Mersey Beat - The Orrel Park Ballroom

The OPB is top left opposite the Station entrance.

It was in 1927 that a new billiard hall (to become a ballroom) was opened above a row of new shops opposite Orrell Park Station. Unremarkable in itself, the building contains Orrell Park's most famous spelling mistake. When putting up the name Orrell Park Hall above the shops, the bricklayer was to use three frames of bricks to encompass the name, one per word. When the bricks were laid, he had space left for only one letter L in Orrell and to this day the name on the building is Orrel Park Hall.

The Undertakers at The Orrell Park Ballroom in 1962

 

Like most venues at the time they only sold 'soft drinks' and so some of the lads would go into the Windsor Castle before they came into the dance hall. 'Rory Storm and the Hurricanes' were the headlining group at the first "Beat Night", in the Orrell Park Ballroom in March 1961, or OPB as it was known which was managed by Ralph Webster. 'The Big 3', 'The Undertakers' and 'The Searchers' amongst many others also played there and in 1961 'The Zodiacs began appearing regularly at the Orrell Park Ballroom and had taken on Ralph Webster, as their personal manager.

It was also here that Gerry Marsden met his wife to be, who at the time was the girlfriend of one George Harrison. Pauline Behan was at The OPB when George was in Hamburg in 1959 when she was asked to dance by a young lad who was very inquisitive as to her name and where she lived. It turned out he was a friend of the band on stage at the time, and one of the band, the lead singer Gerry, had asked him to go find out about her for him because he'd seen her around the Cavern Club a lot and thought her really pretty so he wanted to know what her name was and where she lived. So began the chase for her hand which involved him telling George, who she was still seeing, that he was in love with her. Gerry's persistence eventually paid off and she eventually became 'president' of the official 'Gerry and The Pacemakers' fan club.

The Undertakers At The Orrell Park Ballroom - 1961

 

Jeff Martin was a DJ at the time and wrote a regular column for Bill Harry's Mersey Beat. He remembers those times - "The Orrell Park Ballroom was managed by Ralph Webster. It was a regular spot for me to play the records before and after the groups. I wasn't permitted to bring and play my own records here. Ralph Webster wanted pre-recorded tapes to be played. In fact they were tapes recorded off the BBC hit parade and were so badly recorded and faded out that you could hear the BBC jockeys speaking. This was embarrassing to present, but the OPB was so packed with people and noise, I don't think anyone noticed."

see also :- http://www.thefootballvoice.com/2017/06/mersey-beat-clubmoor-conservative-club.html