OBs – Where to stay in Southport

Dave Mundy

For most OB chaps, this place was ‘THE’ place to go when staying in Southport, for all the Liverpool jobs.

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Some scanners went via Southport when going north of Watford as a Rigger Supervisor had a ‘thing’ about one of the ladies who ran the place: unfortunately she married someone else, but that is another story!

I first met ‘The Queens Hotel’ whilst covering the Liberal Party Conference in the Floral Hall, with one of the smaller OB units. After work we descended on the Queens where we were joined by one of the lady owners.

The tradition was that at drinking up time the bar shutters came down and those not in the know left, after a discreet pause the shutters would go up again! On one occasion it was the time of the ‘Gay Libs’ and the landlady espied a ‘couple’ kissing at the bar and asked them to refrain as it was a family bar.

They hissed loudly and went back to their friends and left en-bloc, and as they passed our gathering they threw a pint of beer over us! Needless to say, the landlady wasn’t pleased and cancelled the arranged meeting rooms for the Liberal hierarchy the next day. They arrived en-mass the next day, full of apologies, and begged her not to let the media know about the fracas the night before!

Sad to say, that it is no longer a hotel, but it still has a bar but I doubt if it has the same atmosphere as when we used it!

Royal Clarence Hotel, Exeter

Background

A  fire raged through the Royal Clarence Hotel, Exeter, described as England’s oldest hotel, started at 05:00 BST on Friday 28th October 2016. The facade of the building partially collapsed and its interior walls were reduced to rubble.

Bernie Newnham

I once filmed a choir in Exeter Cathedral. This was my bathroom, with a huge window so that you could sit on the loo and watch the tourists, and they you.

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Geoff Fletcher

I guess they will have to rename it the Royal Clearance Hotel now. Apparently it started next door – not in the hotel at all.

A sad end to a famous old watering hole.

Peter Hider

I joined the Beeb in August 1961 along with John Henshall and Frank Smith.

I was sent to Exeter to work on the Midnight Mass from the Cathedral. For a wet behind-the-ears sprog this was exciting especially as I had to put my trust in my 1936 Austin 7 Cabriolet. (A good buy for £10 with only 176,000 on the clock and a broken Woodruff key.)

In the interest of truth and exactitude, I searched the TV Shelter website of Christmas listings to find out that the Exeter OB was transmitted on Christmas Eve 1962.

I was allocated to drive a Motorised Vinten up and down the nave and round the back of the altar – which could only be reached by driving up a step via a wooden wheelchair ramp at full speed. The sight of a Motorised with the speed control on 10 going up a tombstone encrusted nave must have been both a strange and noisy sight for the congregation.

We finished at about one thirty and the whole crew walked back to the Royal Clarence in Cathedral Yard where we were treated to a sumptuous surprise Christmas spread. It was a lovely hotel and after a good breakfast I left very early for London. There was only one petrol station open on the whole route and I saw only six cars throughout the entire journey to London. How things have changed!! This was my one and only (official) OB.

A really sad day for the Royal Clarence.

The TV Shelter website is really fascinating in showing how programming developed from very basic shows before the war to multi channel output in the 1950s.