Neal Guppy: still dancing at 85 at his Enterprise Club

He can take the credit for bringing the first 'disco' to York in the early 1960s while today – at the age of 85 – he is still teaching folks to jive, despite recovering from a knee replacement surgery just two weeks ago.

Neal runs Guppy's Enterprise Club in Nunnery Lane, where an array of diverse clubs and societies meet every week and have done so since Neal bought the building (formerly the Britannia pub) in 1975 for a steal.

"They wanted £15,000 but it wasn't worth it, so we got it down to £9,500," says Neal as he makes me a coffee in his kitchen (he lives on site) – just across the hall way from the signing in booth where his regulars pay between £3.50 and £4.50 for each visit.

It is a Wednesday morning and there is a steady stream of arrivals - heading for the life drawing class in the main room upstairs and a writer's group in a smaller room also above.

Guppy's bar at Nunnery Lane in the 1980s - hardly changed today. Photo supplied

The programme of activities includes everything from war games and chess to a women's choir and kung fu.

Neal, who has survived cancer, still teaches regular jive classes and ballroom.

Ever since he began organising dances in the early 1960s, Neal Guppy has been a prominent and much-loved figure of the York social scene.

He gave up a career in teaching to concentrate on his first love – bringing people together to have a good time.

At first, his venues were the Clifton cinema (now a bingo hall) and the Woolpack where he set up regular "jive parties" - often playing records for people to listen and dance to. It was the precursor of the disco.

"The discotheque started in France after the war - but it would have been very pretentious to have called it that in York!" says Neal.

Neal Guppy at 85 - behind the bar at his Enterprise Club in York. Photo - York Press

Later he found a premises in Dixon's Yard, Walmgate, where he was able to open a coffee lounge and also a space for music and dancing in the basement. Neal likens it to the Cavern - Liverpool's legendary music haunt made famous by The Beatles - and hunts through old photo albums to show me some black and white snaps of the city's style setters enjoying themselves in the Walmgate basement back in the day.

His nightspot was a rival to places such as The Cat's Whiskers, based at The Rialto in Fishergate.

In 1975 he moved the venture to Nunnery Lane, taking over and converting the former Britannia pub.

The Britannia in Nunnery Lane in the 1960s Picture: York Press

Almost half a century later, he is still there! To visit Guppy's is like stepping back in time.

The lounge is a Seventies' time warp with wooden curved bar (from the once popular Stonegate coffee bar), decked out with low wooden seats in raspberry brush velvet and wooden tables. There is a giant cheese plant threatening to tangle with passersby. Funny thing is, the decor wouldn't look out of place in a modern York coffee shop hankering after a retro 1970s lo-fi vibe. "What goes out of fashion tends to come back again," says Neal who has two grown-up sons and was made an honorary freeman of York for his efforts in helping clubs and societies to thrive in 2011.

Neal Guppy in the main upstairs room at the Enterprise Club in Nunnery Lane. Photo supplied

So what has changed over the years?

There are fewer activities in the programme - and Neal gave up his removals business in 2004, so the workload is less.

But don't think it means the octogenarian is sitting around with his feet up.

He reckons he is putting in 45 hours a week - but when he also ran his Guppy's removals service (his vans were parked opposite on Nunnery Lane car park) he clocked 75 hours a week.

He has no plans to take time off following the knee operation.

"I can't afford to rest up - I'm self-employed. I don't have time to sit down," he says matter-of-factly.

As for retiring - it's just not on his agenda.

"Retire?" he booms incredulously. "No! Stop living? No! Good grief.

"My ideal is to drop dead while jiving - although that would be a bit rough on my partner!"

* Guppy's Enterprise Club is at 17 Nunnery Lane, York. T: 01904 622879. W: guppysenterpriseclub.co.uk

Turn back time: 1975

What was going on in 1975 when Guppy's Enterprise opened in Nunnery Lane?

It was a big year for York - the National Railway Museum opened to the public on Saturday, September 27, 1975 - with the Duke of Edinburgh doing the honours. It was the first national museum outside London.

A month earlier, The Queen attended York races in August 1975, watching her horse Valuation.

We had a Labour PM - Harold Wilson - and Margaret Thatcher became leader of the Conservative party. Inflation reached 24.2 per cent - the second-highest recorded levels since records began.

Monty Python and the Holy Grail was released in cinemas and Queen's epic chart hit Bohemian Rhapsody came out.

Strides for equality at work were made with the the Sex Discrimination Act and the Equal Pay Act coming into force.

The average house price in the UK was around £9,500 while the average weekly wage for a man working in a manual field was around £48-£60. A pint of beer would set you back 28p, a gallon of petrol 73p and a large loaf of bread 15p.