THIRTY years ago, Hull's music scene changed forever in the most unlikely of locations.
Music fanatic Paul Jackson had packed in his job working as a shipping clerk with Fenners in Hull and wanted a change.
That change was to promote diverse and original music, while making a bit of a living to survive.
The venue to fulfil that ambition was a Victorian house in west Hull – now known throughout the world as The New Adelphi Club.
"After 12-and-a-half years working at Fenners I got bored and wanted to do something with music," said Paul, known as Jacko, speaking from the De Grey Street venue.
"I looked at the Welly and the New York Hotel but places like those were too big, so I looked for the smallest and cheapest venue in town."
The property is now an end terrace, but prior to the 1940s it was a mid-terrace. This was changed when a German bomber destroyed three neighbouring houses, leaving the gap which is now the venue's car park.
The freehold of the club cost £57,000. Jacko remortgaged a small house in Cottingham, but was still left with a shortfall of £45,000. Although he had never worked behind a bar, he managed to borrow the remaining money from a brewery, obtained his licence to serve alcohol soon after and the club was opened.
"Our regular punters consisted of the local gangster fraternity," he said. "I felt virtually all the drugs off Hull docks must have been coming through the club."
But the 60-year-old had a vision and live music was at the heart of that.
"The Adelphi is the sort of place that opens up in every city around the world," he said.
"Everybody thinks the place is fantastic, but it closes within a year.
"We've managed 30 years, which is fantastic, and I'm proud of what I've achieved here.
"It's a miracle, really, and I'm sure I won't be able to make 40."
The transformation gathered momentum when he teamed up with Nick Taylor and Nick Swift, of the Unity Club, and they began to bring out-of-town bands to Hull.
Within days of it opening, Paul Heaton walked into the club and asked if his then new band The Housemartins could play.
Jacko said: "The first band who played here was a band called Vagrant. The second band was a band called Cold Dance who were a sort of Goth band. The third band were The Housemartins, who I didn't know.
"I think on my second or third night here Paul Heaton came in and asked if his band from the university could have a show.
"It got us off to a good start because The Housemartins very rapidly gained a following and it helped put the venue on the map.
"I think it's fair to say the venue helped put The Housemartins on the map.
"I got the instant impression that this was someone who could make things happen."
Such was the love for the venue that The Housemartins signed their record contract with Go! Discs on the Adelphi stage in June 1985.
You can also add Oasis, Green Day and Pulp to the list of performers, as well as hundreds, if not thousands of local performers.
"It's testament to a lot of hard work and my capacity to carry an enormous workload over the decades," Jacko said.
"It's also been incredibly rewarding. Everything I wanted to happen here has happened, by the train load and more.
"The people make the Adelphi and it's been a great privilege to be part of a constantly evolving place and part of the cultural renaissance in Hull that has led to 2017 (City of Culture)."
Paul, who was wearing his trademark hat and sporting an Adelphi T-shirt when interviewed, is a man driven by passion not profit, and his running of the venue has come at a cost.
"The key to the Adelphi keeping running is because I'm cheap," he said. "It wouldn't survive if I had a family to keep. It's because I'm prepared to sacrifice any quality of life in material terms for the company of some of the smartest nights in the city.
"Generally speaking, I work seven days a week, 18 hours a day. No holidays whatsoever.
"I had 72 hours away from here when I went on a lad's weekend in Amsterdam about four years ago. Prior to that, in 2006 I went to the wedding of one of our former barmaids in France. I was away for 54 hours.
"But much of my work is inspirational and very rewarding.
"It's the people who keep you going and the feeling that you're doing something useful.
"Adelphi these days is a modern collective of people, including some of the most talented people in Hull.
"I think within the cultural life of Hull the Adelphi represents the most important of people – the people important in the creative, cultural and performing arts who get on with their work and don't try to take any credit.
"They just get on with their really, really important work."
