From Hollywoods to the First Floor Club - how many of these Ipswich nightclubs did you used to visit?
Roundhouse
The Greyfriars Centre, built in the mid-1960s, seemed like a great idea at the time and was home to a number of clubs including the Merlin, Lafayette and Roundhouse - most of which were short lived - before becoming an Asian restaurant.
It was largely demolished in 1984, becoming a normal roundabout again and had been completely been knocked down by 2012.
First Floor Club
At one time the only late-night Ipswich town centre venue was the First Floor Club, which opened in the 1960s.
Comedians Bob Monkhouse, Bernard Manning and Ronnie Corbett plus magician Paul Daniels, actor Warren Mitchell and Radio One DJ Kenny Everett all appeared at the Tacket Street location.
The club was known as Liberty's in more recent years, and then Fire and Ice, before closing in 2010. in 2016 it was converted into flats.
La Dolce Vita
The former Green & Hatfield store between Old Foundry Road and St Margaret’s Plain was home to a nightclub for several years including Falstaff and Bar Fontaine – whose feature was that customers could use antique-style phones to call friends on other tables.
It was later La Dolce Vita, before it closed in the 1990s.
The building stood empty for most of the next decade before being converted into luxury flats by developer Joe Fogel.
Liquid
Liquid, later Liquid and Envy, at Cardinal Park, opened in 1999 to crowds of clubbers.
DJ EZ, East 17, Coolio and Olly Murs all took to the stage at the club, before in 2015 it was refurbished and reopened as Unit 17. The club is still going but is currently closed to adhere to Covid restrictions.
Groove Lounge
Harry Palmers Groove Lounge were club nights held across Ipswich in the early 2000s.
The night events started first at the Great White Horse Hotel, which closed in 2008, and later moved to other locations across the town.
Betty's
Betty’s in Elm Street was famous as an openly gay-friendly venue before its shock closure in 2013 following the retirement of owner Ali Strickland, who had been at the helm for 10 years.
The club was reborn a few months later as KCs.
Under its most recent guide the venue is now known as The Club on the Cornhill having reopened in February 2020.
Hollywoods
The club in Princes Street officially opened as Hollywoods in 1988 in the former maltings building close to the railway station. It was extremely popular, with the queues to get in often trailing back over the Princes Street bridge. It was later rebranded as Kartouche and Zest clubs.
Later it became the Malthouse live music venue before closing in the 2010s and was transformed into The Maltings offices.
Best of the rest
Cindy's nightclub, next to Bethesda Baptist Church in the town centre, was popular until its closure in the early 1990s.
Edward's Bar in Great Colman Street was many different venues including Flour and Firkin pub, Lakota, Colman’s, Bar Sport and lastly Pump & Grind, which closed in 2016 leaving the venue vacant.
Bar IV in St Peter’s Street was the Toad, Raspberry and Raps, and became the Black Adder in the early 1990s, before returning as a pub in 2011 as the Thomas Wolsey.
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