Rock and Roll Hotel

I can now reveal that I slept in the same bed as Gabrielle Drake.

Liverpool and Me

I spent a lot of time in Liverpool.

The horrific events in Liverpool on Monday, May 26, 2025, led King Charles to comment on Elon Musk’s X: “At this heartbreaking time for the people of Liverpool, I know that the strength of community spirit for which your city is renowned will be a comfort and support to those in need.”

About 65 people - including four children - were injured when a Ford Galaxy car mowed through a crowd of football supporters during the celebrations after Liverpool FC won the Premier League title. The team had paraded the Premier League trophy from the top of a bus.

What is described by His Majesty as “strength of community spirit” is seen by some as defensive clannishness and victimhood. From the 1960s, I made many visits to various parts of Liverpool. I often got a distinct impression that Liverpool was a separate island whose inhabitants thought the rest of the world did not understand them. Detractors say Liverpudlians have a chip on the communal shoulder, blaming everyone else for their misdeeds, and acting like the world is against them and owes them a living. On Friday 22^nd of August 1997, an episode of Room 101 was broadcast in which Alan Davies said that “all people from Liverpool think they’re funny”, he went on to list Scouse comedians, from Tom O’Connor to Jimmy Tarbuck, who were not to his taste. Some Scousers threatened to kill him if he ever set foot in Liverpool again.

I was eating in a Liverpool Mexican restaurant. The waitress was friendly and casual. I was enjoying my burrito until I discovered a solid block of ice at its centre. I mentioned this to the waitress in a non-threatening kind of way. She said: “You won’t want any ice-cream, then?”

Over ten years ago, I wrote a detailed article on Liverpool for the Sri Lankan business magazine Echelon.

https://pcolman.wordpress.com/2014/01/10/liverpool-scouse-city/

Me and Gabrielle

In a recent post on Substack, I revealed that I once slept in the same bed as the exotic singer Lita Roza. But not while she was in it.

I can now reveal that I slept in the same bed as Gabrielle Drake, noted actress and keeper of the flame of her lost brother, Nick Drake. I have to confess that Gabrielle was not in the bed at the same time as me.

The Georgian Quarter

When working in Liverpool, in the late 80s and early 90s, I often stayed at the New Manx Hotel 39 Catherine Street L87 NE. Often, I would set off from my home in Wimbledon Chase, heading in the darkness for South Wimbledon station slithering about on the black ice, lugging the heavy departmental laptop. Laptops were very heavy in those days, as I proved when the strap broke and the infernal device landed on my foot.

The postcode L87 NE is within the Canning ward/electoral division, which is in the constituency of Liverpool Riverside. The New Manx Hotel is close to both Liverpool cathedrals: the old Anglican one designed by Sir Giles Gilbert Scott (He won the design competition in 1903 at the age of 22) and the Catholic one (“Paddy’s Wigwam”) designed by Frederic Gibberd in 1962. Roger McGough called the Catholic cathedral “God’s new Liverpool address.”

Someone calling himself Neil K waxed lyrical about Catherine Street on Trip Advisor. Promoters of Liverpool’s PR image like to refer to Catherine Street as being part of “the Georgian Quarter”, and why not?

“Running from Myrtle Street down to Upper Parliament Street is one of the most beautiful and interesting streets in our fair city namely Catharine Street.For me personally as a real ale fan and member of CAMRA I love visiting the pubs along Catharine Street such as The Blackburne Arms Pub and The Caledonia Pub and The Peter Kavanagh's Pub just off Catharine Street but I also love the wonderful architecture, buildings such as Rodney House, St Philip Neri Church, St Brides Church and the many other stunning buildings that make up the Georgian Quarter make this street a joy to walk down. My twin brother Stephen and I were here on the 30th of December enjoying a day out in Liverpool City Centre, enjoying the great architecture of the Georgian Quarter and visiting the great pubs Liverpool is justifiably famous for before the government enforced the 3rd lockdown on the 31st, we walked down Catharine Street on our way to Papillon (Hope Street ) and took in the great architecture of this street and area. A wonderful street, most definitely well worth checking out if you're in the area.”

It is better PR to call the area “the Georgian Quarter” than Toxteth which has become associated with poverty, crime, racial tension and riots.

It was just a short walk from the New Manx to Chinatown and some excellent eating places. As one walked, one could hear music coming out of rehearsal rooms in lofts and warehouses. Liverpool has long been Music City. The Cavern on Matthew Street, where The Beatles started out, was not far away from the New Manx. My friend Roger Eagle had run the legendary Eric’s, also on Matthew Street.

https://pcolman.wordpress.com/2012/09/03/roger-eagle/

The New Manx Hotel

The proprietor of the New Manx, Jim Gilmore, always provided a friendly welcome, although I was alarmed on one occasion to find him sitting on the stairs trimming his toenails. He clearly had not performed this task for some time as the nails had developed into not very attractive talons.

