Aces Bar

Aces Bar, formerly Avon Combined Services Club, is part of a dying breed, the last of its kind, especially in this part of town: The working men’s club, with proper locals & regulars and décor untouched since 1974. Obviously this bar is open to the public now, but it has that real old style social club feel to it. You feel like you’re a private member of some group or another just by ordering a pint.
I love it here; it reminds me of the clubs you used to go to when you were growing up, like your local football or rugby club. But what Aces Bar has managed to do so well is make the transition from local Social Club to actual music venue with good DJ’s a cool crowd. The bar is still sufficiently dodgy, as to be expected. But this is the type of atmosphere and experience that you can’t get anywhere else.
It’s a fantastic thing that Aces hasn’t been torn down, gutted and replaced with a tacky, soulless, pointless gastropub that people only go to pose in and talk about how much they enjoyed last night’s X Factor and how good Simon Cowell’s farts probably smell.
The last time I walked in the DJ was sat at a table with the rest of the punters, with the biggest box of records open in front of him, probably only a tenth of his collection, but still more than he needed to bring along for one night. That’s cool. But check out the Go Go Children nights on Saturdays, amazing Northern Soul.