KIRKLEVINGTON

'Kirklevington' is a village in the borough of Stockton-on-Tees, and ceremonial county of North Yorkshire, England. It is situated just outside the town of Yarm.
As an ancient parish, it included the townships of Castlelevington, Picton and Low Worsall, which became established as separate parishes in 1866. It formed part of the Stokesley Rural District from 1894 to 1974, when it became part of the borough of Stockton.

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Features

Features

The village (although the majority is relatively modern, and it covers a larger area than is typical for a village) includes a church, stables, village hall, a small public park, a primary school, an engineering garage (Vidgeon's) and a public house called The Crown Hotel which is a pub serving food.
The village was once home to the famous Kirklevington Country Club which saw many of the bands of the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s appearing on its small stage. Many of them, including Eric Clapton (Cream), Jimi Hendrix, Joe Cocker, Simple Minds, Sting, Buddy Guy, Chris Rea, Paul Rodgers, David Coverdale, Marc Almond etc. went on to superstardom. The Club was actually in its original form (pre WWII) a filling station/garage, situated on the old A19 road to Newcastle and Edinburgh. During the 1950s a local dance band leader Tommy Reay converted its large 1st floor room, and built extensions to form an out-of-town (Stockton/Middlesbrough) dance hall, which often also catered as a pre-motorway service 'stop' for car-borne revellers heading home north from race-meetings at York and Doncaster.
In the mid 1960s the Club was purchased by local band leader John B. Mc Coy (whose R&B band The Crawdaddies already had a regular following there) and his partner Ken Crawford. John McCoy had already proved himself well enough in touch with bands on 'the rise up' as early as 1962 by booking the Rolling Stones for £40 at a his previous venue 'The Outlook' in Middlesbrough. At another small venue 'Mr McCoys' he had also booked Stevie Wonder and The Who.
By the early 1970s John McCoy had given over part of the building to his brothers Peter,Tom & Eugene to open a restaurant. They then went onto establish 'McCoys at the Tontine', now a U.K. and internationally acclaimed gourmet dining venue,some 5-miles down the A19, at Osmotherly, North Yorkshire.
In the late 1970s John Mc Coy became personal manager of Chris Rea. By the early 1980s after extensive touring, he handed over management to Jim Beech and came back to expand the Club to include a new bar and grill restaurant - which proved so popular it eventually required at least 14-day advance table reservations. However, a new venture in Darlington around 1991 proved unsuccessful and eventually led to that venue, and The Kirklevington Club, being sold in the mid 1990s.
The new owners massively expanded the Club, which meant that it lost much of its previous 'intimate' attraction, being previously a mere 350 capacity. The business eventually failed, and the building was inevitably sold, then demolished, for the erection of a group of 'faux' cottage style homes.