大象传媒

Pete Brown is a convivial guide on this journey through the intoxicating history of working men鈥檚 clubs.

From the movement鈥檚 founding by teetotal social reformer the Reverend Henry Solly to the booze-soaked mid-century heyday, when more than 7 million Brits were members, this warm-hearted and entertaining book reveals how and why the clubs became the cornerstone of Britain鈥檚 social life 鈥� offering much more than cheap Federation Bitter and chicken in a basket.

Often dismissed as relics of a bygone age, Pete reminds us that long before the days of Phoenix Nights, 3,000-seat venues routinely played host to stars like Shirley Bassey, Louis Armstrong and the Bee Gees, offering entertainment for all the family, and close to home at that. Britain鈥檚 best-known comedians made reputations through a thick miasma of smoke, from Slough to Skegness.

The book explores the clubs鈥� role in defining community and class identity for generations of men, and eventually women, in Britain鈥檚 industrial towns. They were, at their best, a vehicle for social mobility and self-improvement, run as cooperatives for working people by working people - an informal, community-owned pre-cursor to the welfare state.

Written and Read by Pete Brown
Abridged by Isobel Creed and Jill Waters
Produced by Jill Waters

A Waters Company production for 大象传媒 Radio 4