The breakfasts at the New Manx were substantial and tasty and Jim was not a tyrant over punctuality. The rooms were comfortable. One was a bit strange in that there was a shower right in the middle of the room. This was not an hallucination on my part.

Back in the Orange Juice days, Edwyn Collins was a regular in Liverpool. Playing Eric’s and frequenting the arts scene, he found a favourite hotel, the New Manx. Edwyn said: “There was a shower in the middle of the room I used to stay in – not in the modern sense where you get that as a design feature. It was just there because that was the easiest place for it.” Edwyn recalls: “We were the first group to stay there. After us, lots of bands stayed there, he had photos all over the walls.“ Edwyn, with Scottish frugality,said: “It was dead cheap – £5 a night. The breakfast was gorgeous. Jim said ‘it doesn’t matter what time you get up, you can get a breakfast’.”

Liverpool has over the centuries produced legions of “characters”. Jim Gilmore was clearly one of their number. He used to receive letters from children addressed to Santa Claus and often referred to himself as Father Christmas or Grandad. I do not think (hope) there was anything sinister in this.

Pictures

Someone in Clydebank has a postcard to sell on Ebay (£4.61 plus £1 postage) featuring a cartoon drawing of Jim grinning and talking on the phone. This card features a stuck-on picture of Elvis Presley with two hound dogs. The card appears to date from the 1970s or 1980s. There is also a postcard featuring Bing Crosby.

I do not think that Bing Crosby or Elvis Presley ever stayed at the New Manx. I do not think the Beatles stayed there, but Jim had their picture on the wall. Jim had pictures on the walls of all the pop stars and actors who had stayed at the hotel. (And some who hadn’t.)

He had a picture of that mysterious band The Residents. Jim was adamant that The Residents had stayed at the New Manx. The Residents always appeared in public silent and costumed, usually wearing eyeball helmets, top hats and tails. Their first official release, Meet the Residents was in 1974, and they released over 60 albums. Their anonymity led to rumours that the Residents were actually the Beatles, even specifically naming George Harrison. This does not appear to be true.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Residents

As well as being a rock and roll hotel, The New Manx was also a theatrical digs, being close to the Liverpool Everyman, the Royal Court, the Playhouse and the Liverpool Empire – venues which launched the national and international careers of many theatrical and musical stars.

Gabrielle

Gabrielle Drake made her stage debut in 1964, during the inaugural season of the Everyman Theatre, Liverpool, playing Cecily in The Importance of Being Earnest. When talking to me, Jim went very-dewy eyed talking about how lovely Gabrielle Drake was. Today, she is probably more famous for being the sister of doomed folkie Nick Drake. It is possible that I slept in the same bed as Nick Drake’s sister, though not at the same time.

Bill Harry was close to the Beatles in the 60s.He wrote this about Gabrielle Drake: “Gabrielle, who was to be found in bed topless with Peter Sellers in There’s A Girl In My Soup, appeared in a series of 'sex comedy' films such as The Au Pair Girls, Suburban Wives and Commuter Husbands. Why a well-respected Shakespearean actress would be willing to appear full-frontal as a sexpot in The Au Pair Girls is puzzling as theatre and television roles still kept her regularly in work.”

I did not see her in any of those depressing English “sex romps.” I missed out on her appearances in Crossroads or Coronation Street. I did see her playing Kelly Monteith’s wife in a long-running TV sit-com.

Farewell New Manx

I have argued that it would have been unlikely that the Beatles would have stayed at the New Manx as they had homes in Liverpool. However, according to Edwyn Collins, “Ian McCulloch from Echo and the Bunnymen lived in Liverpool, but once he found out you could get a breakfast whatever time you woke up and it was only a fiver a night he started staying there too.” According to Edwyn Collins, “It was the party hotel. Julian Cope used to stay the night there even though he lived in Liverpool.”

The New Manx Hotel is sadly no more. How could it exist without Jim Gilmore? Number 39 Catherine Street is now split up into seven apartments. Described by estate agents as “period flats”. It ranks as the 1791st largest and 1593rd most expensive of the 2,220 buildings in the L8 area. Sale prices range from £139,948 for one bedroom leasehold flats (376 ft²) to £278,197 for 3 bedroom leasehold flats with a garden (1,388 ft²) . Monthly rental prices range from £601 pcm for 1 bed flats to £816 pcm for 3 bed flats.