The Regent Ballroom item has given rise to so many side issues that were unconnected with Joanne’s original request, I thought I would open it up as a separate topic.
Apart from matters already mentioned, I recall Galleon bar beneath it, the ride up in the iron gated lift and the area behind the bandstand where our crowd always met up. Being strapped for cash, occasional girl friends were always met inside, but if special, she was greeted beforehand within the confines of the clock tower traffic island. Girls generally did more dancing than fellers, often circling round their large collection of handbags. At the end of the evening you left by the stairs which took half the time the lift did, and rushed to Pool Velley to get the last GREEN bus (no 13) to far flung romantic places like Moulsecombe and Coldean. Having deposited the girlfriend at the gate, I personally had to then hoof it up and over the golf course to Hollingbury where I lived.
I was fitter then.
