Mar 4: Port Sunlight and Roy Harper

Port Sunlight was a community built by the Lever Brothers for their workers, who made soap.

It was over to Port Sunlight for me and some friends in the late early 1990s - was not sure when exactly,  but this WIKI confirms it as 1991 - it shows the venues of Roy's gigs and I remember quite a few of them in the 1990s all over the north of England.

Port Sunlight is a model community and we had a little look round before the concert. It's a beautiful place, and full of social history. The workers were provided with a nice house and a garden where they could grow some of the food they ate. It was created in 1888

I remember the hall - the Gladstone Theatre - being made from wood, and there were lots of signs warning of no smoking, which was hard to maintain when you're seeing Roy Harper back then...

Port Sunlight sits on the banks of the Mersey on the Wirral Peninsula - quite a trek from South Yorkshire for the gig, and named after the main brand of soap. A large number of architects worked on designs to ensure that there was variety in the type and design of houses.

Other similar model villages funded by industrialists are Saltaire and Bournville.

As with Bournville, alcohol wasn't originally provided.

Built in 1900, the Bridge Inn in Port Sunlught was originally a ‘temperance hotel’ that didn’t serve alcohol. This changed when William Lever put it to a vote and the village’s residents decided they wanted a place to enjoy an alcoholic drink.

What's the most unusual venue for a gig that you've ever been to?

Tell me about it in the comments below.