I wore a tiny
vest top and black leather mini skirt and worked most nights. Each night there
was a different theme. Wednesdays was 60s night and I remember a blues night
and of course the Friday and Saturday nights were dance. I also did a few day
shifts in the brasserie downstairs. I
remember something a regular said to me once. He said I am not the prettiest
girl in the room, but I oozed sex appeal. I didn’t really appreciate the
comment back then (I have never thought myself pretty and didn't need to hear it from a stranger) but have taken it as a compliment since. Isn’t it funny what
you remember?
Some of my
favourite moments were the famous acts that came to perform. I remember meeting
the lovely Craig Charles (who read poetry) before he ever did Red Dwarf. I
remember Darryl Pandy and boy did the club rock that night. The staff I worked with were great and we all
had a laugh together. I remember one
night all the girls wore cushions under our tops with different sayings on the
back such as ‘was it you last Christmas?’ Our world is too PC for that now but
back then it was a laugh. We had staff barbeques, drank Moet at New Years and
often all headed out to the Little Chef at Newport Pagnell for breakfast about
3.30am.
And a perk of
working at The Club was free access to the multiplex Cinema…UCI at the time. I
saw Absolute Beginners there 11 times. I
know I am a big Bowie fan but that film was excellent in its own right. I also
remember seeing Jagged Edge and being the only person in the whole screen. That has never happened to me before or
since. It really gave an eerie atmosphere to the film. And of course I was
still a geek back then – I saw Back to the Future twice!
I had one of
the most memorable days of my life at The Club at The Point. My 20th
birthday. I privately hired the club, had printed invitations and invited my
friends, family and every good looking guy who came to the club for the weeks
before my birthday. I hired the mighty Evil Eddie Richards who I knew from the
old ‘Starting Gate’ days and gave him a list of my favourite records to play
including, of course, Bela Lugosi’s dead! I have never had so many birthday
cards and I remember is that no matter how much I drank that night, my glass
was always full. It was an exceptional night and I have never had a party like
it since. My tiny bedsit was full of my friends who had come up from London for
my party and all crashed at mine afterwards.
I also met my
first husband at the club. I ended up spending 16 and a half years with him so The
Club really brought people together.
In recent
years The Point has not been well looked after and of course it is a prime
location in the centre of the city. But how dare they throw away such a much
loved venue. It is an icon of Milton Keynes and probably one of the oldest
buildings in the centre. Milton Keynes
has always been cutting edge of architecture and this is a prime example.
If Milton
Keynes keeps tearing down any building that is more than 20 years old – it will
never build a history. It had already torn down the 1970’s icon at Bletchley
leisure centre…and now this. I hope those who made this decision to keep MK
soulless are proud of themselves. You have just upset a whole generation!
Photo 1 - The Point in its prime
Photo 2 - Years of neglect
Photos - The Pyrmid Pool at Bletchley Leisure Centre
Photo 4 - Does the same fate await The Point?
Photo 5 - Fancy dress time at The Club - staff from 1985
Photo 6 - Behind the Oval bar
