Memory Lane Events
Dance Band walks
The May Fair Hotel….The Embassy Club….Quaglinos….Hatchettes…..The Ciro’s Club…..The Kit Cat Club….The Monseigneur Restaurant..... Café Anglais.....Casani Club.....Café de Paris..... Berkeley Hotel..... Devonshire House..... New Princes..... Hotel Cecil, Romano's.... the Savoy..... Waldorf Hotel.....The Ambassadors Club.... Fischer's Restaurant.... Bag of Nails.... Murray's Club... the Bat Club....Astoria Ballroom. And many others.
Just the names of these venues conjure up a nostalgic image of London in the 1930s where you could see, listen to and dance to Harry Roy, Ambrose, Lew Stone, Charlie Kunz and others in the "Premiere League" of dance bands. Or you may have seen these names on 78 rpm record labels and wondered where exactly they were and whether, in fact, any of them still exist. If so, here is your opportunity to find out. In fact, there are a few surprises en route.
Ray Pallett hosts three different guided "dance band" walks around the West End of London to view the locations where the dance bands played. Eac
h Walk takes in around 20 locations during which Ray recalls the bands which played at the different establishments together with anecdotes and narrative.
Al Bowlly's London
This walk takes in many of the places mentioned above with special mention of those where Al appeared such as the Monseigneur Resta
urant and the Savoy Hotel. However, this walk takes in additional places such as the flats where Al lived, the Register Office where he married. En route, we also identify a number of places associated with the dance bands. We reach Dukes Court, the building housing the flat in which he died. From there, the group may either take the train to Hanwell to visit the cemetery where his mass grave is to be found, or the beautiful Greek Orthodox Cathedral where his memorial service was held or the Abbey Road Studios where he made so may wonderful records. Ray provides a narrative in his own inimitable way linking the locations to the Al Bowlly story.
The pictures above show Ray Pallett talking to the crowd outside the location of the old BBC radio studios at Savoy Hill, the Cafe de Paris entrance as it is now and the Jermyn Street Theatre which, until the 1960s, was the location of the Monseigneur Grill.
Further information about the now legendary Memory Lane Guided Walks
The walks, described below, usually take place in the Spring, start at 11.00am and are a gentle stroll which will take around 2 hours. The cost of joining a walk per person just £5.00 for a Memory Lane subscriber, £7.00 otherwise. The Walks take place regardless of the weather. But if the success of most previous Memory Lane walks is repeated, it will be a lovely Spring or Autumn day in the convivial company of fellow enthusiasts.
A DVD featuring one year’s Al Bowlly’s London Walk is available from our Back Catalogue page. Join Ray Pallett and those on the walk or re-live the occasion if your were there. Click the yellow link and then scroll down to purchase.
See some images of previous walks at YOUTUBE
Memory Lane hosts get-togethers in Central London for socialising and entertainment and Guided Walks around the West End of London to identify the places where the dance bands used to play and to locate the places associated with Al Bowlly. Details of all these events are shown below.
Our last social event was MEMORY LANE LONDON 2012
Our most prestigious event to date!
Memory Lane London 2012 was held in Conway Hall on Saturday 8th September 2012 from 
noon until 5.00pm. The event was organised by Ray Pallett and Terry Brown and celebrated the golden age of the British dance bands. Conway Hall (pictured right) is a lovely “art deco” venue built in 1929 and has not changed much since then as can be seen from the interior picture below. It has a beautiful wood panelled ballroom around which will be tables and chairs plus a stage and a balcony with additional seating.
The presentation included a film show featuring British dance bands in the lunch time period and in the afternoon Michael Law’s Piccadilly Dance Orchestra (pictured here) played for entertainment and dancing.
A pub-price bar and a complimentary buffet lunch was available. A fabulous afternoon in London in convivial company. Conway Hall is located in Red Lion Square in London, just a minutes from Holborn tube station.
OUR NEXT GUIDED WALK
Our next scheduled Guided Walk will be in April 2014. However, we may arrange a walk before that if the Al Bowlly’s new English Heritage Blue Plaque is unveiled in the meantime. Check here for further news of both events.
OUR NEXT SOCIAL EVENT
There will be no social event in 2013, but we are hoping to arrange one for 2014. Check here for further news.
