CELEBRATING Christmas in Barnsley town centre in the 1950s for many revellers came no better than spending an evening at the Wine Shades.
It was packed to the rafters with customers enjoying the tremendous atmosphere.
The pub even had its own song. Frank Levitt who told us he had never forgotten ‘The Shades’, as it was nicknamed, still remembers the song with fondness 60 years later. It went: “We’ll spend a jovial evening at the Wine Shades Hotel. Always a treat, cosy and neat, you’ll find entertainment that is hard to beat. Bring your friends and relations to a little place that’s swell. Come along me lads and have the time of your life. Bring your sisters, cousins or your wife, and spend a jovial evening in the Wine Shades Hotel.â€
Frank used to pop into the pub for a pint when he was a young man. He told us: “The song opened up the evening’s entertainment. It was sung by licensee Tommy Fisher as he played his drums which were made out of a old tea chest.â€
