By Douro David Potter - In 1925 The ORFORD ARMS was the only hotel in Norwich with a silver grill and on Saturday nights over 200 meals would be served. The menu consisted of soup, steak or chop, potatoes and vegetables in season, sweet, biscuits and cheese the cost was 2s 6d.
Before its recent closure the house was better known for its cellar discotheque which had stars of international fame visit it!
During the mid 60s The Orford Arms a very prominent building in the centre of Norwich and was taken over by my grandparents who had left Leicester having been employed in the shoe industry to return to their home city Norwich. My grandfather Douro H Potter had no real vision for the public house other than the additional asset of having eight letting bedrooms.
He initially provided fine ales, comfortable rooms and on the odd occasion a blind pianist to entertain the customers. This did not prove to be financially viable and so when he was approached by Howard Platt and Tony Sparkes to provide entertainment in the cellar he was in total agreement as he had nothing to lose.
From the out start Mr Platt who was also a musician with a trad jazz band called the Collegians took centre stage until they employed the services of Milton and the Continentals which included Howards brother Harvey Platt.
The cellar became a very popular venue for the young people of Norwich. Howard Platt soon solicited the services of London entertainment agents and the agent they used was Robert Stigwood (now of grease fame) amongst others the cellar could proudly boast as having such bands as The John Mayll’s Blues Breakers which consisted of John Mayll and Eric Clapton. The Graham Bond Organisation which included Jack Bruce and Ginger Baker later to form Cream. Other prominent “rock stars” formerly known as Rhythm & Blues bands included Jimmi Hendrix, Rod Stewart, John Mc Vee, Jimmy Paige, Elton John, Peter Green, Dick Hexalsmith, Roy Wood, Judie Driscoll, Alan Price, Duffy Powers, Long John Baldry and The Moody Blues, yes Zoot Money And the Big Roll Band, Gino Washington, Mick Fleetwood, John Hizle and not forgetting The Pretty faces to name a few but The Orford Cellar also included modern Jazz on a Tuesday night that could proudly boast musicians of the highest calibre such as Tubby Haigle, Ronnie Scot and John Dankworth.
The Orford Cellar would pay between thirty and forty pounds for top bands including the late great Jimi Hendrix
The Orford Arms was a family run business but eventually even managed to recruit my mother who used to socialise in The Orford where she met my father, who worked behind the bar, but in time she was pursuaded to try her hand at pulling pints and she soon became a regular member of staff which inevitably led to my mother and father getting married. My mother gave up her office job to work in The Orford Cellar full time. Even while she was pregnant she continued to work behind the bar until one particular busy Friday night when she started her labour pains and was rushed to hospital, where i eventually came into the world.
My Grandmothers concern was the letting bedrooms and used to cook breakfasts for musicians who stayed in the pubs guest rooms after their gigs. My grandmothers large breakfasts were well received and she was renowned for her home cooking. My grandmothers sister who was in her late seventies used to help serve in the cellar a couple of nights a week and was very popular with the customers.
My father was in charge of The Orford Cellar bar and also did all the ordering of beers and soft drinks, and did the tedious job of bottling up and sorting out a mountain of empty beer and soft drink bottles that had to be returned to the breweries and soft drink company’s every day.
The Orford Cellar at its peak in 1966 had the atmosphere of the famous Cavern Club in Liverpool (it got so hot some nights that beer bottle labels would slide off the bottles) Norwich also had a lot more pubs in those days and was heaving with people as they came into the city centre on weekends, people would visit various pubs in the city but inevitably end up at The Orford Arms as it right in the middle of Norwich.
The Orford Arms had three main bars, “the big room” which was nearly always busy with a mixture of characters including wide boys and the local hoods as they were called in those days and G.I.s from the local air bases. The men would mostly drink brown and mild and the woman would drink Babycham, typically the drink of the day! The Public bar was a bar of older characters who would use the bar on a regular basis, then there was “The Smoke Room” which was a bit more upmarket and select so to speak, the men would take their girlfriends or wives for a drink and a cosy chat.
The Norfolk area was scattered with US air bases and their personnel would flood into the city on a Friday and Saturday night. There was conflict from the T.A.s and G.I.s as they were unloaded in the city at the same time. The G.I.s were ready for a good time and the T.A.s were rough and ready and maybe a little jealous of the G.I.s as they got a lot of attention from the local girls.
The G.I.s had a lot of 45s records which they brought from their P.X (base shop)
