[Archived] Blackburn Nightlife

[sambo]

Is there actually anywhere to go in Bburn? Never been on a night out there, but heard its just the Postal Order and Liquid nowadays..

As an 18 year old, it seems Blackburn doesn't really offer much, although I've heard it doesn't put off the many chavs which frequent Blackburn on a Saturday night.

It is worrying that BURNLEY is possibly a better night out than Blackburn.. surely this can change? Really don't get why it is so poor.

Just a thread really to discuss, would interest me to hear what people have to say regarding it.

[Seggie]

Its awful, Burnley is a better night out, as is Darwen, Accrington and anywhere else you can think of.

[thenodrog]

Its awful, Burnley is a better night out, as is Darwen, Accrington and anywhere else you can think of.

When I look at Blackburn I feel sorry for today's young people. We had things so much better. The reasons are numerous.

[MCMC1875]

When I look at Blackburn I feel sorry for today's young people. We had things so much better. The reasons are numerous.

They're not that numerous Theno but we don't want the thread closing. We used to knock Blackburn on our Friday and Saturday nights out in the 80's but didn't foresee decline turning into freefall. Less frequent trips to Preston, Manchester or even Blackpool are much more popular nowadays.

[bellamy11]

Burnley is a better than Blackburn, as is Preston. However there is some degree of familiarity involved. With nightlife as limited as that in Blackburn you're always going to get bored eventually. But equally I've heard people from Burnley say they prefer Blackburn.

Get yourself down to Manchester. Far more places to go there. Stay in 235s casino once the clubs shut until the trains start again and get back in time for breakfast. Perfect.

[adopted scouser]

I'm in Altrincham now so I'm biased, but with Manchester not too far way why on earth would anyone plan a night out in Blackburn ?

I dropped one of my managers and her mate off on Deansgate Saturday night three weeks ago, absolutely chocka. Just get a nominated driver or find a travelodge or summat.

[Baz]

If people rate Preston better than Blackburn, then I really pity the kids in Blackburn as Preston is awful.

Burnley I'm told is a good night, although I havent been there at night myself.

[Alex Rover]

When I was out and about on a Friday night circa 1993/4 it was heaving. Queues to get into Toffs, the Brewers, even the Jubliee was a cool place to go and finally the Cav (Peppermint Place to give it's then official name), although Manhattan Heights and Sugar Hill were an alternative. That whole area around the bottom of the stairs up to the Cav and the main square around M&S was always packed around 9pm and again at about 2am. Then everyone moved to Darwen Street for a takeaway and taxi's were like gold dust without a good half to an hours wait. I went with mates that lived in Burnley and Bolton and it was always Blackburn that everyone went to.

[Claytons Left Boot]

Went out round Darwen a few weeks back with a couple of mates. Friday night and it was fairly packed in most of the pubs and especially in the ICI club. Just about managed a final pint in Marigolds before the walk home.

In Blackburn in the early 70's you could get a pint of lager in the Dirty Duck at age 13 - well I did anyway! The town used to be buzzing in those days and there was an affinity with Blackburn. The Rovers were on the up in the mid 70's and folk identified with the place. Our town and our football team - there was no need to go anywhere else.

We still went into Blackburn in the 80's although varied it a bit with Burnley, which was always a good night out - Angels, Cats Whiskers and so on. Accrington was ok with a few good pubs and Lar de Dars (spelling?).

Couldn't really comment on Blackburn now as I'm more in to the 'a few pints followed by a restaurant meal' side of things. However, my daughter wouldn't go near Blackburn now, preferring Preston, Manchester or even London for a night out (coach from Manchester Saturday afternoon, clubbing until the early hours, coach back arriving in Manchester on Sunday morning!)

Talking of Manchester, a great day out (now and again) is train from Darwen 2 or 3 o'clock followed by pubs down Printworks/Deansgate or alternatively Deansgate Locks/Castlefield before getting the last train back at 11'ish. Train always full of Darreners and Blackburnians with good football songs and banter.

