SOUTHAMPTON’’S celebrated folk club Fo’c’sle is to close its doors for the last time after more than 50 years tomorrow night.

The club, which has folded because of a lack of volunteer organisers, will go out in a blaze of glory with Sunjay, a rising star of the folk scene, performing.

The club started in 1963, packed up in 1993 and was immediately resuscitated, and has been a fixture in Southampton’s cultural life and the British folk music scene for over 54 years. It has survived many changes of venue and drifting musical tastes but, with dwindling numbers of people able to run it, organisers have decided the time has come to pull the plug.

Current organiser Brian Hooper is stepping down after more than 40 years at the helm.

Sunjay, a fine folk/blues guitarist and singer with some vintage jokes thrown in for good measure, will take to the stage at the Richmond Inn in Portswood Road, at 8pm.

Regulars, occasionals, newcomers and long-lost nostalgia trippers are all welcome.

Sunjay takes to the stage at 8pm.

but is stepping down, and no other members are in a position to step up. As Brian put it, there aren’t enough baby-boomers around these days.

Though folk clubs are less well supported the music is still very much alive and, appropriately, we end with a rising star of the genre in Sunjay. 8pm, Friday 30 June, Fo’c’sle Folk Club, Richmond Inn, Portswood Road.