Many thanks to everyone who agreed to be interviewed for our Northern Soul of Peterborough project, especially as most of you did the interviews over the phone because of lockdown. It’s been a privilege to capture some insights into the scene in the 1970’s, with participants generously sharing their stories, and opinions, which will now be stored in the city’s archive.

Paul Donnelly, promoter, DJ, record collector and dancer, captured why these stories are important and unique, and worth preserving to inspire future generations of young people who love music and dancing: “.. with me it’s all been about the music first…. I always think Northern Soul dancing is about expression. It's not about following a particular dance code … you express yourself to this wonderful music… I would just dance the way I wanted to dance. I didn't copy anybody, I had my own unique style.”

Plus don’t miss the recording from a night at The Fleet in 1979 (the last recording on this page) - it will take you right back to the DJ patter, the beat of feet and the clap of hands. and the joy of great nights out with friends.

If you have a story to share visit our page for you to add your own memories.

Interview with Paul Donnelly

“…it just wasn't the music …it was the whole thing, it was, you know, the fashion. It seemed to me like the most gorgeous girls in the world were there. Um, it was… it was listening to records that you've never heard before …that just had this incredible ‘60s dance beat that was similar to Tamla Motown but different in a big, big way, so that's what we went for... and a few other bits and pieces as well.”

Listen to Paul Donnelly’s interview below:

Download the Paul Donnelly Transcript

Interview with Petula “Spike” Collier

“She used to bring an iron with her every week, a little portable iron which she'd plug in, in the ladies because the Wirrina in the ballroom bit had a lady's dressing room almost separate from the toilets where it'd be full of girls all ironing clothes getting ready, you know, getting made up things like that..”

Listen to Petula “Spike” Collier’s interview below:

Download the Petula “Spike” Collier Transcript

Interview with Andy Smith

“Whether it was minus 10 outside or whatever, once you opened those doors, the heat would just hit you, it was… phenomenal…”

Listen to Andy Smith’s interview below:

Download the Andy Smith Transcript

Interview with Kevin Draper

“It was something that other people didn't really know much about which kind of made it exciting because it was our thing that we did at the weekend and it was like going into a different world, a world of your own. Almost a secret world shall we say so there was that kind of excitement to it, a kind of group euphoria as well when you got in there.”

Listen to Kevin Draper’s interview below:

Download the Kevin Draper Transcript

Nigel Fishpool

"I just loved the music and that's when I started collecting records. … everyone was really polite and everyone was brilliant, you know, they all looked after each other. It’s like a big family.”

Listen to Nigel Fishpool’s interview below:

Download the Nigel Fishpool Transcript

Interview with Beverley Jones

“You could be chatting and somebody’d just go, ‘Oh I’ve gotta go. My record’s on.’ And then they’d just go, mid-conversation, to dance… the music was the key for everybody.”

Listen to Beverley Jones’ interview below:

Download the Beverley Jones Transcript

Interview with Ian Parker

“And it was pitch black, absolutely pitch black… The only light was from a corner where the DJ set his equipment up and they had lights, obviously, to see the turntables and his records and that was it. … And that was the greatest place on Earth at the time. There was nowhere better and nowhere else I wanted to be…”

Listen to Ian Parker’s interview below:

Download the Ian Parker Transcript

Interview with Nick Porter

“You nearly always took a bag with a change of clothes, ‘ cause it would get…got incredibly sweaty in The Fleet. So you’d take yer little soul bag with yer patches on, and so on and so forth, um, change of shirt, talcum powder of course - that was an absolute necessity, one to keep you dry and also ‘cause, in those days, nobody was too fussy about having talcum powder on the floor, it was much better for dancing.”

Listen to Nick Porter’s interview below:

Download the Nick Porter Transcript

Interview with Simon Child

“I took parts from each of the styles, and I…and I created me own sort of…I was known for throwing meself around a lot and some people just dance from side to side, and some people…I were known for quite an expressive dancer …I loved that because I could never fight, and I couldn’t play football or rugby, but I could dance.”

Listen to Simon Child’s interview below:

Download the Simon Child Transcript

Interview with Stuart Socks

“Just hit you like, within an hour, you'd be stripped to the waist, just sweating like a pig. You know, even if you wasn't dancing, you’d still be sweating. And about four o'clock in the morning it started to rain inside and it wasn't rain. It was … it was all the condensation falling off the roof like you know.”

Listen to Stuart Socks’ interview below:

Download the Stuart Socks Transcript

Interview with Steve Allan

“…the people who would have been to the Mojo all-nighter in Sheffield always finished off their weekend at the Soul Diskotek. …. Northern Soul became a real passion for a whole generation and they still carry that with them.”

Listen to Steve Allan’s interview below:

Download the Steve Allan Transcript

Colin and Theresa Swanborough

“It promotes the need to dance and it promotes the … the need to be part of a group. … So once you get this northern soul bug if you like, it's something that just never, ever goes.”  “Like being Catholic”. “Yeah, but with deeper faith.”

Listen to Colin and Theresa Swanborough’s interview below:

Download the Swanborough Transcript

Recording from The Fleet (c1979)

We know that we have only scratched the surface of all the memories that are out there, so if the interviews trigger any tales please feel free to drop us a line on our 'join in' page with your stories of great nights out dancing to Northern Soul in Peterborough.

Give us your thoughts via our contact page where you can also sign up for our newsletter so we can keep you up to date for the next stages of the project.

Interviews by the Jumped Up team, led by Jason Webb, with support from Nick Wood, Gemma McDowell and Kate Hall. And many thanks to Chris Wilson and Dianne Fletcher for the transcriptions. Interviews edited by One One Development Trust with original music by The Contacts.