Veteran Tricorn DJs hit the decks again after 50 years

Back in the heady days of the Tricorn club Pete Cross was the regular DJ. When he took breaks during his five-hour discos Nigel Grundy took over to spin the discs.

With his choice of popular, danceable music, Pete always had a full dance floor. However, Nigel would play records by Pink Floyd, the Crazy World of Arthur Brown and Moby Grape, music guaranteed to empty the dance floor.

So when Pete returned to the decks he had to build his dance floor up all over again.

Pete and Nigel last shared the turntables in 1969 and in the intervening years Pete has been a successful DJ, MC and broadcaster on Havant-based Angel Radio and is about to publish his autobiography.

Nigel Grundy when an aspiring photographer, pictured at Kimbells in Osborne Road, Southsea.

Nigel has been a professional photographer, lecturer at the University of Portsmouth and is currently the curator of the permanent Portsmouth Music Experience exhibition at the Guildhall.

Now, after 50 years, Pete and Nigel will be sharing the turntables again, but on different days, when Nigel presents a new fortnightly folk music programme on Angel Radio called Angel Folk. It will feature music from famous, and not so famous, local, national and international folk musicians from the 1960s.

The first show is on November 4 at 7pm. The station’s on 89.5fm and online.

The picture below was taken in 1969 and shows Nigel Grundy at Kimbell's. He was a regular DJ there as well as the Tricorn Club and other city clubs.

The Crookhorn anti-aircraft gun site in 1969. Picture: Peter Rogers's collection.

n Reader Eddy Amey has sent me a document composed by ZETICA entitled Sitesafe Bomb Impact Desk Study showing where high explosive bombs and incendiaries fell during the Second World War on and north of Portsdown Hill.

The document says that on the night of March 11/12, 1941, at 10.40pm several incendiary bombs were dropped on an anti-aircraft site at Crookhorn Lane, Purbrook, and also on Portsdown Hill. Allegedly, 87 people were killed, about 400 seriously injured and a further 200 suffered minor injuries.

I searched the Evening News of that date and for five days afterwards and there is not a word about it. I these matters were hushed-up but not to have a mentioned an event of this magnitude seems suspicious. In my other researches into such matters I have never heard of 87 people killed in one raid. Can anyone help me?

n On the facing page is the Pompey schoolboys’ line-up of 1958 when they played Bournemouth schoolboys. Back row (l to r): Taylor, Humble, Nicholson, Rance, Hodgkins, Tarrant, Morgan. Front: Allport, Pollinger, Higgins, Howe, Slaughter, Worth, Middleton.