Lads dressed up like Rick Astley, a pint was less than a quid and you couldn't ring your mates on a mobile phone to tell them you were running late. Welcome to the 1980s.
A night out in Nottingham 40 years ago was very different to hitting the pubs and clubs 2022-style. There were no Wetherspoon pubs for a start. The usual haunts were were very different. Venues like Yates's, the Fountain Inn, the Queen Elizabeth, Dog & Bear and the Penthouse were popular.
Pubs closed at 11pm and then it was either onto a club - the likes of the Palais, Astoria or Madisons - or catching the last bus home. Not many photos exist of those riotous nights out because it meant taking an actual camera... and then waiting while Boots developed the pictures.
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A night out in the 1980s
Andrew Fox, 56, who lives in the city centre, said: "Circuits round pubs in town in the 80s was the thing. Before the days of mobile phones you had to make arrangements with your workmates to be in a set pub at a set time. And if you missed them in the first pub you knew they would be in the next one.
"Yates's was one of our main meeting places . Always early, around 7pm. It's funny, most people then were creatures of habit, standing in the same place, drinking the same drink at the exact same time. Unless we were going onto a club we drank till kicking out time 11pm and caught the last bus home.
"Then as licencing laws changed relaxed, late bars popped up serving till 1-2am. That changed everything. Gone were the choices of either just a pub or a club. Before this you were clock watching, drinking up quickly to make sure you got in the queue for your favourite club. You had to look your best - most big clubs turned blokes away if you weren't wearing at least a shirt and tie. Definitely no ripped jeans or trainers.
"Mobile phones were a key in the demise of the regular town circuits, along with drinking habits changing. There was no need to be in a set place at a set time. Folk started coming out later after pre-drinking at home and staying out later. The 80s were the best era to be going out in town 100 per cent."
Chris Richards, 60, said the night's drinking began at 7pm and he'd always be wearing a shirt, jacket and tie for a Saturday night on the town.
The retired graphic designer, who used to live in Radford but is now in Langley Mill, drank at Orchards in Market Street, Hardy's Bar, and the Video Disco Bar underneath the Palais. He recalled: "We ended up in the Palais when the Video Bar shut. We normally visited pubs where our mates were DJs, as we knew they attracted the girls!
"We tended to stick to the same spots as we knew we could get in there and knew the bouncers. Diverting to an unknown pub might have meant failing to gain entry or at worse, meeting unsavoury characters. In the days before mobile phones, the same people often arrived at the same pub at the same time each week, so meeting up was never an issue. You would often arrange the week before where and when to meet up.
"I mainly drunk halves of lager - these were dancing days for guys in our early 20s, so a drink had to be downed fast when a favourite track was played by the DJ. Hofmeister, Skol and Carlsberg were popular, although we were fond of a Red Witch, which was a pint of cider with a Pernod and Blackcurrant tipped in it.
"Mum's dinners used to keep me going till about 1am, when we would try and find a local kebab shop, or head back to Hyson Green, where the Jamaican patty shop was still open at the top of Radford Road. We would take them back to a friend's house and spin a few records till the early hours.
"When I ordered my first kebab I made the mistake of thinking the 'red sauce' on the counter was tomato ketchup, and told the man serving to 'pile on the ketchup'. When I took it outside and tasted it, I found out it was, in fact, chilli sauce and could hardly breathe."
Nightclubs stay open till 4am these days but back in the 1980s they closed at 2am - and then it was usually a long wait in a taxi queue in OId Market Square. Chris said: "The club house lights would be switched up dead on 2am, exposing the face of your dance partner, the floor of the club a sea of cigarette butts and spilt beer."
Everyone had their own circuit. Patrick Ross, 54, recalled: "We started at the Boston Bean and then it was onto the Stage Door, Tavern in the Town, Flying Horse Walk, the George Hotel and the Thurland before heading towards Yates’s for last orders, obviously admiring the foam from the fountains where someone had chucked a box of Daz in it. We used to grab some chips from the Moulin Rouge before catching the last bus home.
