The Wykin Social Club

After the Sweet Pea Club soul nights ended, the Hinckley Northern Soul Nights moved to the Wykin Social Club. Still organised and run by Pete Wileman, Colin Chamberlain and Ady Cope, it was monthly venue, normally the last Saturday in every month. Although the venue initially looks the worse for wear from the outside, and having finally discovered the entrance (it's round the side), one is presently surprised by a nicely presented function room, with a good sized dance floor, surrounded by plush seating.

High profile guest DJs appeared regularly, including Roger Banks, Dave Welding, Simon Hunt, Shifty, Ady Croasdell, John Poole, Guy Hennigan, Rob Messer and Rob Smith. Ady Cope is no slouch either, having DJ'd at the 100 Club himself!

The music played concentrates on the current rare soul scene, emphasis being placed on solely vinyl. Few classic (and some may argue "overplayed") oldies are heard, but this is no anoraks night... there is a great atmosphere, and the sounds are simply superb.

A BBC team from Pebble Mill, Birmingham visited the Wykin Social Club at the end of November, 2001 as part of the making of a special programme on northern soul that was broadcast on BBC2 at 7.30pm on Thursday, 20th December. The program followed the fortunes of a man from Derby, who was a regular attendee at the Wykin northern soul nights.

Ady Cope featured in the programme, and also appeared on the front page of the local newspaper, the Hinckley Times. Ady said at the time 'We get people from all over Leicestershire and we have had people from Manchester and Blackpool, the real homes of northern soul.'

Ady and Colin were also interviewed by Jo Hollis of BBC Radio Leicester - listen to the podcast.