Carlton Bingo helps a fine Inverness tradition retains its prize appeal
Back in the 1960s and ‘70s the entertainment scene in Inverness was unrecognisably different from what is in place in and around the city centre now. Before the emergence of Dillingers, in Union Street, which many people of pension age will fondly remember, there were no nightclubs, the pubs closed at 10pm or 11pm, restaurants with late opening were very thin on the ground and the frenetic atmosphere which engulfs the centre at weekends was virtually non-existent.
But there was one place where the buzz of excitement and anticipation was tangible. On Saturday nights around six early arrivals would take up position on the steps of the Palace Bingo Hall near the Ness Bridge, in Huntly Street, with the queue growing all the time as patrons waited for the doors to open.
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Their eager presence could not fail to generate interest among those who'd never been in the Palace. It suggested that in terms of a good Saturday night out, bingo could lay claim to being the best show in town.
It's unlikely many of the revellers who swarm into the centre at weekends now would be too much thrilled by a night playing bingo. The Palace has been replaced by a restaurant. And the only thing that remains entirely unchanged near the location is the river itself.
But the fine old tradition of bingo as an enjoyable and entertaining pastime in Inverness lives on. And not only has it survived the passage of time, but it appears to be positively thriving. The mecca for bingo enthusiasts is now in Inshes at the Carlton, which has been undergoing a costly and extensive upgrading.
I was recently reacquainted with a former work colleague who boarded the bus I was on, and who was on his way to the Carlton venue. He's 83 now, and was a printer in the distant past. I hadn't seen him for 45 years. Still fit, agile and in pretty good health it seemed he felt he'd hit the jackpot with his longevity alone.
He goes to the bingo two or three times a week for a reason that perhaps underpins the enthusiasm of many patrons of the Carlton. "It gets me out and about and I've made a lot of friends there. I have a great time," he said.
But the Carlton is not just a recreational retreat for older people. An Inverness woman in her early 20s recently scooped a £50,000 prize there. That's a big change from the Palace, where payouts were measured in pounds, shillings and pence.
Gambling temptations are widespread these days. The risks of online gambling and the ease with which large amounts of money can be lost overnight are chilling. Curbs have been imposed on slot machines but they can still get people hooked, with potentially dire consequences. Sport is saturated - and some say contaminated - by the presence of gambling advertising of one kind or another. And at street level, residents in the Merkinch a few years ago protested vehemently against the arrival of another bookies in their neighbourhood, at the time to no avail. A lot of it is verging on sinister. But you'd have to be a real killjoy to link bingo to the ugly side of the avaricious gaming industry.
The Palace bingo nights are long gone, as no doubt are many of those who were scattered around its steps on those Saturday nights back in the 1960s. But the appeal of an Inverness tradition which has defied the odds as a mainstay of entertainment in these ever-changing times endures. And for older people, in particular, friendship and companionship served up at the bingo is an enviable prize all on its own.
