Nolan sisters react to new Blackpool plaque

Blackpool Gazette

Coleen, Anne, Denise and Linda Nolan talk to Louisa Gregson about the new special plaque put up in their honour in Blackpool

Transcript

00:00 First of all, I just wanted to start off with, obviously, there's been quite a ferrari this

00:09 week, hasn't there? Because you've been honored at the Cliffs Hotel with a blue plaque.

00:14 Yes, we have.

00:15 Yeah, which I wrote a piece about. So if I could just maybe-- I don't know who wants

00:21 to start off. Is there anybody who wants to start off? I just-- I wanted to just go around

00:27 everybody and just have a little chat, really, just about-- I know, obviously, we've already

00:30 spoken, haven't we, Linda? But just about what it means, what that actually meant to

00:35 you and what it was like, and the nostalgia and everything of the Cliffs Hotel.

00:39 Yeah, it was absolutely amazing. I mean, Jake was instrumental in putting it together. And

00:45 all the kids helped financially and all. We didn't even know about that. I just knew Jake

00:50 did it. And he told us at his brother's wedding. And we were like, oh, god, we were so happy,

00:54 like a dog with two tails, you know? Because it's such an honor. And long after we're gone,

00:59 hopefully, the vandals don't destroy it. It'll still be there. And it's such an honor. It's

01:04 amazing.

01:05 Such an honor. And I'm sure-- I certainly hope that vandals won't destroy it. It's beautiful,

01:11 isn't it?

01:12 [LAUGHTER]

01:13 Tom's from.

01:14 It's a lovely plaque, isn't it? It's--

01:16 It really is.

01:17 It's beautiful. And so same question, then. I know, obviously, Linda, we've already talked

01:23 about it. But Anne, maybe, what did it mean to you with the--

01:27 Well, I mean, it was the start of our-- although we had worked in the working men's clubs around

01:33 England, Scotland, Ireland, and Wales for 10 years before that, it was actually the

01:38 start of our move into television and recording. Because we met the guy who actually brought

01:46 us to London on the day-- 50 years ago at the Cliffs Hotel on Christmas Day. And we

01:51 signed a contract with him to move down to London to his-- he had a theater restaurant

01:55 on Drury Lane, which we worked in for about six years. And whilst there, that was where

01:59 we got onto the Cliff Richard series. And the whole series was our first time on TV.

02:05 And also started recording. So it was a massive, massive thing for us, really, that day at

02:11 the Cliffs Hotel. It's always been synonymous in our career, really. And like I said, it

02:16 was 50 years ago. I was 20-- I was still old. I was 20. How old am I now? 73. So I was 23.

02:22 That's not old, is it? That's very young.

02:26 So yeah. So it's a really big thing. It was a really big thing for us to get that plaque,

02:31 really. Because that was the start of our TV and radio career, really.

02:34 Yeah.

02:35 Meeting that guy.

02:36 Wow. Wow.

02:37 Even though we didn't want to work on Christmas Day.

02:40 No.

02:41 We really didn't. My dad got such a hard time. We wanted to play with our toys-- well, maybe

02:45 not our toys. We're grown up. You know, we wanted to be at home on Christmas Day. But

02:51 it was short and sweet. And the audience were amazing, I remember.

02:54 Do you remember, Colleen?

02:55 Yeah. She was so young.

02:57 I do remember, actually. Because it was Christmas Day. And you were all old. But I did want

03:02 to play with my toys.

03:03 You did want to play with your toys.

03:04 How old were you, Colleen?

03:05 I think I was 73. I'll have been eight.

03:06 You were eight years old?

03:07 I was just going to say, you were about eight, weren't you, Colleen?

03:08 Yeah. Yeah.

03:09 And you were at home, did you?

03:10 Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

03:11 Well, I was performing with the whole family from the age of two. Like Anne said, we'd

03:20 been performing our whole lives, really. I think for me, the blue plaque was-- I don't

03:28 know. I mean, I was so proud, really. You know, proud of Jake for sorting it, and the

03:34 kids for paying for it, and all of that. But also, just to have that recognition. Because

03:39 Blackpool has, and still has, such a massive part in our lives. And there was a moment

03:46 there where I felt a bit nostalgic, as in I would have loved-- I don't know. It's ridiculous.

03:52 But I would have loved my mom and dad to have seen that.

03:54 Oh, no.

03:55 And Bernie, as well.

03:56 And Bernie. And sadly, my brother Tommy couldn't be there on the day. But it was great. It

04:02 was great to be with us all on the day, anyway. But I feel really proud, because we always

04:08 mentioned Blackpool. All my family still live in Blackpool. When people even talk to me,

04:13 you know, I live in Cheshire. But whenever I do my own stuff, everyone always brings

04:17 Blackpool up. And I think it was just a really nice thing to happen, because I think Blackpool

04:23 has been a massive part of our lives. But we've equally been a massive part of Blackpool's

04:27 lives. So it was nice on both counts, really.

04:30 Really, I think it's kind of extra special to you, really, because you were the only

04:33 one actually born in Blackpool, weren't you, Paula?

04:36 Yeah.

04:37 We were all born in Dublin, but Colleen's the only one who was actually born in Blackpool.

04:41 I was born in Blackpool, Colleen.

04:44 Yeah.

04:45 Blackpool Victoria Hospital.

04:46 I know. I was Glenroyd Hospital. So I was not even there anymore.

04:52 Oh, no. Okay.

04:54 Yeah.

04:55 I bet you weren't put in a drawer, though, when they brought you home.

05:00 I don't think so.

05:01 Yeah, well, I was. And I don't even think it was top drawer. That's what's always worried

05:06 me.

05:07 You had a pillow. What more did you want?

05:11 She's got the most Irish name as well. You know, she's the only one not born in Ireland.

05:16 Yeah, she has actually. I did think that.

05:20 Colleen Patricia, yeah.

05:21 Colleen is the most Irish name you could possibly get for a woman, really, isn't it?

05:27 She gets called 'Cleaner'.

05:29 'Cleaner'.

05:30 You know, but it's...

05:32 Yeah, Colleen's a good one.

05:35 (laughing)

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