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The Monastery: A Torquay Nightclub Legend

Resident DJs:

• Rachael and Graham were the longest-running resident DJs at the infamous Monastery Nightclub Allnighter in Torquay.

• Known for their energetic, pumping late-night & early-morning DJ sets, they held residencies from the club's opening in 1995 until its closure in 2001.

• The club's revival in 2015 continues to draw loyal clubbers thanks in part to their enduring legacy.

Unique Atmosphere:

• The Monastery was renowned for its friendly and welcoming clubbing atmosphere.

• Clubbers from across the country flocked to experience "The Monastery" vibe.

• As the only all-night venue in the southwest during the late nineties, it offered the chance to dance until 7:00 am on Sundays, a fact that wasn't lost on most partygoers.

The Venue:

• Located on Torwood Gardens Road, The Monastery was a converted 19th-century church.

• Operating from midnight to 7:00 am Saturdays, its unlicensed status allowed a minimum age of 17.

• The unique layout, maximizing the church's acoustics, boasted multi-level dance floors, a large stage, and a full-size wraparound balcony.

• The sheer popularity of the venue, legendary DJs, and a "one-in, one-out" policy often resulted in queues stretching down the street.

• "The Mony"  capitalized for consistency featured a state-of-the-art sound system and impressive Martin Robo & Mac lighting rig.

Musical Focus:

• The club's main attraction was its underground music policy, with hard house and later hard trance being regular genres.

• Big-name DJs like Judge Jules, The Tidy Boys, Lisa Lashes, and many more graced the decks.

• Local heroes like Kev Walters and Ben McGowan also played alongside resident DJs like BK, Steve Thomas,and of course, Rachael and Graham (aka The Brain Bashers).

The Family Behind the Legacy:

• Despite its reputation, The Monastery was a family-run establishment by the Lane & Harris family.

• Don Lane oversaw operations, Barbara Lane managed the door, and their daughter Sally Harris was the legendary promoter.

• The club enjoyed immense success for 12 years, receiving national recognition for its website and even being voted the 3rd best club in the world by The Independent Magazine.

• After closing in 2001, Sally Harris revived the club in 2015, ensuring "The Monastery" vibe continues to keep clubbers stomping.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Monastery was well know for its very special and friendly clubbing atmosphere and clubbers would travel from all over the country to experience “The Monastery” vibe.  To add to its popularity in the late nineties it was the only all night venue in the south west which gave clubbers the opportunity to keep dancing right up until 7am on a sunday morning and most of them did!  

 

 

Courtesy of Wikipedia    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monastery,_torquay

 

The Monastery was an underground dance music club on Torwood Gardens Road in Torquay. The venue itself was an actual converted 19th century church.. It was open from 12 midnight until 7am every Saturday night through to Sunday morning. Its unlicensed status also meant that the minimum age was only 17. The unique experience that the club offered meant that every week the place was extremely busy right through till 7am, even on a resident DJ night, with clubbers coming from as far as London and the North to be involved in The Monastery phenomenon.

 

 

The Monastery Experience

As a members only club with a tiny capacity - officially only for 500 members - it regularly doubled or even tripled this due to the sheer popularity of this legendary venue and its international DJ's. Entry queues would often reach to the end of the road, and demand to get into the club often meant that there was a 1 in 1 out entry policy. "The Mony" boasted an extremely loud and clear sound system, and a state of the art Martin Robo & Mac lighting rig. The club itself was built around a unique layout, which maximised the benefits that the acoustic structural design of the church offered. Multi-level dance platforms, a huge stage area and a large full size balcony that spanned round the entire venue all contributed to the Monastery experience. 

 

 

 

The Music

The club's main attraction was its underground music policy. Hard house, and later hard trance were regulars. Big name DJ's such as: Judge Jules, The Tidy Boys, Lisa Lashes, Lisa Pin-up,Mark E.G and M-Zone Anne Savage (DJ), Billy Nasty, Paul Glazby, Lee Haslam, Andy Farley, Nick Sentience, BK(resident), Steve Thomas(resident). Rachael Shock and Graham Eden, of Shock Records (AKA The Brain Bashers), Chris Blade, held longstanding residencies, Also DJ local heroes such as, Kev Walters, Ben McGowan, Matt Vinyl,4 Play, Ben House, Chase, Moon and Deny 

 

The History

The Monastery went from strength to strength, and the club never really needed to advertise as its members were in excess of 15000.  The club received some excellent national PR: its website was reported on national TV as having more than 1 million hits in just one week, and was voted the 3rd best club in the 'world' by national tabloid The Independent Magazine. Surprisingly enough, despite the images that may spring to mind when thinking of an all night dance club, befitting the overall description, the club was in fact completely family run by the Lane & Harris family. The owner, Don, took charge of the overall operation, his wife Barbara took money at the door, and his daughter Sally Harris was the legendary promoter. The club was closed in November 2001 after a successful 12 years of trading but recently the Monastery has been revived by Sally in 2015 and with its large loyal fanbase of clubbers it still continues to be a club night that kees the clubbers stomping.