THE owner of Morecambe's oldest snooker club closed its doors on Sunday after nearly three-quarters of a century because – she says – it was time for a fresh start.
Now Liz Youren, whose family ran the Devonshire Club as a snooker hall since the 1930s, hopes the West End building will go back to its musical roots when its new owners move in.
Liz hopes to soon complete the sale of the premises to More Music In
Morecambe, who currently lease the downstairs floor for their community music base The Hothouse, and she says this would be fantastic for the town.
She says it would allow the history of 'The Dev' to come full circle because the century-old building was an old-time music hall before it became a snooker club.
"It's had its day as a snooker hall," said Liz, whose father Syd Youren – a professional snooker player – managed the club for decades before his death in 2000.
"I'm living in North Wales now and keeping it running was like a long distance marriage.
"It's very difficult running a business in the West End. I've had to spend a lot of money replacing windows over the years due to vandalism.
"The smoking ban drove away most of my regulars and new Government legislation on licensing cost us a lot.
"This place used to be packed on a Friday night but now lads go into town for a pint. So it was time for a clean break.
"Pete Moser (of More Music) is such a talented guy and what he and More Music have done is fantastic. I wish them the best of luck."
Kathryn MacDonald, of More Music, said: "We're very excited about buying the building.
"We've expanded so much that we need more space. We intend to refurbish and then use the space to continue to make quality music in Morecambe.
"We eventually hope to become a national centre for music training and this will contribute to the regeneration in the West End."
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