History

Elton Liberal Club was formed on Tuesday 10th of May 1898 by citizens of the Elton district who believed in the political aspirations of the Liberal Party. They used to meet in rooms at the bottom of Walshaw Road. The members were all political activists as was common in those days. The Conservative party had similar meeting places and clubs to further promote their own causes, and with the development of trade unions, the Labour party later created their own clubs and associations.

It is against this backdrop that we now can follow the development of our own club.

On the 18th of September 1920, having lost several members in the great war, the members purchased the land on which our club now stands. In those days there was a small club room and bowling green. The club room contained a snooker or billiard table and newspapers were bought for the benefit of the members. A social side of our club was beginning to develop and by the end of the second world war, political input was giving way to a more liberal, social types of activity. The club was developed further and a concert room was built at the side of the original games room and lounge. The concert room held snooker tables which provided plenty of social opportunities to its members which at that time numbered about 300. Eventually the games activities were concentrated in the games room and other social activities including bingo and concerts were concentrated in the concert room.

Our club continued to be successful particularly in the social activities it encouraged. The political influence and requirement by the mid 1970's had all but disappeared and the only requirement to be a member was that people were liberal in spirit and tolerant of other peoples views. Social activities prospered as did the club, and membership rose to 2000 by the millennium. The club then extended the premises by having another room added which was called Sinatra's. This room proved not to be big enough so by 2012 the room was further extended to hold 70 people.

Unlike our founding fathers, we make no distinction between men and women. All members (who must be at least 18 years old) have equal rights. The club is run by the committee which is elected annually by the members. The club is managed full time by a Manager, Steward, Assistant Steward, Bar Staff and Cleaners. It is open from Noon to Midnight everyday and supports a wide variety of activities. We have bowling teams, snooker and darts teams. We have a bingo night, line dancing nights, slimming club, concert nights and many other activities in both the concert room and Sinatra's bar. Members can use either of our function rooms free of charge for their private party's.