Paris Lounge

Mrs Arnold and guest viewing a rather bawdy mural of Montmartre in Paris
Sports Stadium Brighton Archive
In this photo Mrs Arnold is enjoying a drink with Mr Benny Lee (Managing Director) and guests. Directly behind her to right is Mr Bill Gentry the General Manager.
Sports Stadium Brighton Archive

This series of photographs shows the opening of the newly refurbished “Paris Lounge” at the Sports Stadium by Mrs Helen Arnold, wife of the famous impresario Tom Arnold.

The Lounge was refurbished in the mid-fifties and was a favourite meeting place for many local people.  The bar was situated on the first floor to the left of the main entrance and must have been considered the height of modernity in its day.

Mrs Arnold was a regular visitor to the Sports Stadium and was instrumental in co-producing many of the shows produced there by her husband Tom Arnold and his associates

Comments about this page

  • Does anyone remember the Spanish Bar, ground level, under the Paris Lounge.

    By JACQUIE (05/10/2012)
  • Yesterday remember the Spanish bar…and all the bars. My dad Mr Barry ( Pat ) was bars manager for many years, I think there were four bars. The Spanish bar, The Paris lounge and the one on the ringside and also what I remember as the Long Bar.. I was about 10 or 11 years old and I used to go to work with my dad on a Saturday morning and he paid me to tidy the Long Bar..upstairs…and polish all the bar and tables and fill up the glass crisp jars.
    My dad was a tall, immaculately dressed man and was well known …he used to stand at the door by the Skate shop on first floor and chatted to everyone.
    I also remember a man with pure white hair managing the skate shop.
    Dad was there for maybe 30 years and sadly had an awful accident down in the cellar which caused a brain haemorrhage..he had a very successful brain operation but soon after that the SS brighton was closed.
    I loved to skate too..and spent many a Sunday evening watching the Tigers..with Mary and Diana my sisters.
    My mum Shirley Barry also worked in the Long Bar on Sunday evening.
    I would love to hear from anyone who remembers my dad.

    By Christine Barry (24/02/2024)
  • I used to skate at SS Brighton in the 1950s but was too young to go into the bars you mention other than the one beside the Ice Rink where you could get a drink, probably a Tizer, a lemonade or a cup of tea or coffee. There was an old ex-army Jeep which would pull a scraper round to clear the ice which would then be sprayed with water which froze so the second session would start with freshly frozen smooth ice. Then the Brighton Tigers would give a demonstration of their high speed skating followed by dancing on ice often with well-known dancers before we could get back on the ice for the second session. Tom Arnold was famous for his Ice Shows which were put on several times a year which we often went to as well. When we got our own skates and no longer had to use the ones that you could hire from the skate shop at the rink we would take them to a little shop outside to get them sharpened on a special grinding machine.

    By Tim Sargeant (25/02/2024)

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