A couple of things
I used to go to the Society a couple of years ago with my youngest. He used to like it, I found it quaint and friendly, like Cafes used to be. I have asked my friends and a few enemies for their opinions, and they confirm that while I could be described as elderly, I only occaisionally stink of p*ss, and never when I am going out. There was a preponderance of over 60's in the Society, but a sprinkling of younger riff raff like myself, I hope they haven't ruined it. Give me a proper cafe over an overhyped, overpriced, poncy, USA/London inspired, Latte/Mocha/Skinny, mood coloured, Little Italy, £5 for a sandwich cr*p hole, any day of the week!
One of my early memories was the Jenks (Jenkinsons) Cafe up the highstreet. It had a huge print of Picassos Guernica on the wall.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guernica_(painting) I loved it but it was a daring thing to have on a Cafe wall in those days.
Now the Tillington Hurricane, what a stir that caused amongst the North Enders! Can't remember exactly what year it was but it was probably in the late 70's. It was a very localised tornado/hurricane (similar but not as strong as the recent London one) that hit the Eccleshall Road. It caused damage to buildings and trees, with the most spectacular havoc being wreaked in the car park of the Tillington Hotel.
A number of huge old trees were brought to ground, squashing some reet posh cars in the process. Weirdly enough I was actually discussing this event with a wrinkly old fireman just t'other day. Having been part of the attending crew, he confirmed my memories of the events, and pointed out that the posh Jag that we all crowded round, beneath the largest fallen bough, was owned by non other than Jimmy Edwards of 'Wacko' fame. For those of you under 40, you'll probably need the following link.
http://images.google.co.uk/imgres?imgurl=http://www.comedy-zone.net/images/people/comedians/edwards-jimmy.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.comedy-zone.net/standup/comedian/e/edwards-jimmy.htm&h=177&w=150&sz=6&hl=en&start=1&tbnid=L4_2R7uO6WmILM:&tbnh=101&tbnw=86&prev=/images%3Fq%3DJimmy%2BEdwards%2B%26svnum%3D10%26hl%3Den%26lr%3D%26sa%3DG
A large crowd gathered to survey the mayhem, and I was rendered helpless with laughter when one old biddy toddled off shaking her head, and exclaiming sagely to her nodding mate "They never should have put trees there in the first place"
As mentioned on another thread, the Tillington Hotel used to attract all sorts of famous people, which was strange because it never really struck me as particularly exclusive, more a case of nowhere better in the area I suppose.
As well as various rock stars over the years, once saw the England Football team. And which one spent ages signing autographs and entertaining the adoring kids with his gurning? Yes, Paul Gascoigne, whatever else he was/is he was a crowd pleaser.