Dancing bear restaurant

[fenderbender10]

Does anyone remember a restaurant towards the bottom of the headrow called the Dancing Bear I think it would have been about '69 or '70. I think its an Indian takeaway now, next to a second hand shop, we used to go at lunchtimes from the building college on north street. Wierd place, went up some stairs, full of stuffed animals and it stunk but food was cheap.All the tables were sowing machine tables without the machines but they still had the treadles underneath, while you were eating you could get the treadles rocking at a fair rate, and with a dozen lads from the building college we did just that, what a racket.The couple who owned it played music in the kitchen and had a microphone near the record player linked to a speaker outside, when they argued, which they always seemed to do, you could hear them on the headrow, hilarious, the language was amazing.I always think of them when I watch father Ted with the couple in the shop.