The Villa Marina hosted a centenary celebration of the historic Palace Lido ballroom, which was demolished in 1994, at the weekend.

So we asked the public if there are any favourite Douglas nightlife spots from the past which they miss, as well as what they feel the capital’s nightlife is lacking.

Andrew Honour, 56, of Ramsey, told us he missed The Cave nightclub from the early 1980s, which was on the former Summerland site, saying: ’Most of the island was there.

’It was full of smoke, you couldn’t see anybody.

’Everybody was smoking, it was sweaty - it was just good fun really.

Chris Honour, 25, Douglas, said: ’I don’t think I’m old enough for anywhere to have closed that I’d like to have gone to!’

’I prefer just going to the pub to be honest.

Asked if he thought the island was missing anything in terms of nightlife, he said: ’I think it’s difficult for a smaller community, isn’t it?

’It’s not like there’s thousands of people wanting to go out every night, is there?

’So I don’t think it’s feasible to have loads and loads of places that are going to be empty the whole week, and [only] trade on a Friday and Saturday.

’I think there’s plenty of pubs, they just need to be mindful to keep the character of the pubs that have it - and not try not reinvent the wheel.

Andrew added: ’I think a lot of the pubs have a tendency to all have a similar look to them, it would be nice if there were some individual places to go to, not necessarily pubs, but say wine bars.

’Ramsey’s very good, new places are opening there - Fynoderee Gin have just opened a gin and wine bar - places like that, I think you get a certain age and they’re more interesting than the regular nightlife of nightclubs and things’.

Ann and John Barron, both aged 60-plus of Kirk Michael, have ’plenty of memories’ of the Palace Lido.

They also remember Disco 70, which was an underground nightclub located under the Peveril Buildings, where they had their first blind date in 1971.

John said: ’George Ferguson was DJ’ing then, and he’s still going on Manx Radio - it was down in the underground cellars, it was a popular one.’

Ann added: ’They used to have a cocktail bar at Fort Anne [on Douglas Head] called the Porthole, we used to go there as well.

’I think there isn’t as much for younger people now as we had.

’And live music venues, there was always plenty - even if it was only youth clubs, we had live music and events.’

Yovana Kostikova, 33, of Douglas, said: ’I think that the island needs a proper club, because I come from Bulgaria and our nightclubs are quite different to here.

’I think that the music in the clubs is even worse than the radio!’

Mike Pollard, aged 72, of Port St Mary, remembers seeing the band Showaddywaddy at the Palace Lido, saying ’it was noisy on a Friday night, I don’t think anything like it exists anywhere now.

He said: ’There was one [a nightclub] in Ballasalla, in the Rushen Abbey gardens.

’All the hotels in Douglas had things on over the summer, like the Continental.

’It was bouncing during the late 1960s.

’[These night spots] have all gone now, unfortunately’.