Railway Institute bar was known as Platform Seven

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Dave Humphries, of Oakwood, has fond memories of the Railway Institute bar and concert hall, which, he recalls, was frequented as much by the local postmen as it was by the railway workers.

On reading Maxwell Craven’s article Old Railway Institute could be new theatre and, in particular, his reference to the concert hall as a future base for amateur theatrical groups, I would like to share a picture, above, which was taken in that room.

From what I remember of it, in my time as a postman, the hall would certainly provide an admirable venue for local thespians to tread the boards in a grand manner.

In the days when it was the Post Office Social Club, of which I was a member, occasionally compering live acts and calling bingo numbers, I don’t think the concert room was ever used, as the ground floor bar and the stage were always sufficient for our needs.

But, as part of a group of like-minded amateur photographers, we did occupy one of the smaller rooms upstairs for our weekly get-togethers, which led to me taking several pictures of the institute. All the rooms there have lots of pillars, often topped by quite ornate cornicing.

It was only then that I appreciated how big the building actually is.

Before that time – in the late 1960s and during the 1970s – my visits to the Railway Institute were just limited to having a pint or two in the bar, which was totally different to the PO club bar. This room, I recall, also featured a large adjoining games room.

The spacious concert hall inside the Railway Institute building

In fact, postman of that period who worked on the railway station permanently and, thus, developed close social links with many railwaymen, actually nicknamed the Railway Institute and its bar “Platform Seven”. Derby station, of course, only had six platforms at the time. Today, it would almost certainly be nicknamed platform nine and three-quarters, because the good-humoured, sometimes theatrical banter within its walls, came from some great characters of a bygone age. The work humour then was very different to that we know today and it was quite simply, magical to watch and listen to at times.

Let’s hope, as Mr Craven and the present owners, the Sanders brothers, suggest, this great old building witnesses more of the same, though, perhaps, enacted in a slightly more professional and sober nature than those previously described.

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