IT was an era of entertainment that has probably gone for good.

From the late 1970s until well into the 1990s, a stay at one Bournemouth hotel came with a full programme of entertainment included.

The entertainers could include some of the major stars of the day, including great names of comedy such as Hattie Jacques or Ken Dodd, or music from the likes of Joe Brown and the Bruvvers or Freddie and the Dreamers.

The Manchester Hotel has been described by its former manager as a “little Blackpool-type venue in Bournemouth”.

The days of those holiday packages ended some years ago and now the Manchester Hotel itself could be set to go.

A developer, Building and Consturction City Ltd, wants to knock down the building and replace it with a five-storey block of 95 apartments, of which 25 would be for holiday-makers. It says the Victorian building’s “architectural merit has been lost”.

Ian Goode was manager of the Manchester Hotel for 15 years.

“It’s a shame but it’s the future, isn’t it?” he says of the demolition plans.

“There’s nothing we can do about it but I just remember the good old days. During those 15 years I spent there, every star there was in Bournemouth came to the Manchester.”

The owners of the Manchester Hotel during those years were former AFC Bournemouth chief executive Brian Wells and partner Pat Dooley, who took it over in 1977. They were members of the Variety Club Golfing Society, which introduced them to the world of showbusiness.

The owners laid on a series of cabaret events, but they really moved into another league in 1978, when Jimmy Tarbuck – who was appearing at the Winter Gardens – was asked to open its new swimming pool. The ceremony was followed by a cabaret with the Beverley Sisters.

From then on, the hotel began presenting entertainment from a succession of top performers – many of them in town to play the town’s big entertainment venues. Mr Goode remembered arriving at work to see a fleet of five Rolls-Royces outside on his first day.

Ken Dodd, who was booked to provide an evening of cabaret entertainment for one Sunday, brought 200 people on coaches and the hotel was booked for three weeks.

Sometimes there were almost more stars than the place could handle. On one evening when the great Hattie Jacques was due to appear, Radio One’s Dave Lee Travis arrived at 6pm, followed by Avengers star Patrick MacNee, who was in a show at the Playhouse Theatre, and Jennifer Wilson, of TV’s The Brothers. When Hattie Jacques arrived, she was accompanied by her Sykes co-star Derek Guyler, who performed on the washboard.

Jim Davidson performed a very popular charity night, while Norman Collier chose the hotel as the venue for his 40th wedding anniversary celebrations – with Des O’Connor turning up as a surprise guest.

The rising comedy duo Les Dennis and Dustin Gee played there in 1981. “They happened to be the guests when the Royal Wedding was going on,” said Mr Goode.

“So for the guests that night we had a special show and Dustin Gee turned into Prince Charles and went around thanking everybody.”

But not everybody who performed at the venue was already famous.

Michael Barrymore did a summer season there as an unknown cabaret act. Claire Sweeney, then a young singer who was becoming well-known in Liverpool, came down for a summer season accompanied by her parents. Tarbuck’s musical director Johnny Wiltshire then booked her for a summer season with the comedian – helping boost a career that would lead to Brookside, fitness videos and Celebrity Big Brother.

Another relative unknown was comedian and signer Gary Anderson, who asked to be released from his commitment at the Manchester so he could join a new show called That’ll Be The Day. Mr Goode agreed – and he has been in the show for 28 of its 30 years so far.

All this was going on alongside the entertainment at the hotel’s neighbouring function room, King Arthur’s Court, which was best known for hosting medieval banquets, as well as special shows such as 1940s nights.

“It was seven nights a week entertainment – it was a complete entertainment package,” Mr Goode says of the Manchester.

He has described it as “a little Blackpool-type venue in Bournemouth – quite unique”.

Some of the Manchester Hotel’s famous guests:

  • Simon Bates
  • The Beverley Sisters
  • Dora Bryan
  • Cannon and Ball
  • Frank Carson
  • Norman Collier
  • Jess Conrad
  • Jimmy Cricket
  • Joe Brown and the Bruvvers
  • Max Bygraves
  • The Dallas Boys
  • Paul Daniels
  • Freddie ‘Parrot Face’ Davies
  • Bobby Davro
  • Windsor Davies
  • Les Dennis
  • Ken Dodd
  • Berni Flint
  • The Fortunes
  • Freddie and the Dreamers
  • Ken Goodwin
  • Derek Guyler
  • Keith Harris
  • Melvin Hayes
  • Barry Howard
  • Karl Howman
  • Gareth Hunt
  • Jan Hunt
  • Hattie Jacques
  • Jimmy Jones
  • The Kaye Sisters
  • Matthew Kelly
  • Diane Lee
  • Little and Large
  • Joe Longthorne
  • Don Maclean
  • Patrick Macnee
  • Ruby Murray
  • Tom O’Connor
  • Richard O’Sullivan
  • Mike Reid
  • The Rocking Berries
  • Wayne Sleep
  • Nicholas Smith
  • Ed Stewart
  • John H Stracey
  • Claire Sweeney
  • Tony Crane and the Merseybeats
  • Dave Lee Travis
  • Wayne Fontana and the Mindbenders
  • The Wurzels.