The Wispa…wow I had forgotten about that place 
I went to Allinsons a couple of times…I saw Tom O’Connor on one occasion. He was very funny. Lots of scouse humour of course.
I remember it when it was a ten pin bowling alley…
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I was just curious as to how much those Bowie tickets cost. I couldn’t find one for the Liverpool gig but a concert a few days before was ten bob:
He was back in Liverpool the next year at the Empire. Clearly the bigger venue matches his growing popularity as this was a pocket money busting £1.50:
Maybe a little off topic but it’s interesting to see what venues the big stars were playing at the time.
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My father ran a gang of stewards in those days and his men were the doormen at the boxing, wrestling, bingo and pop concerts at the Liverpool Stadium. I did stints there in my student days and so saw quite a lot of concerts for free. I must write it all down some day 
Roger Eagle was the promoter and quite a character. Sadly died too young. I only found that out a few years ago.
Fond memories of sneaking out to the Cross Keys for a couple of pints. Is it really still there?
I still have my old man’s dj that he wore on the bingo nights 
Definitely saw Rory Gallagher, Mott the Hoople and I even saw Sha Na Na who were superb and performed at Woodstock.
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I had never even heard of that place before. Cheers !
Had to laugh at this ;
"The penultimate gig on the venue listings clearly showed how much the musical landscape had changed in Britain between 1970 and 1976. A startling line-up of punk icons The Damned, The Clash and The Sex Pistols, scheduled for 11th December 1976, was cancelled nationwide due to local councils concerned about the effects of punk rock on the nation’s populace.
The absolute terror of the British establishment and the hysteria generated by the press at the outset of punk is scarcely believable now when you look back on it. Wtf were they so scared of … a revolution ?! 
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My Dad always went the Stadium for different events. Back then there was a Boxer from Liverpool called Alan Rudkin - He was a British, Commonwealth and European Champion - He fought a few times at The Stadium and was well known round the City.
Here he is with Rocky Marciano -
When he retired… he took over a few pubs. One being The Big House (The Vines) on Lime Street - Folklore story I heard, was that if anyone started a fight in his pub, he would make them fight him to teach them a lesson :0)
Here he is in his pub… Might be one of his bouncers giving him a lift.!
He passed on at the age of 68 in 2010.
Thousands attended his funeral… being very popular with the common man off the street, to the rich and famous alike from film stars to showbiz personalities - He actually went to school with Gerry Marsden.
For anyone wanting to understand his story a bit more, this article is worth a read…
The inside story of Liverpool’s legendary Alan Rudkin MBE – British Boxing BBTV (britishboxers.co.uk)
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I walked into a pub in London circa 1987 and noticed that there were lots of boxing photos on the wall. The lad behind the bar recognised my accent and told me that this was Alan Rudkin’s pub. 
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Another Poster… Note the Leon Spinks…!
He was some Boxer Conteh… I remember as a kid, my Grandad making me watch him on the TV when Conteh was boxing at the Olympics, because he was his favourite fighter at the time
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And less than a year later he would defeat Ali to become world heavyweight champion.
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Watched this last night, defo worth of watch if you are interested in some Liverpool history.
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Just watched it. Very good. 
Two pieces here concerned with the history of the Welsh in Liverpool. First a short podcast and then an article from the Daily Post with some nice old pictures of the Welsh streets of Toxteth in the sixties.
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A wonderful montage here of pictures of the City centre. Stretching right back to the turn of the twentieth century up until the early eighties. Lovely photos , often the same streets and views juxtapositioned to give a ‘trip through time’ effect. Some very evocative music complements the collage perfectly. Twenty minutes of pure zen to enjoy.
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Spent my pocket money in this place every week…
The Wizards Den was one extraordinary exception
by Genevieve
You are browsing in:
Archive List > Childhood and Evacuation
Contributed by
Genevieve
Location of story:
Birkenhead, Liverpool
Background to story:
Civilian
Article ID:
A5909583
Contributed on:
26 September 2005
My father, who was manager of another bank branch in Birkenhead, had a customer who needed an overdraft urgently for work connected with the war effort. Dad passed it on the last day of the blitz on Liverpool but all overdrafts had to be approved by Head Office in Liverpool — even in the middle of air-raids! He found that all the telephone lines to Liverpool were down with one extraordinary exception. In the corner of Exchange Flags was a tiny little shop called the ‘Wizard’s Den’ in which a funny little old man sold party jokes and crackers and even Hitler had not succeeded in breaking his line! The ferry-boats were not operating with unexploded bombs in the river, the Underground was out of action for the same reason but the Mersey tunnel was open to walkers and cyclists only.
Dad used to ride a sit-up-and-beg bicycle to go to work; (he didn’t really approve of motor cars anyway and never had one) so — out came the bike with the necessary documents in the saddlebag and off he went through the tunnel to Liverpool. I wish I had seen him as he wheeled his somewhat battered old bike into the august and imposing banking hall, removing his cycle clips as he made his way up to the holy-of-holies where the overdraft was duly allowed.
This story was collected by Lis Edwards and was submitted to the People’s War site by Becky Barugh of the BBC Radio Shropshire CSV Action Desk on behalf of Mrs Margaret James. The story has been added to the site with her permission. The author fully understands the site’s terms and conditions.
See more of Margeret’s stories:
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I remember thinking it was a good idea to buy a load of stink bombs from the wizards den and scatter them on the floor at the She Club… 
I made a quick exit when I was rumbled by a sweaty red faced bouncer…
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We used to throw them into the ring at the wrestling. 
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Wow, I loved that @peterroberts. So many shop and company names that brought back lots of memories. The music was a great accompaniment.
Superb film. Those shop names brought back so many memories. Blacklers grotto, Owen Owen, Scotts. I worked nights at the Scott’s bakery as a student one summer. My main job was straightening the bread dough in the tins before it went in the oven and making sure there were no pile ups as the tins came out the oven. I still had the marks of the burns on my arms for years after.
The Jacey 
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