Bunters, Guildford

(c’71-’82) Bunters, on the Shalford Road, opposite the Yvonne Arnaud was run by Billy “Bunter” Williamson, with bar manager Raymond Young. Prior to Bunters, from ’71 it was called Dronfields after that club moved down from Tunsgate to 11 Quarry Street. This club then changed its name to Frasers, before it became Bunters.

Local police were often on site due to incidents caused by the “overzealous bouncers”, oft described as “little scuffles”. Entering from Quarry Street and once you got through the door, and passed the likes of bouncers Tuppenny Kendall, James “Coco” Essua (He would also join LongPig on stage occasionally playing bongos), Brian Durbridge, and John Wright, the venue was not particularly salubrious, with low ceilings, papers on the wall, three floors that were often ‘sticky’, and a different music genre in each bar supplied by resident DJ, Billy “Cat Weasel” Jepp. Occasionally Noel Edmonds was present, often promoting some alcoholic beverage.

Tuesday night was half price night and Bunter’s “restaurant” apparently produced some pretty tasty grub when you were a few pints into the evening. Disc jockey Andy Miles recalls The Jackie Lynton Band playing Bunters in late ’73, while he spun the vinyl with help from Frank Cox, but it was more likely Jackie Lynton’s Grande. The Jam are listed as playing the venue on the 7 and 21 July ’74 with another gig on 5 Oct, supporting The Rock Island Line, cancelled due to the bombings in Guildford. In an interview with Malcolm Wyatt, Rick Buckler states “I remember we set up the equipment in there, went home to Woking, had some tea, because we weren’t going to be on until really late at night. But then we got a phone call, saying we can’t come back because they’d literally shut the whole of Guildford down.”

On 7 April ’76, Blackblood played Bunters, and George Gimarc’s “Punk Diary: The Ultimate Train-spotter’s Guide to Underground Rock, 1970-1982” does list The Sex Pistols as playing Bunter’s Club (which is listed on Sex Pistols site as The Place) on 28 September ’76, although we’ve found no evidence to date. Similarly, The Clash are also reported to have played Bunters, but there has been no evidence uncovered to date either, although page 211 of Marcus Gray’s “Last Gang in Town” does state: [The Clash’s] second trip out on their own, on some forgotten date in October [’76], was to a pub-cum-disco in Guildford run by Marmalade’s former bass player. It was the smallest venue the band ever played, and that the audience consisted of “one lone drunk refugee from the club/disco below, where the bouncers were having the shit kicked out of them by a bunch of squaddies”. Is that Bunters? According to an article by Malcolm Wyatt for The Guildford Dragon ‘The Clash’s Paul Simonon and Joe Strummer reminisced about that date in a 1982 NBC TV interview as having ‘only one person in the audience’.  Another band to play the venue in the ’70s was West Byfleet / New Haw band The Slim Franklin Band.

In the late 70’s / early ’80s, The Junction night took up residence on the top floor, featuring live bands every Monday – there was also a The Junction night at The Star, Guildford. The Bunker’s Junction hosted Jasmin Pie, supported by The Reaction on 24 April ’78. The Magnets, supported by The Little Jimmies, on 24 July ’78, and a month later, on 24 August, Crisis performed a 10-song set at the venue, On 12 November ’79, UBz supported Rockola. The following month Dick Middleton organized a Battle of the Bands night, this included Farnborough based rockers Kama Sutra who appeared at the event, on 19 December ’79. The next year Spider/s performed on 14 January returning on 4 February. El Seven dropped by on 14 April, Crosswinds on 11 August, and Pozer are known to have appeared there on 13 October ’80. They were followed a week later by Cavalry on 20 October and the triple header of The Chevrons with B Film, and Red Box on 3 November ’80, and then UBz returned on 12 November. Jumping to mid ’81 we find Panther opened for The Alligators on 10 July ’81. Other bands that are known to have played the venue are The Detroit Emeralds, The Golden Age of Metro, Heatwave, House, Duffo (with local keyboardist Sev Lewkowicz), The Dodgers who were supported by Squire in ’78, Luxury Glass Town, Patrick Fitzgerald, The Volunteers, Whirlwind, White Colors, and The Vapors.

The story goes that Williamson was a friend of the Krays and may have “done a runner” to Spain due to underworld connections / activity (which might explain the loaded gun in the glove box of his bright yellow jag). He lived above the club and had a small private bar where he reportedly entertained ‘off duty’ detectives; and was certainly seen waving a shotgun out of an upstairs window. Meanwhile, Essua – who liberally deployed a very colourful vocabulary when up trees in opposition to the local constabulary, ripping the lights from the roof of a police car, on buses, and when collecting debts – was charged for stealing sheep!

It became Legion in 2007 and is now flats.

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