Many of dates & incidents above are timed a bit too late. Mid-late50s, rather than 60s, were years skiffle started, with Henry [Hyam] Morris's group playing at Princess Louise, High Holborn, in club run from 1954 or 55 by Russ Quaye & Hylda Syms, who went on to start the Skiffle Cellar in Greek Street [later the Establishment Club etc], where Steve Benbow's band played; with the Louise being taken over by the Nancy Whiskey club; Nancy having already, at about same time as early Donegan hits, hit the charts with the Chas McDevitt Skiffle Group in 'Freight Train' ~~ all this in 1956 IIRC. I played at the Whiskey Club myself once or twice, as washboard/rhythm-guitar/vocals in a group called Easy Riders - one of our members was John Brunner who went on to be a Hugo-award winning sf writer ~ now dead, alas. Our lead guitarist was one Sandy Sandfield. Whatever happened to him, I wonder?

The Whiskey club, like Nancy herself, crossed over from skiffle to traditional British folk: I first heard Ewan MacColl, Bert Lloyd, Stan Kelly there. The following year, Ewan & Peggy Seeger started the Ballads & Blues club in that same venue, the Princess Louise, where Isla Cameron, Dominic Behan, Ralph Rinzler, Dean Gitter, et al, would appear regularly. It is of a session there that a pic appears in Ewan's autobiography Journeyman, in which a young MtheGM may be clearly descried listening intently to Ewan & Bert ~ as I might just have mentioned once or twice before!

~Michael~