• Skip to main content
• Access keys help

Home

Explore the BBC

This page has been archived and is no longer updated. Find out more about page archiving.

16 October 2014

	BBC Homepage Scotland
»	Scottish History Scotland on Film film/radio clips broadband player by theme by location a to z Forum Newsletter Tour Site guide Live Chats Web Guide Nation on Film BBC History
	Contact Us

Empire Cafe, Dunbar There are 2 messages in this section. Rita Bradd from Dunbar. Posted 2 Dec 2003. My Dad and Mum owned the Empire Cafe. We had the first juke box and pin tables in town and the girls used to jive in the cafe with their beehive hair-do's. The lads used to make silver paper cups and throw them up to the ceiling and they would stick there - they'd get chucked out if they were caught. Cairns Boston was the best organiser of entertainment in the town and we had bathing beauty contests - one lass from the west coast used to get me to rub on her fake sun tan cream! Jack Mulroy and Rikki Flton would come down regularly and judge the contests and I got Rikki's autograph. The Salvation Army used to have crowds of kids standing round them on the beach singing happy songs. The sun always seemed to shine in those days. The Empire was demolished in January 1996 - very sad to see it go, and my Dad passed away 18 months ago. Jack Traill from Oxford. Posted 16 Oct 2006. Back in 1961 I used to work in the Roxburgh hotel and my wife to be worked in another hotel I think was called the Lothian. Both in Dunbar. She used to enter the beauty contests and I well remember Rikki Fulton judging them. I used to meet my girl friend in the cafe along with a friend of mine called Jimmy Bain whose Dad ran a pub in Dunbar. Your mention of the cafe brought back many happy memories and reminded me of friends I have not thought of in many a year. People like Bertha Ricardo who owned the Roxburgh hotel and who used to be on stage with a commediene called Jack whos last name escapes me. There was also a family called Pontin from Dunbar that I knew who also worked in the hotel. Happy memories and thank you for reviving them.

About the BBC | Help | Terms of Use | Privacy & Cookies Policy