High price of lord-ing it at lap-dancing club
| Posted: December 07, 2012
THERE was something unnerving about being frisked at a heavily guarded back door in the pitch black of night.
I’d already passed four six-foot-something bouncers who had told me that Shayler’s, the highly controversial strip club in Ampthill, was in business and would cost a pricey £20 to get in.
There had been whispers that the club would open last month but after owner Lord John Shayler, the self-proclaimed Walt Disney of Ampthill, remained silent as protests gathered momentum, the grand opening remained a mystery.
I arrived around 9pm and had expected to jostle my way through protestors to get in via Church Street, many of whom had been there along with television cameras earlier in the evening.
Surprisingly there wasn’t a demonstrator in sight as I stepped straight from Waitrose car park and on to the red carpet of the club trouble free.
Once I was searched, the door was opened just wide enough for me to slip £20 to another member of security who informed me of the rules; waitress service, no touching of the girls and no photography, so keep your phone in your pocket at all times. A screen displaying around 16 CCTV camera images only served to reinforce this.
Inside there were around a dozen patrons, all men, scattered around the smaller than expected venue - all with scantily clad women sat among them. In the centre of the room were two poles, padded walls and several tabled booths.
I took a seat in the corner and ordered a drink and I didn’t have to wait long until a girl sat next to me. It was a friendly conversation if awkward, and she revealed that she and other dancers had been forced to cover their faces from the TV cameras when they arrived for their shift.
Our discussion was only interrupted by one of her colleagues collecting a mandatory £1 in a jug so she would perform a pole- routine. This happened on average once every 15 minutes so you even had to pay to sit there.
I had been in the club around half-an-hour when I saw a man in his late 40s guided down a set of stairs that was guarded by another member of security. I was told by the stripper that’s where she could take me for a private dance for £20.
That she did and I was led down to a basement with four separate booths where I was instructed to leave my drinks on a table. All the time through the routine you were under the watchful eyes of a bouncer stood a few feet away.
After her ‘performance’ I returned back to my seat and another stripper sat next to me and we struck up a discussion about her trade.
She explained she had always been into dancing so thought she may as well get paid for it. She went on to tell me that she had quit previous clubs in the past as some of the girls were giving ‘extras’ to punters.
I left soon afterwards. Admission, the mandatory dance and two drinks had set me back £54.
It was enough time to see two student girls telling a bouncer they had travelled by train especially to go to the club having seen television coverage before and praising the venue by stating ‘there are worse pubs in the town’.
One passer-by overheard the ‘review’ and shouted ‘And this place won’t be any different?’ I can assure that woman that this place is very different to anything Ampthill has ever seen before.
17 comments
Also begs the question: why would a serving MPwant to comment on current issues then claim its 80% fiction? scarey or what?
I glad thatyou agree that what she says and what she actually does are tw different things, I wanted to bring this to peoples attention so sorry about all her other drivel that just serves to show her shallow mind
Dave, What a complete and utter waste of time reading all that lot was. The only bit of any interest and relevance to the story is the opening paragraph. We all know that Dorries is all about herself and she only pursues issues which may increase her profile. Her blog is also reported (by Dorries herself) to be 80% fiction so If anybody believes her views on Woman being objectified etc etc then surely she would not have let a certain Mr Shayler speak to her like that. The woman is a walking contradiction.
