SUNDAY September 30 saw a milestone for Ilkley Soul Club. Twelve months ago the Club tentatively opened its doors at The Hollygarth on Leeds Road, to Northern Soul fans from far and wide.

It was an uncertain time as it had been quite a while since anything involving this genre of music had been promoted in Ilkley. However with successful ventures already established in the likes of Keighley and Skipton, and slightly further afield in both Leeds and Bradford, now Ilkley also had its own Soul Club.

With events held at the end of almost every month, Ilkley Soul Club has gone from strength to strength and matured into the go-to rare soul & Motown Sunday afternoon session in the area.

Barry Innocenti, of Ilkley Soul Club said:”So Sunday 30th marked the club’s 1st Anniversary, and who would’ve thought that over its first 12 months in action, the Club would continue to increasingly attract soul fans from not only within Yorkshire itself, but also from over in Lancashire. It is true to say that historic rivalries still do exist between the two counties, but at Ilkley Soul Club there is no War of The Roses on the dancefloor! To underline this the Club invited back guest DJ’s Graeme & Karen Bickerton from Burnley, who had played at the inaugural event last year.

“Over the last year ISC had been forming close ties with its counterpart 30 miles west of Ilkley - Clitheroe Soul Club. The two Clubs share similar styles of music and have similar set-ups - and so it was really great to see a large group of soul fans attending from Clitheroe to celebrate Ilkley Soul Club’s 1st birthday.”

In the usual manner, Barry started spinning the records just before 3pm and by 3.30 the dancefloor was being used to the full. It virtually kept like that right through sets from regular DJ Keith Hudson, followed by guests Karen and Graeme and topped-off from 7-8pm by Ian Smith, at the end of five hours of wonderful Northern Soul and Motown vinyl sounds.

Ilkley Soul Club will be playing these fabulous tunes once again on Sunday, October 28 when guest DJs will be Andy Carling from Wetherby Engine Shed and Mike Eastwood from Wakefield Soul Club.

For additional information, find Ilkley Soul Club on Facebook, see their event listings on Soul Source (www.soul-source.co.uk), or email: ilkleysoulclub@mail.com.