[Hughesy]

Blackburn used to be pretty good when I was 17/18 but over the last 5 years or so its just died of death...bar after bar has shut.

Preston is pretty poor. Yorks a great night out, as is Liverpool!

[adopted scouser]

a great night out, as is Liverpool!

Matthew Street is amazing, all ages too

[dazmaz]

pains me to say it but that place down the M65 is a much better night out than Blackburn, and with Liquid closing it is going to get worse

Come to think of it I have only been out around Blackburn about 5 times in the last year, and I'm 21

[Drummer Boy]

Not been down Blackburn for a night out in ages - think I'll give it a try after the match on Saturday to see if it really is as bad as everyone says. Will report back

[JAL]

pains me to say it but that place down the M65 is a much better night out than Blackburn, and with Liquid closing it is going to get worse

Liquid closing ? Whats this ?

[ABBEY]

napier is best pub in town!

[Seggie]

When I look at Blackburn I feel sorry for today's young people. We had things so much better. The reasons are numerous.

Im 28, I used to go out in Blackburn 3 times a week, I havn't been anywhere near it in the last 3 years, imo it died a death when they closed Heaven and Hell down and Liquid followed this by relaxing its strict door pollicies to let anyone in so they could pull the business from Heaven and Hell which basicly made it accessable to the "Are you looking at my bird?" types. I have no desire to go near the place at anytime in the future because its nothing short of a disgrace what the nightlife has become in the town.

pains me to say it but that place down the M65 is a much better night out than Blackburn, and with Liquid closing it is going to get worse

Come to think of it I have only been out around Blackburn about 5 times in the last year, and I'm 21

Are they really closing it? In any other town I'd say its no great loss but in Blackburn it pretty much spells Game Over.

[dazmaz]

Im 28, I used to go out in Blackburn 3 times a week, I havn't been anywhere near it in the last 3 years, imo it died a death when they closed Heaven and Hell down and Liquid followed this by relaxing its strict door pollicies to let anyone in so they could pull the business from Heaven and Hell which basicly made it accessable to the "Are you looking at my bird?" types. I have no desire to go near the place at anytime in the future because its nothing short of a disgrace what the nightlife has become in the town.

Are they really closing it? In any other town I'd say its no great loss but in Blackburn it pretty much spells Game Over.

Word from a few bouncers I know as well as a few good friends of mine..

Wasn't syndicate supposed to be opening a club in Blackburn a few years ago?

[Seggie]

Not to my knowlege. From what I remember Heaven and Hell was a Blackpool nightclub that tried opening up in Blackburn then went under. Ive never heard of Syndicate opening up over here and with the way the town is they would be crazy to.

[sambo]

Surely if they put the odd decent club and bar in Blackburn people would go? The only reason people stay away is the lack of such places.

[Ewood Spark]

In my day ...80's to mid 90's ... Blackburn was THE night out in Lancashire ... it would not have crossed your mind to go anywhere else. Fully laden coaches from the likes of Warrington and Lancaster would descend on the town every weekend ... attracted to one of the best club's in the region (Cav/Peppers). Early 80's 'me and m'mates' would scoff at the 'posers' heading for 'Peps' and instead queue down a back alley hoping to be lucky enough to get into the underworld dungeon of 'Heavy Rock' delights that was 'Peepers'. We would go out on the town Thursday, Friday and Saturday ... in short we couldn't get enough of the place. Sad to hear that things have changed for the worse. My theories ... for what they are worth :-

1) Deregulation of the Licensing Laws. My mates from Preston used to look to Blackburn with envy .... bemoaning their councils puritanical licensing laws ... which meant pubs over there were all shut by 11 ... whilst we were still partying the night away at FJ's.

2) The Mall. Once the center of Blackburn's night life with all roads leading to the overarching Cav ... when that closed the structure instead became an impediment to movement between the disparate areas (Northgate, Church St etc.) In fact probably one of the biggest problems was caused by what seemed at the time an innocuous change ... ie closing off the shopping center to pedestrian traffic after the shops had closed.

