WHEN Batley Variety Club opened in the late 1960s, it brought a sprinkling of Vegas-style glamour to West Yorkshire.

Those who raised their eyebrows and wondered how such a glitzy venue, with plush carpets and velvet seats, could prosper in a small northern town were soon eating their words. Batley Variety Club became the entertainment capital of the North, attracting such names as Shirley Bassey, Tom Jones and Louis Armstrong and drawing audiences from across the region.

The venue later became Batley Frontier, but memories of its colourful history live on. On Friday the world famous building will open its doors for the final time, with DJ Alan Kent playing songs from acts who appeared there.

It's a chance to say farewell to the club and reminisce. From 11pm, resident Frontier DJs Mark Freejack and Steve Mitchell will play anthems from the 1990s to the present.

The property is to be turned into a gym, but next month Nick Westwell, consultant general manager of the Frontier, who runs Bedrock Bars Ltd, is opening a new venue called tbc (Terrace - Bar - Club) in the town.

“It is, without question, a very sad time and we are truly sorry to be losing such an icon," said Mr Westwell. "We are very conscious that this will be quite emotive for many people.

"Since the turn of the century, the commercial entertainment landscape has changed and the demands for larger arenas, opposed to smaller style concert halls, has been prevalent. The expansion of TV content, the internet, mobile communications and social media, accessibility to performance media, transport links, the smoking ban and the change in licensing laws have all assisted in the demise of this style of multi-functional entertainment venue.

"We wanted to ensure that this didn’t happen here and therefore, following a significant investment, a brand new bar and club, aptly called tbc (to be continued) or its official title, Terrace - Bar - Club, is set to revolutionise Batley’s nightlife, opening a few hundred metres further along Bradford Road on Friday, August 5. It will offer revellers a brand new bar and state-of-the-art clubbing experience, playing host to the region’s biggest nights."

The Batley Frontier opened in 1982, and has been running longer than Batley Variety Club did. But in the 11 years its doors were open, the variety club made a significant impact on the North's entertainment scene.

Co-founded in 1967 by Yorkshire showmen Peter Fleming and James Corrigan, the club offered cabaret with a chicken in a basket dinner for six shillings and six pence. At its peak it was said to have had 300,000 members.

A step up from traditional working men's clubs, it was was fitted with velvet seats in circular pods facing the stage where some of the biggest names in showbusiness appeared. They included Tina Turner, Tom Jones, Shirley Bassey, Roy Orbison, who is said to have met his wife at the club, the Bee Gees, Eartha Kitt, Louis Armstrong, Olivia Newton-John, Dusty Springfield, Ken Dodd, Gene Pitney, Tommy Cooper, Ben E King, Neil Sedaka, Tony Hancock and Morecambe and Wise.

Eric Morecambe suffered a heart attack in November, 1968, after a show at the club, while driving back to his hotel. He and Ernie Wise had been doing a week of midnight performances at the Batley venue. Morecambe told Michael Parkinson during a 1972 interview that chest pains left him unable to drive, and a passer-by took him to hospital.

One rather unlikely line-up was Hollywood star Jayne Mansfield, who took to the stage following a turn by comic Max Wall!

Miss Mansfield's appearance was part of a bizarre tour of West Yorkshire in May, 1967 which saw her visit Bradford's Kirkgate Market, Midland Hotel, Baildon Moor, a Brighouse fete and Harry Ramsden's in Guiseley for fish and chips! Two months later she was killed in a car crash, aged 34.

The trip was a publicity drive she planned during a week-long residence at Batley Variety Club. With her star fading in the US, and money drying up, she de-camped, with an entourage including her two dogs and five children, for a tour of English clubs. Sitting in the audience at one of her Batley shows was Diana Dors, the UK's own blonde bombshell.

Jayne Mansfield's visit was covered by Telegraph & Argus entertainment reporter Peter Holdsworth, who wrote that on May 1, 1967 she arrived at Yeadon Airport "with her chihuahuahs under her arm and a twinkle in her eye."

He continued: "Wearing a backless, almost sideless white gown which she must have had to fight to put on, Jayne made a 20-minute appearance at the Batley club. Between whispering in ears, stroking cheeks and the occasional peck of a kiss, Jayne cooed her way through a number of songs, including Call Me and the amusingly named Plain Jane."