.png)
Social clubs are woven into the fabric of North East life, like a booze-soaked dovetail joint. As a result, club coverage is a major part of the North East's regional news output.
At the forefront is Tyne Tees Television, who started broadcasting from a former Egyptian cotton warehouse on City Road, Newcastle, in 1957. 'The Tube' music programme was named after the building's entrance walkway, while studio space was used for everything from Crosswits to CITV's atrocious Saturday morning show Ghost Train with puppet presenter Nobby the Sheep. However, it was for its evening news output that TTTV became synonymous with northeast life, with up to 80% of all news screen time dedicated to working men's and social clubs.
One name in particular is synonymous with club coverage: reporter Alan Hockle. Originally from Consett, Hockle worked as a travelling cigarette salesman from the age of 14, selling Wills tabs in playgrounds and car parks across the region. His playful banter was spotted by Tyne Tees continuity announcer and prolific tabber, Bob Preedy. Acting well above his station, Preedy offered the then 28-year-old Hockle a job as junior reporter, despite him leaving school with just one O-Level in Swearing.
.png)
Hockle's drinking prowess and membership at more than thirty clubs meant he was an obvious choice as the head of the Clubnews desk, established just before Hockle's arrival at the station in 1970. His daily “Tales from the Turns” segment won him an RTS award in 1972, which cemented the then 30-year-old Hockle as the defacto face of the Clubnews scene.
Hockle also acted as Executive Producer of Clubwatch, the half-hour magazine format show from 1977-1984 (see Culture Club - April 2023), but even this couldn't keep him away from his beat. His nightly news broadcasts from concert rooms, committee meetings and pigeon lofts helped to see TTTV's 6.30pm news audience swell to over 2 million throughout the 1980s.
Sadly, much of Hockle's output was lost in the demolition of the City Road studios in 2011 and you’re only able to see the master at work on a smattering of YouTube clips that I've compiled for you below:
Halloween at The Pentangle Club
Originally broadcast on Halloween 1982, Alan Hockle's segment on Northern Life showcased the goings-on at The Pentangle #Club in Ashington and is rumoured to have inspired the 1992 BBC show Ghostwatch.
Leicester Club Coverage
Never happy outside of the region, a furious Alan is sent, against his will, to report on the atrocious clubs in Leicester. Classic Hockle from 1984.CrimeStoppers
CrimeStoppers
60 seconds was all Crimestoppers needed to put the fear of God into North East audiences, showcasing everything from muggings to opportunist thieves dipping open tills. Hockle used his vocal gravitas to full effect in voice overs for all regional club crimes. This episode, filmed in Whickham in 1992, best showcases his skills.
Stockton Acid Spill
In 1993, with no way to connect live to the scene of a keg line acid spill, Hockle ad-libbed his way through the piece, describing the incident as his club comic alter ego, Cleveland Police Chief Inspector Barry Monkman.
TTTV Weekend Entertainers Awards
The rivalry between Alan and TTTV frontman Paul Frost was well known; this classic clip from TTTV Weekend allows you to hear the resentment bubbling away.
Clubhunks
Leaving Tyne Tees in 1998, Hockle applied his talents elsewhere in the Clubsphere. He became the Director of the CIU Chatline Division in 1999, creating Clubhunks. This premium rate phone line service allowed pissed up folk to chat to thirsty clubsmen in their local area about everything from betting tips to how your local Councillor never called you back about your drains.
Peeve Performance
Most recently, Hockle worked as Creative Director for the Peeve Performance Podcast, your one-stop-shop for peak drink training. It's along the lines ofthat Diary of a CEO and those other nonsense "life coaching" shows that the younger generation listen to while lifting weights in the gym or drinking cider apple vinegar. Hosted by famed clubsman John Bollocks, the show goes out every Friday on BBC Sounds, if John isn’t away working for Eddie Stobart, that is...
Next time you're in the club, be sure to raise a glass to the fifty-plus years of club output from the irrepressive Alan Hockle.
Bobby Chainbridge is the official Club Publicist for all North East Social Clubs. You can find his coverage on his Instagram page.
