Mr George / Park Lane / Mr G's Club

Does anybody know when Mr George's nightclub first opened its doors in Coventry. I'm trying to find out some information for my mum who's now 65 years old. She would also like to know if there was a club previous to that, and the name of it. Thanks

I'm not sure of the date but I have come across 7th January and in 1978 which would be about right, The Sex Pistols played there, I used to go about that year with my younger sisters, I do recall someone on here mentioning the previous club prior to Mr George's so I'm sure someone will be able to answer your question, your mum will therefore recall Bill Wilson, a personal friend of mine being one of the bouncers there, also a chap called Maxi.

Nooooo, it was much earlier than that. I remember a Radio 1 Roadshow interview with "Mr George" in the early 1970s. The club may have been called something else but its owner was already known as "Mr George" by then. The building itself dates from 1968.

1972. "TRIBUTES have been paid to a self-made millionaire dubbed Coventry's King of Clubs, who has died aged 77. Glasgow-born George Hendry, formerly of Gibbet Hill, owned nightspots in Coventry, including Mr George in the Lower Precinct, which became Park Lane and then Mr G's. His empire expanded to include nightclubs around the world, including in London, Paris and Majorca. He famously bought The Hippodrome in London's West End, which was owned by Peter Stringfellow, for a cool £7million. The shrewd entrepreneur started out in business in the 1950s as the owner of butchers' shops and gambling joints in his home city. His move to Coventry came when he bought a share in the former Savoy bowling alley in Radford. He opened Mr George in 1972. He had a COV 1 number plate on his Rolls-Royce and in 2001 he was involved in a failed bid to buy Coventry City FC. Mr Hendry sold his company F & H Entertainments to European Leisure in the late 1980s for £9.5 million but stayed on to head its Camden Palace disco division. He retired to Majorca five years ago and died of an infection last week, leaving two daughters, a son and a grandson. Tony Walsh, owner of Mayfair Security Services in Leamington, who managed security at George Hendry's clubs, said: "He was a legend in Coventry and a lovely man."

I used to see Mr Hendry in various Jags/Rollers leaving his pad in Beverly Drive. I'm pretty sure Georges' nephew was Stephen Hendry the World Champion snooker player.

I have great memories of playing at George's, the last time we played there was 1974, the night after Sassafras played there.

When I started photography in 1985, I had to take some lighting pics for my course, and as I was a regular at Park Lane, asked the management if I could take some pics whilst it was empty. They said 'yes', and this is one of them. DJ Tom Fox lit up everything for me - cost me a Bacardi & Coke! I have some more somewhere so I'll dig them out, but this was one I found - brings back memories! Bear in mind it was an Olympus OM-10 SLR, at the time a decent piece of kit, nowadays, a dinosaur!