Opened in a former golf club in 1978, iconic Stockport variety club Quaffers welcomed huge names over two decades, from Shirley Bassey and the Drifters to Take That and George Best.
With a capacity of 2,600, the Hollingworth Road club boasted a lavish interior, as well as a rising stage, serving hot beef barms from its downstairs kitchen that many punters still remember today.
It's over 20 years since it closed. But we've taken a look back at the iconic venue, so you can share your memories of a nightspot like no other.
Owned by multi-millionaire hotelier Douglas 'Dougie' Flood, Quaffers was a firm favourite among Stockport’s smart set in the 70s and 80s.
But the final curtain came down on the club in December 1998, with the site bulldozed in 2004 to make way for a Homebase superstore.
The site had previously been a golf driving range called the Warren Country Club before it was gutted and rebuilt to create Quaffers.
Dougie Flood bought the venue in 1978. By then he was known for running some of the region’s most popular nightclubs, as well as Bredbury Hall hotel, which he managed until his death in 2001.
On November 2, 1978, The Stage reported: "The doors have also opened on the Quaffers country club, Bredbury, Stockport and the first phase of a magnificent million pound project of Douglas Flood's First House.
"After about three years of closure, the club has been completely refurbished with extensive interior and exterior alterations. A major transformation has taken place with a palatial ballroom and a lighting system that manager Graham Warner describes as 'superb.'
"It is open for dancing, dining, conferences, weddings, star cabaret, charity nights and exhibitions and is, according to Warner, "truly multipurpose."
Quaffers played host to a string of top entertainment acts back in the day - the likes of Shirley Bassey, Tommy Cooper, the Drifters and Suzi Quattro all performed on the famous stage.
In its later years, the club also hosted a performance from a newly-formed boy band known as Take That, where member Gary Barlow was already known by the Quaffers team, after playing piano at neighbouring Bredbury Hall, as the MEN has previously reported.
The venue was a place for dancing and laughter, but was renowned for its strict rules on attire. If punters didn't dress smartly, they wouldn't make it past the door.
It was also famed for the rising stage in the middle of the dancefloor - an impressive hydraulic set-up that would lift many famous guests up into the air - as well as it's much loved beef barmcakes.
Did you go to Quaffers? Share your memories of the club in the comments section below.
Many will remember fashion shows, football presentations, competitions and parties, as well as clubbing at the venue.
However, by the late 1990s, Stockport was forced to bid goodbye to one of its most famous entertainment venues.
Months before the site was levelled, the Manchester Evening News reported: "The old Quaffers Hotel and Country Club in Bredbury will be demolished early next year, six years after it closed its doors to the public for the last time.
"Cannon and Ball and the late Tommy Cooper were just some of the comic talents that appeared there, Quaffers was the setting for the TV programme Return of the Comedians and it also hosted amateur and charity boxing bouts.
"The club, with its capacity of 2,600, operated a strict door policy: no men wearing earrings, no visible tattoos or facial jewellery and no shaven heads. The policy worked and every Wednesday, Friday and Saturday the venue was packed.
"But fashions changed and variety entertainment dwindled in popularity. The club closed in December 1998 and the building is to make way for a Homebase superstore."
Former owner Ian Flood, son of founder Dougie Flood, said at the time: "The club holds a lot of fond memories for an awful lot of people.
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"It was a quality venue that was well ahead of its time.
"The décor was classical opulent - glass, brass and mirrors - without being garish.
"It was a fantastic place and I still get people coming up to me now talking about their memories of the club.
"The saddest day for me was handing over the keys after the sale."
Special thanks to former Quaffers DJs David Jarratt, Gary Price and the members of Stockport Memories Facebook group.
