The Diary: October 1998
This is where it all began- on October 10th 1998 life changed forever... the bar was formed.... but how come? I shall now cast my mind back...........
It's the beginning of October and Nick (that's me!) was nearly 18. My parents suggested a party with family and a few friends. So whilst my mum went frantic over cleaning and cooking food Martin Kelly & myself (mates since 1995) set about finding some girls to come to the party.
Whilst sitting on the internet one night I saw Linda Howard online (on ICQ) and thought- a-ha! How about asking her to come- I knew her kind of from school so it was worth a try! She agreed to come and I asked her to bring her friend Zoe Smith (a girl I'd seen in college) which eventually happened after much of my nagging! Then, Zoe, myself, Martin and Linda went to the cinema together to see 'Theres Something About Mary' whilst my mum & dad prepared the party. Then it came....
Before the party- the beer in the kitchen awaits the drinkers! (This image is not thumb nailed)
It was a night of much drinking and getting to know each other- and maybe even a little bit of chatting up on my part with Zoe ;)
Also at the party was my brother, Paul, and his mate Tom Foster along with Steven Hughes (Spanner) who was Martin's friend.
We then fused together to form a group- although not yet known as 'The Bottesford Bar' - that was still several months away...
Joseph, Nick, Zoe and Alan enjoying the party
Friends of the family- here we see Cindy!
Nick & Linda discuss Zoe- me trying to pull? Never!!
Ok I admit it- I enjoyed taking pictures of Zoe! Well I would do wouldn't I? :))
Zoe about to leave the party with Nick saying goodbye
Shortly after the party (13th October) Nick & Zoe got together as a couple. A crazy drunk night at Linda's, a trip to Ilkeston fair and Martin & Linda also got together although they only lasted a few weeks but were still together at....
A somewhat smaller scale party taking over just the conservatory. Strange as it sounds you can have a party in a conservatory! The night was very drunken and was the first party where we used computers to play music. It also showed off our first lighting effects- computer screen savers! We were also invaded by a traffic cone and by Nick smashing a light bulb after being interrupted by the traffic cone (I was with Zoe ok!!)....
We don't have any photos of this night, unfortunately, but I guess we didn't think at the time... But you can look over the music playlist- mostly cheese, early 90's dance and some 80's...