EVERYBODY knows a good night out hinges on a good meeting point to get the drinks and the fun flowing.

And in Blackburn in the 1960s, 70s, 80s, 90s and 00s – dozens of young and not so young folk used to start off at St John's Tavern in Ainsworth Street.

This pub opened in the mid-1960s at the same time as the new market hall. It had two bars downstairs named the Jubilee Bar and the Corner Bar and originally an upstairs bar and restaurant, although this area closed in 1988.

It was famed for its Polish vodka which used to get nights going with a bang – or end them prematurely if you imbibed too much!

The pub closed in January 2011 when the nearby market was demolished during The Mall and new market works but its memory lingers for people – especially those who visit the Blackburn Nightlife Facebook page.

This picture, taken by Steve Hughes, was posted on the page last week.

Phil Boulding said: "Used to get changed at work (Tesco) every Friday night then off to The Tavern for our first drinks. Loved it back in the late 1970s."

Rob Parker said: "After a shed load of vodka red bull in the grove the polish vodka in the Tavern was sure to bring you back to earth."

And Danny Baks said: "Is this the place we went to and drank that stuff that evaporated if you left it longer than a couple of mins?!"

Paul Atherton said: "This was a favourite pub for me and my mates when we latter-day mods in the late 60s. Many happy evenings with Lambrettas and Vespas parked many deep outside! In later years, my wife and I would go of lunch there - the dining area was called "The Snack and Snifter".

Also in this picture is the also-now-departed spiral staircase and walkway leading from the shopping centre down into the market.

Who remembers, as a child, legging it down the circular steps or the ramp on the outside?