This is what your local MP has to say about Mr Shayler
If anyone were to ask me what the perks of my job are, I would be hard pushed to answer, however, today that would be easy. My neighbour is John Shayler and he is unique. John sometimes comes out of his front door to greet me, often after mid-night when I have worked a fifteen hour day and am trying to reverse my car into five and a half feet.. The next five minutes go like this; John..”What the **** are you trying to*******do you *******stupid woman, get out of that ******* car. I can drive ******* better than you with my *******eyes closed, for ***** sake. Me.. “Who on earth do you think you are talking to?” John ..” Someone who can’t ******* drive, give me the ******* keys and **** ***”. I throw the keys at him and storm into the house to bed too enraged to engage with him any further. The keys are always on my door mat the next morning, car perfectly lined up in an impossibly small place. Last night John opened a new restaurant in Ampthill, Shaylers Lounge. He invited me to the opening night and sent a stretch Limo to collect me. So very John, so very generous. I have to say, it is a fabulous restaurant and it was a fabulous night. I am used to John heaping verbiage on my head and I have to say, I did enter the restaurant with a certain amount of trepidation. I thought at the very least he would be telling the chef to take the rest of the evening off. The seats are bucket leather seats which instantly make you feel relaxed and as though you were about to settle down to an evening of un-rushed good food. John glided around his new restaurant like a very proud man in control of every aspect of the evening. A solo singer guitarist went well with the seats and you could see the chef prepare your food at the end of the lounge. The music set the mood and the guitarist sang everything from Elvis to Take That. There were a few stars on the menu which stood out. The Seafood Salad was the best I have ever tasted in any country. Those who had the Meatballs and Tomatoes raved and the absolute star of the sweet menu has to be the Strawberry Jelly infused with Tarragon and Basil. I now know where I am going to be spending many a weekend night. If I haven’t smashed something over the owners head in a fit of road rage that is! Katrina, John’s wife, will be there tonight. She has worked incredibly hard, as they both have, over the last few months. You both deserve to be absolute winners. As the guitarist sang last night, All the stars are coming out tonight, They’re lighting up the sky tonight, For you. The very best of luck to both of you. The Blog of Nadine Dorries Home About Me RSS PMQs Posted Wednesday, 30 April 2008 at 16:52 I kept bobbing up and down today in PMQs hoping to catch the Speaker's eye. I had a burning question to ask the PM. Lord David Steel - former leader of the Liberals - has released a statement in which he states that he thinks the abortion limit should stay at 24 weeks. In July 04, he felt it should be cut to 12 weeks. He once, when leader of the Liberals, told his party to "go home and prepare for government." They returned a few weeks later with just 20 MPs. I wanted to ask the PM whether or not he agreed with me that it would be a wise move for anyone to take absolutely no notice of anything David Steel said. Permalink Bookmark with: Delicious Digg reddit Facebook StumbleUpon Mutiny in the tea room Posted Tuesday, 29 April 2008 at 17:46 Stood at the till paying for my toasted tea cake and tea just as the lovely members' tea room staff were handed their pay slips. Pay slip time is always a collegiate thing when money matters. The first member of staff to open hers said "hang on, there's something wrong here, I'm down." One after another the...
If anyone were to ask me what the perks of my job are, I would be hard pushed to answer, however, today that would be easy. My neighbour is John Shayler and he is unique. John sometimes comes out of his front door to greet me, often after mid-night when I have worked a fifteen hour day and am trying to reverse my car into five and a half feet.. The next five minutes go like this; John..”What the **** are you trying to*******do you *******stupid woman, get out of that ******* car. I can drive ******* better than you with my *******eyes closed, for ***** sake. Me.. “Who on earth do you think you are talking to?” John ..” Someone who can’t ******* drive, give me the ******* keys and **** ***”. I throw the keys at him and storm into the house to bed too enraged to engage with him any further. The keys are always on my door mat the next morning, car perfectly lined up in an impossibly small place. Last night John opened a new restaurant in Ampthill, Shaylers Lounge. He invited me to the opening night and sent a stretch Limo to collect me. So very John, so very generous. I have to say, it is a fabulous restaurant and it was a fabulous night. I am used to John heaping verbiage on my head and I have to say, I did enter the restaurant with a certain amount of trepidation. I thought at the very least he would be telling the chef to take the rest of the evening off. The seats are bucket leather seats which instantly make you feel relaxed and as though you were about to settle down to an evening of un-rushed good food. John glided around his new restaurant like a very proud man in control of every aspect of the evening. A solo singer guitarist went well with the seats and you could see the chef prepare your food at the end of the lounge. The music set the mood and the guitarist sang everything from Elvis to Take That. There were a few stars on the menu which stood out. The Seafood Salad was the best I have ever tasted in any country. Those who had the Meatballs and Tomatoes raved and the absolute star of the sweet menu has to be the Strawberry Jelly infused with Tarragon and Basil. I now know where I am going to be spending many a weekend night. If I haven’t smashed something over the owners head in a fit of road rage that is! Katrina, John’s wife, will be there tonight. She has worked incredibly hard, as they both have, over the last few months. You both deserve to be absolute winners. As the guitarist sang last night, All the stars are coming out tonight, They’re lighting up the sky tonight, For you. The very best of luck to both of you. The Blog of Nadine Dorries Home About Me RSS PMQs Posted Wednesday, 30 April 2008 at 16:52 I kept bobbing up and down today in PMQs hoping to catch the Speaker's eye. I had a burning question to ask the PM. Lord David Steel - former leader of the Liberals - has released a statement in which he states that he thinks the abortion limit should stay at 24 weeks. In July 04, he felt it should be cut to 12 weeks. He once, when leader of the Liberals, told his party to "go home and prepare for government." They returned a few weeks later with just 20 MPs. I wanted to ask the PM whether or not he agreed with me that it would be a wise move for anyone to take absolutely no notice of anything David Steel said. Permalink Bookmark with: Delicious Digg reddit Facebook StumbleUpon Mutiny in the tea room Posted Tuesday, 29 April 2008 at 17:46 Stood at the till paying for my toasted tea cake and tea just as the lovely members' tea room staff were handed their pay slips. Pay slip time is always a collegiate thing when money matters. The first member of staff to open hers said "hang on, there's something wrong here, I'm down." One after another the...
