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Picture source: David Stephens

The Star was situated on Duke Street.

Source: Bob Brodie

This pub closed in the 1980s and has now been demolished and replaced by a casino.

Paul Irving (July 2011)

I used to be a regular here on a Saturday night and a Sunday lunchtime in 1976/1977. It used to be a real bohemian crowd there: artists, small firm owners, homosexual, students, philosophers, drunks, lonely old and neglected ones, and lots of fun-loving people. It was also multi-cultural. That such a group of people could ever fit together, which it did. At the time, I like many, found it to be a very good place to be, be it that the outside and inside were not modern, pretty, or well looked after. It was run by an elderly German woman, Paula, and her live-in barman/boyfriend. She had a strong German accent and a high-pitched skitter-scatter laugh, was quick witted, loved dirty jokes, was a mother hen, and always in for a laugh. This in contrast to her son Clive who would spend much of his time be-moaning the clientele. By the doorway was a juke box and I can remember spending a lot of time playing Fleetwood Mac's: Go your Own Way, Thin Lizzy's: Don't Believe a Word, Peter Gabriel’s Solsbury Hill and Ace's How Long there. At the time I lived in a small apartment on South Street, so it was convenient. I was also just starting up my first job after completing university. I took my first and only LSD trip there. I can also remember Paula’s boyfriend locking up many times after closing time on a Saturday night and groups of us staying on to party till the early morning. It was a place to get up and dance, boogie, and just do your thing. Everyone was welcomed and welcome there.

John Butterfield (June 2019)

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