3) The rise of Student culture. A decision was made in the 50's that would have a far reaching impact on Blackburn. The town had redeveloped it's college facilities and hoped to get one of the new-fangled Polytechnics. The 'powers that be' decided instead to bestow the honour on Preston (many think it was to balance things up after Blackburn Parish Church had been granted Cathedral status a couple of decades earlier). This has provided Preston with a ready made town-center-living nightlife-seeking population.

These things tend to go in cycles ... so maybe in years to come Blackburn can once again become a good night out. The growth of Blackburn college ... the re-invention of Church St and the new town center apartments ... are a few reasons to be hopeful that things may be moving in the right direction.

[Sandiway Blue]

In my day ...80's to mid 90's ... Blackburn was THE night out in Lancashire ...

Indeed,I had my stag do there and it was a great night out...

Although I have to agree with the posters about Burnley being a good night,all the bars are very close together which I think helps and `Lava Ignite` is as good a club as you`ll find anywhere.

[deryck guyler's spoon]

In my day ...80's to mid 90's ... Blackburn was THE night out in Lancashire ... it would not have crossed your mind to go anywhere else. Fully laden coaches from the likes of Warrington and Lancaster would descend on the town every weekend ... attracted to one of the best club's in the region (Cav/Peppers). Early 80's 'me and m'mates' would scoff at the 'posers' heading for 'Peps' and instead queue down a back alley hoping to be lucky enough to get into the underworld dungeon of 'Heavy Rock' delights that was 'Peepers'. We would go out on the town Thursday, Friday and Saturday ... in short we couldn't get enough of the place. Sad to hear that things have changed for the worse. My theories ... for what they are worth :-

1) Deregulation of the Licensing Laws. My mates from Preston used to look to Blackburn with envy .... bemoaning their councils puritanical licensing laws ... which meant pubs over there were all shut by 11 ... whilst we were still partying the night away at FJ's.

2) The Mall. Once the center of Blackburn's night life with all roads leading to the overarching Cav ... when that closed the structure instead became an impediment to movement between the disparate areas (Northgate, Church St etc.) In fact probably one of the biggest problems was caused by what seemed at the time an innocuous change ... ie closing off the shopping center to pedestrian traffic after the shops had closed.

3) The rise of Student culture. A decision was made in the 50's that would have a far reaching impact on Blackburn. The town had redeveloped it's college facilities and hoped to get one of the new-fangled Polytechnics. The 'powers that be' decided instead to bestow the honour on Preston (many think it was to balance things up after Blackburn Parish Church had been granted Cathedral status a couple of decades earlier). This has provided Preston with a ready made town-center-living nightlife-seeking population.

These things tend to go in cycles ... so maybe in years to come Blackburn can once again become a good night out. The growth of Blackburn college ... the re-invention of Church St and the new town center apartments ... are a few reasons to be hopeful that things may be moving in the right direction.

I hope you're right, I used to love a night out in Blackburn in the late 80's. I used to go out in Accy which was very lively for a small town. Unfortunately it had a small town attitude and was horrendous for scrapping.

That never seemed to be a problem in Blackburn with loads of people out from all points of the compass.

Then I met a lass from up Preston New Road in Yates who introduced me to the Revidge Run

[Mattyblue]

I agree with Hughesy, I'm 26 and the decline compared to when I first went into town is unreal.

Closed-

Marley's on Church St

Toffs

Cubes

Borough

Bentley's

Blakey's (at night)

Gibees

Barlife

Cav

Club Trop

Never never land

C'est La Vie

Khaz Bar

Mr G's

That's just in the last 5/6 years!

[Mc Love]

Rather shocking reading. Always had a good night when I was over for a match. Although it was only the postal and nightclub across the road. But last time I was over, we all headed to Preston (much more choice) plus they had a very nice nudey bar

[modes98]

and with Liquid closing it is going to get worse

I hope not. It's not the best place in the world but it is all Blackburn has to offer. The place must make a fortune.