My old stomping ground. I went into the Gifford with my sister and her husband. Never experienced any ghostly activity, but it was a place that had lots of rockers and angels and good rock music. My husband also used to go in there with his mate and had some good evenings. Good beer and most of the people were smoking interesting cigarettes, and it was one of the first times we saw a video juke box. He clearly remembers his mate saying 'watch this one' as a video started. The entire pub went silent as they watch the video, True Faith by New Order.... then again everyone was particularly stoned at the time, and it was a surreal video. I went to the Grand Theatre a couple of times with my mum and dad, once to see Michael Bentine in a show called From the Sublime to the Ridiculous. I will always remember the fact that we would be laughing so hard we'd be crying, then he spoke of being present at a Nuremberg Rally and all the lights went down with just an uplighter on him. He started to chant in German and stamp his foot, and he chanted louder and louder and stamped harder and harder. It sent chills down our spines. He saw what Hitler was like and what kind of frenzy that man was capable of building amongst those present. Scary stuff. As a kid my sister and myself had ponies, and we would ride past Graisley Hall, Moseley Old Hall and Northicote Farm which was close to where we kept the horses. At the time, Northicote Lane was open so we went down there and often encountered milk tankers and tractors on our way to the dirt track call Devil's Elbow, named so because it dipped down and to the side like a bent elbow with a stream running through the bottom and woodlands. We also used to go through Bushbury Woods close to Northicote Farm, and we were always fascinated by the remains of old stone walls and what looked like the remains of an old house. We tried to research it, but never found anything. Very nice place to go for a ride or a walk with the dogs.
My cousin used to run the folk club at the Giffard in the 70,s ,wentthere one night after the speedway, Barbara Dickson was on that night . After closing time i remember she bought a round of drinks, I was included!!!😀
