on the one deck with a dancefloor and a bar. I just thought it was so different, I'd never been on anything like it before.
"I suppose it stood out because it was so different, it was quite fascinating and the fact that it was in the docks, even though it didn't sail away. There’d not been anything like that in the area before.
"It was just so different for that time too in the seventies. Two of the friends we took with us weren't from Manchester and they thought it was amazing."
Cecilia Grundey, nee Quinn, aged 65, first went to 'the boat' with her brother Paul in 1974 and had her hen do there years later. She said: " I grew up in Old Trafford which was a long walk and you could actually get to the boat on foot if you needed to.
"When I was 15 in 1972, my mum and dad moved out to a village called Broadbottom and it was near Derbyshire and I thought I'd been moved to the end of the Earth because it was dead. When I was 16 and 17 looking for some nightlife, my older brother said I'll take you to the boat.
"He only took me the once then I arranged to meet friends to go with them. It was always crowded, it was never quiet."
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Cecilia said she remembers discos at the club a big diver suit being on display. She also said the song Billy Porter by Mick Ronson, guitarist for David Bowie, was plugged often by one of the DJs and still reminds her of the boat today.
Cecilia told the MEN: "It felt like you were on water, when we were all dancing, it felt like the boat was moving - I don't know whether it was but it felt like it was, it felt different on there. You wondered if every went to one side of the boat would it tilt over a little bit.
"It was dead strange and dead special because there was any number of nightclubs in Manchester where you wanted to go, it was that big, but none were like the boat, it was absolutely unique. t was exciting, it was happening, it was the place to be."
To find out more about the Dirty Stop Outs’ Guide to 1970s Manchester, click here.
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