WHEN Leigh's Queen of Entertainment took over the town's top nightspot it was strictly ballroom - and throughout her 27-year reign at Leigh Casino the dancing never stopped.

Now Win Brierley, who recently returned to view the deserted old club, is sad to see the former Victorian theatre in Lord Street falling into disrepair.

She recalled the days when after the dancing was over for the night and everyone had gone home, the sprung Canadian maple floor she and husband Joe installed could be heard creaking back to place, and rumour was that the place was haunted.

She threatened: "It didn't have a ghost, but I'll haunt it if the developers who now own the club don't do a good job on it. It is a shame to see history vanishing. It was once the in-place to be in Leigh."

While the future of the Cas, which many feel should be preserved as part of the town's history, is uncertain, Win, who now lives in Culcheth, has relived some of the golden days of her rule with an iron rod.

She tells the tale of missing the biggest and best -remembered night at the club when The Beatles were on stage.

She recalls the Beatles' manager Brian Epstein turning up and asking to see the manager - Joe. He wanted to book four consecutive Monday evenings to put his groups on. The Beatles were first followed by Gerry and the Pacemakers, Billy J Kramer, Jimmy Crawford and The Ravens and The Brook Bros.

"Of course Joe asked who the Beatles were and Epstein assured him they were going to be famous. Their music was played on Radio Caroline which all youngsters listened to at the time, but it was all new to Joe and me "I missed the Beatles the night they were on in February 1963 because I was being treated in the Christopher Home in Wigan. When Joe visited the following day and I asked what they were like he said they were b----y awful, not because they were bad but because as soon as they appeared the girls just screamed and screamed and no-one could hear the music. All the lads were furious.

"That was really the start of the rock and roll era at the Casino. At first we wouldn't allow modern dancing but we had to give way and move with the times."

Before that it was dancing to two resident bands, Johnny Prior and an old time band that played on Tuesdays. At that time the club was shut on Sundays.

The Monday pop nights, regularly starring Leigh Rocker Ronnie Carr's fabulous "Beat Boys" became a regular event. Wednesday was dinner dance night in the winter and Friday was the big day for balls. In one February week alone there was Tillie and Henderson's Dance, Leigh Butchers' DInner Dance and Haydock Park Golf Club's Dinner Dance.There were also regular Heyes Mill dances, Win loved the big dos, the Mayor's ball and Press ball etc, when men turned up in their best bibs and tuckers and the women dressed to kill in their evening gowns.

She said: "They were the best times. They were big affairs and all the staff behind the bar had to dress formally in black. I never smoked or drank but I loved nice clothes and used to dress up and take my place at the door.

"I was in the Casino every hour that it was open.

"I had a fearsome reputation for banning troublemakers and was apparently known as elephant yed because I never forgot anyone who had been a nuisance.

"I banned loads of people and if they tried to get in again I always remembered who they were. If they apologised I would usually relent - but they never got a third chance."

Jo and Win's connection with the Casino started in 1957 when Joe's uncle Robert Brown bought the old theatre from the owner-manager at the time Bill Wolstencroft. They put in a new floor, lowered the stage, took the boxes out but left in the much loved balcony, which became a watching point for the non-dancers.

The couple who moved into a house "too near" in Bond Street, where they could keep a close eye on the business, managed the hall for 10 years after which Uncle Bob turned the business over to them. When Joe died Win bought the building.

When Win and Joe met his family kept The Old Dog in Wigan and he was a pianist with a great interest in music. He became responsible for booking all the acts until his early death in 1973, after which the Cas turned to disco - and went full circle back to all dancing.

Win, also keen on music and with a trained voice she was too shy to show off in public, remembers the many times he banned Clive Powell, who as a young lad played with The Beat Boys, from playing the grand piano. Of course he went on to become Georgie Fame and the rest is history.

She said: "He used to bounce on the keys like Jerry Lee Lewis and nine out of 10 times he broke a string and we had to get a piano tuner in to fix it. Not long after he left for London and became a big star."

The Casino became a club and Win's mum Mrs Ellen O'Brien was made the first member.

Entertainment spread to include gambling in the Rainbow Room, but in 1967 it had to close because towns with a population of less than 100,000 were not allowed to have it, and Friday night strippers - to attract the lads away from the town's successful cabaret club "The Garrick".

After the pop era cabaret became the in-entertainment and in 1972 Win and Joe moved to live in Rivington. Joe died at the age of 52 in 1973 leaving Win to carry on alone for another nine years with the help of a manager, sometimes not getting home until 3am.

Sixty staff were on the books and Win recalls them with great fondness.

She said: "I'd love to know where they are now. It would be good to hear from some of them again."

Since her farewell night on September 25 1982, after which she says she slept for a month, Win has lived a full life travelling the world and seeing her five nephews and one niece.

She said: "I met so many people starting off in showbusiness. They may have been on the bottom rung of the ladder at the time but they went on to great success. When we opened up Leigh Casino was something new, people had to go to Bolton or Manchester to find something similar. It was a great social haunt and many people met their other halves there. We had some good times.

"I have had a very full life, a wonderful life thanks to the Casino. I only hope it can be saved for posterity."