BOLTON SOCIALIST CLUB - THE PHOENIX RISES 1982 - 1987
The past shapes the future
In the summer of 1982 the Club stood empty, awaiting sale. But in a dusty corner of the attic, abandoned and unnoticed for decades, a large pile of minute books was discovered. On the cover of the first was written 'Social Democratic Federation 1896'. The long forgotten history of the Bolton Socialist Club was about to re-emerge.
As the story unfolded, It captured the imagination of the members who read it and inspired them try and stop the sale of the building.
Talks were arranged, the local press printed a series of articles, and gradually socialists and labour movement activists in the town began to realise what they were about to lose.
In addition, legal difficulties arose. Bolton Socialist Hall Ltd owned the building but its committee had not met for ten years and not one single shareholder could be found.
Finally in the summer of 1983, a General Meeting of members voted (by a majority of one!) to ask the newly elected committee to seek ways of paying off the debts and re-opening the club in the image of what it had been in those early pioneering days, a centre for socialism and feminism.
Socialism re-floated.
Bolton Socialist Hall Ltd was relaunched in November 1983 with the sale of 'One Pound' shares. Under the original rules investers could expect no return on their investment, no annual dividend, and had only one vote nomatter how many shares they held. But there was no shortage of takers. Other fund-raising events were organised and by the spring of 1984, the committee felt confident enough to announce that the club was about to re-open.
The Triumph of Hope
0n the May Day holiday 1984, striking miners and nursery nurses, anxious to repay the support given to them by club members, led a procession around the town. The march ended in Wood Street where an outdoor street party and festival lasted long into the night. Bolton Socialist Club had been re-born. 
And finally into the black!
Very soon after re-opening the club became a hive of activity. A revived Clarion Cycling Club began to meet here as well as the Trades Council and several trade union branches. The Unemployed Workers Centre moved into the top floor. Other user groups included Housing and Wholefood Coops, CND, Animal Rights, the Irish in Britain Representation Group, and a variety of political and educational groups. The club played host to punk bands, folk singers, theatre groups, talks, discussions, film nights, and provided a resource for campaigns, strikes and industrial disputes throughout the town.
But in the autumn of 1987, the brewery issued the club secretary with a High Court Summons for debts totalling over £18,000 – all incurred before he and the other committee members had joined the club. Thankfully the action failed. All the costs were paid by the brewery and the club was completely relieved of its heavy burden of debt.
Pictures by Geoff Davies