Blue plaque tour marks city's lost music venues

Two men who want to keep the memory of a city's clubbing heyday alive are repeating a popular tour of some its former high-profile music venues.

Bob Leigh and Phil Johnson have been putting up unofficial blue plaques around Stoke-on-Trent as a way of honouring familiar haunts that have disappeared.

They recently organised a tour of lost clubs, including The Heavy Steam Machine, which Mr Johnson said was the biggest disco venue in Europe when it first opened.

Other venues included The Place, which he alleged was the UK's first "discotheque" at its launch in 1963, and The Void, which welcomed clubbers from all over the country.

Their first event was a great success, the pair said, but the repeat offering on Friday was set to be their last, organised for people who had not been able to join the first one.

They said they might record a filmed version in future so people could watch it online.

"It was great last time - it was so diverse," Mr Johnson said.

Among those who attended was a crime fiction author who said he would weave elements from the dance-music scene into a future book.

"There were some ladies there who used to dance around their handbags who said they just wanted to reminisce," Mr Johnson said.

"A couple of rockers" also showed up who had nothing to do with the disco scene but were "interested in heritage", he added.

Mr Leigh, who used to DJ at The Void, said the tour would bring back memories.

"I've always considered myself quite blessed to have lived through all the different musical genres," he said.

"It's a trip down memory lane and I think that's what it is for a lot of other people, that's why they're drawn to it."

The duo have further blue plaques planned, including one at the King's Hall in Stoke, which they are still working on getting permission to install.

Their idea builds on Historic England's National Blue Plaque Scheme, which celebrates notable people by placing plaques on buildings that were part of their story.

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