The Sunderland man who moved to Australia, but will never forget Friday nights at The Mayfair in the 1980s

Marc Hall is living the dream in the sun.
By Chris Cordner
Published 17th Feb 2023, 04:55 BST
Updated 17th Feb 2023, 12:44 BST
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But he will never forget his teenage years in Sunderland. Video jukeboxes were the brand new trend, leather jackets and denim were the obligatory outfit and so was a Friday night in the Mayfair.

Expat Marc now lives in Australia but he just had to get in touch after spotting our article on the last days of the Locarno nightclub, which also went by the name of the Mayfair Suite or Genevieves.

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It was known as the Mayfair in Marc’s day and he told us how the Newcastle Road venue payed a big part in his life.

Expat Marc Hall has shared his memories of growing up in Sunderland, and especially his days at the Mayfair.Expat Marc Hall has shared his memories of growing up in Sunderland, and especially his days at the Mayfair.
Expat Marc Hall has shared his memories of growing up in Sunderland, and especially his days at the Mayfair.

Watching tenpin bowling with pals and grandma

“My first memories of The Mayfair was when my grandmother would take me and my friends ten pin bowling there in the mid 1970s.Fast forward to the early 1980s when a few of us would spend our time there watching the ‘latest invention of the modern age’, a video jukebox.”

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"Around the same time we discovered the rock and metal night there every Friday night. So wearing the obligatory uniform of jeans, a band T-shirt and leather bike jacket (I couldn’t ride a motorbike back then, or even drive a car for that matter), we all made The Mayfair our go to establishment.”

Marc and his wife Fiona at a Perth Scorchers cricket game last month.Marc and his wife Fiona at a Perth Scorchers cricket game last month.
Marc and his wife Fiona at a Perth Scorchers cricket game last month.

On YTS at Brian Mills 40 years ago

"Pints of snakebite were the order at the bar. I never saw any bands there of the magnitude of Free or Led Zeppelin but I remember that a few local bands did play there and were fairly decent.”

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Brian is a former Argyle House and Monkwearmouth College student and remembers getting his first pay packet when he was on a YTS placement at Brian Mills in 1983.

He added: “I left home in 1984 to join the army.”

Marc with his son Tom, 21, in their Sunderland shirts on Christmas Day last year.Marc with his son Tom, 21, in their Sunderland shirts on Christmas Day last year.
Marc with his son Tom, 21, in their Sunderland shirts on Christmas Day last year.

Back in England soon

The 56-year-old works as a police officer in Australia and will be back in England soon. He hopes to meet up with former schoolmates and urged anyone who was at school with him to get in touch. Email the address below and we’ll pass on the messages.

Which nightclub, pub, swimming baths, cafe shaped your teenage years? Email [email protected] to tell us more and use the same email address to pass messages on to Marc.

Related topics:AustraliaSunderland