If anyone were to ask me what the perks of my job are, I would be hard pushed to answer, however, today that would be easy. My neighbour is John Shayler and he is unique. John sometimes comes out of his front door to greet me, often after mid-night when I have worked a fifteen hour day and am trying to reverse my car into five and a half feet.. The next five minutes go like this; John..”What the **** are you trying to*******do you *******stupid woman, get out of that ******* car. I can drive ******* better than you with my *******eyes closed, for ***** sake. Me.. “Who on earth do you think you are talking to?” John ..” Someone who can’t ******* drive, give me the ******* keys and **** ***”. I throw the keys at him and storm into the house to bed too enraged to engage with him any further. The keys are always on my door mat the next morning, car perfectly lined up in an impossibly small place. Last night John opened a new restaurant in Ampthill, Shaylers Lounge. He invited me to the opening night and sent a stretch Limo to collect me. So very John, so very generous. I have to say, it is a fabulous restaurant and it was a fabulous night. I am used to John heaping verbiage on my head and I have to say, I did enter the restaurant with a certain amount of trepidation. I thought at the very least he would be telling the chef to take the rest of the evening off. The seats are bucket leather seats which instantly make you feel relaxed and as though you were about to settle down to an evening of un-rushed good food. John glided around his new restaurant like a very proud man in control of every aspect of the evening. A solo singer guitarist went well with the seats and you could see the chef prepare your food at the end of the lounge. The music set the mood and the guitarist sang everything from Elvis to Take That. There were a few stars on the menu which stood out. The Seafood Salad was the best I have ever tasted in any country. Those who had the Meatballs and Tomatoes raved and the absolute star of the sweet menu has to be the Strawberry Jelly infused with Tarragon and Basil. I now know where I am going to be spending many a weekend night. If I haven’t smashed something over the owners head in a fit of road rage that is! Katrina, John’s wife, will be there tonight. She has worked incredibly hard, as they both have, over the last few months. You both deserve to be absolute winners. As the guitarist sang last night, All the stars are coming out tonight, They’re lighting up the sky tonight, For you. The very best of luck to both of you. The Blog of Nadine Dorries Home About Me RSS PMQs Posted Wednesday, 30 April 2008 at 16:52 I kept bobbing up and down today in PMQs hoping to catch the Speaker's eye. I had a burning question to ask the PM. Lord David Steel - former leader of the Liberals - has released a statement in which he states that he thinks the abortion limit should stay at 24 weeks. In July 04, he felt it should be cut to 12 weeks. He once, when leader of the Liberals, told his party to "go home and prepare for government." They returned a few weeks later with just 20 MPs. I wanted to ask the PM whether or not he agreed with me that it would be a wise move for anyone to take absolutely no notice of anything David Steel said. Permalink Bookmark with: Delicious Digg reddit Facebook StumbleUpon Mutiny in the tea room Posted Tuesday, 29 April 2008 at 17:46 Stood at the till paying for my toasted tea cake and tea just as the lovely members' tea room staff were handed their pay slips. Pay slip time is always a collegiate thing when money matters. The first member of staff to open hers said "hang on, there's something wrong here, I'm down." One after another the...
Conflict of intrest? not for our moraly pure MP
He says in numerous interviews that he owns this place this is untrue
Just have a litle look at Nadies tiresome blog and we see who her neigbur is: Mr Shayler its all available online,no wonder she has so lttle to say about it