"I have very, very fond memories of our nights out. There was no trouble and everyone was just out for a good time. Sometimes we actually got let into Astoria and Madisons. I remember the Rick Astley look - everyone had cream trousers and a blazer on," said Patrick, who used to have a flat in Lenton but now lives in Copenhagen.
Nights out in 2022
Night outs now can be just as wild but the pubs and clubs of the 80s have mostly long gone with the odd exception. A whole raft of new favourites have taken their place: The Blind Rabbit, the Slug & Lettuce, 31K, Six Barrel Drafthouse, Revolucion de Cuba, Stealth and Pryzm.
There's hidden bars (Lost Property), a cave bar (The Lost Caves), craft beers (Junkyard) and even pour your own drinks (Another? Wine Bar and the Tap House). Nights out tend to start much later especially if pre-drinking at home is involved... or you're clubbing until 4am.
Rather than it being a regular weekly occurrence revellers paint the town red less often than drinkers in the 1980s. Local neighbourhoods such as Sherwood, Beeston, Mapperley and West Bridgford have made great strides when it comes to nightlife so there's no longer that need to venture into the city centre for a top night out. Plus the cost of living has a lot to do with it currently.
Advancements in technology mean sending a text or a making quick call on your mobile to find out the exact location of friends. And instead of catching the last bus home or queuing for a taxi, you can book an Uber.
Jenna Tollit, 21, of Nuthall, usually starts a night out in Nottingham at 9pm. "Bars are my preferred option over a club. Slug & Lettuce for 2-4-1 cocktails, Revolution, Rev de Cuba and Wetherspoons. We don't have a circuit. Each night is different."
Gin and lemonade, vodka and lemonade and fruit cider are Jenna's favourite drinks. "Sometimes I go to a club but not regularly," she said A sesh usually ends between 1am to 3am but not before a trip to McDonald's or a nearby kebab shop.
Bex Knight, who works in public relations, said: "I probably go out in Nottingham only once a month or once every other month. Fridays begin at at 7-8pm and Saturdays anytime after 3pm."
"I don't think people go out every weekend because of the cost of going out and drinking, it's not a cheap thing to do, especially if you want to grab dinner as well as drinks. For me too, I don't have one large group of friends, I have smaller pockets of friends so we tend to plan nights out in advance so we can actually see each other."
Bex, 28, of Carlton, frequents cool and stylish cocktail venues such as 31K in Goose Gate, Hockley, and The Hockley Arts Club, in Carlton Street. Italian bar and restaurant Bar Gigi, at Flying Horse Walk, is another favourite.
"There isn't a circuit. We tend to stick to just one or two places on a night. It's generally the same spots each time we go out. Mobiles definitely make it much easier if you're running late - we all tend to message when we're leaving our house and when we're nearby.
"I'm a wine drinker - either a Sauvignon Blanc or a Riesling. Food is always involved. A typical spend would be £70 to £80. I don't go clubbing. I've never liked it. The latest for me is usually midnight but it's not uncommon for it to be around 11pm."
Kieran Burt, of Radford, rarely goes out in Nottingham on a Friday or Saturday night. The 21-year-old, who has recently graduated with a Politics and International Relations degree from Nottingham Trent University, said he goes out on a Tuesday night or once a month to Rock City for the Thursday student night.
"Saturday I'd typically stay in because I would do things with my flatmates in the house. Drinking on Tuesdays would start at 9pm, and on Thursdays at 8pm. The typical places I would visit are Rock City, the Roebuck and Joseph Else Wetherspoons, and the Playwright. We go to the same spots each week," he said.
"I drink whiskey and coke, rum and coke, normal coke and Budweiser beer - not all on the same night I hasten to add. The night doesn't involve food - I would eat before drinking.
"I get home anytime between 11pm and 2.30am. I would walk home and text my friends when I got back," added Kieran, who will be starting a Master's degree in September.
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