The Black Orchid lives on in TV presenter’s back garden
SIGN BRINGS BACK MEMORIES OF GREAT NIGHTS AT LEGENDARY NOTTINGHAM CLUB
MOST people have garden gnomes and bird baths in their garden but Paul Cowland has a unique piece of Nottingham memorabilia.
The 48-year-old Discovery Channel presenter and car expert managed to get his hands on the lettering from the exterior of the long-gone Black Orchid nightclub.
Paul, a regular at the club 25 years ago, has had the letters fixed by friend Andy Nix above a hot tub in the garden at his home in Tollerton.
“It’s a little bit cheesy and naff but so was the Black Orchid – it was a cheese fest,” said Paul.
Paul posted a photograph of the lettering on Twitter, saying: “It won’t mean much if you’re not from #Nottingham”, which prompted scores of likes and a flood of memories from other former clubbers.
“Looking at Twitter seems to have brought back a lot of memories for everybody,” he rold the Post.
“I think they were the heydays of clubbing for me, the 80 and 90s. For me Monday night was the night of the Black Orchid. I used to go religiously every single Monday.
“They had one of the best DJS in the country. It was a very good club, very good vibes, non-pretentious and very down to earth and you can see from the way people are commenting it brings back a load of memories.
“For a lot of us it has a warm place in our hearts. It was all about the music.”
Paul, who was beyond excited to acquire the letters, once danced until the small hours to floor-fillers such as U Sure Do, Let Me Be Your Fantasy and Pianoman.
He’s planning on having a relaxing Christmas in the hot tub “pretending I’m at the Black Orchid with some 90s rave on”.
The lettering was taken down from the dilapidated club in Redfield Way around a year ago and had been sitting in Paul’s office until now as he’s been busy filming around the country.
“It’s been a crazy year. We have been filming non-stop for the whole of the year all round the country doing three TV shows,” said Paul, whose new show Salvage Hunters: Classic Cars comes out on Wednesday on Discovery+.
“I haven’t been home much but it’s been one of those jobs I’ve been desperate to do all year. Finally after winding down for Christmas I had a little bit of time to oversee things and my friend Andy very kindly put them up for me.”
His wife Emma, who is originally from Plymouth, never visited the Black Orchid – which later changed its name to Isis.
But she totally gets Paul’s passion, having collected memorabilia from her own clubbing days.
Isis closed down in 2009 after a number of violent incidents.
A young and unknown Take That performed there in 1992.
The club was also a location for Top Of The Pops and the Hit Man And Her with Pete Waterman and Michaela Strachan, and the VIP lounge was regularly packed with Nottingham Forest footballers and celebrities filming at the nearby Central TV studios.