EL PIANNA

 A quaint little café on Timber Hill was to be the location of Norwich’s first nightclub. The Old Pantiles café reminded Bedford Arms owner Gerry Welsh of a club he had visited in Morocco; Gerry was no stranger to the local entertainment industry and had already made an impact on the local music scene with his Cat Trap Club.

 The name of the club also came from the same trip. In a newspaper interview he admitted not to know what it meant in Moroccan but knew that in Italian el pianna meant floor! The club opened in July 1971 and put on many local bands, although its main theme was cabaret.

EEN Ad 11/10/78 Lunch with dancing with DJ Keith

 After a change in ownership the club bounced back from a fire in early 1973 and was reopened by comedian Mike ‘wallop’ Reid with new local band Phoenix taking up the resident spot. A change of name to Gambits came in May 1977 but the club closed down in the early eighties.

Note: The original address for the club is given as 7a Timberhill and was accesseble through the yard beside number 9 (Janette Ladies Hair styling) which is now a lap-dancing club. The adress later becomes 11 Timber Hill with the re-development of The Baptist Church.

Resident bands:

The John Selby Band

Casino

Pheonix

Managers

Aubrey Cropley

SCENES ‘70s Cabaret, Rock / ‘80s Cabaret

EL PIANNA JULY 1971 - MAY 1977

GAMBITS MAY 1977 - ?? ???

THE OWL SANCTUARY ?? - ??