54 locations that defined Britpop

It is 25 years since Oasis released Definitely Maybe, its debut album, which helped kickstart Britpop. Here are 54 locations around Britain which defined the era.

Oasis

Boardwalk Club, Manchester

The band played their first gig at The Boardwalk on Little Peter Street on August 18, 1991. The Charlatans were also regular visitors. Alas, it closed in 1999 and is now office space.

Wulfrun Hall, Wolverhampton 

Oasis played here twice in 1993. It is still standing, but is currently closed for refurbishment.

Weston-super-Mare 

The cover photo for the single which pitted Oasis against Blur in the battle of Britpop, Roll With It, was shot on the beach at Weston-super-Mare. It was chosen due to its proximity to Glastonbury, where Oasis were playing that weekend. The pier burned down in 2008.

Berwick Street, London

The album cover of (What’s the Story) Morning Glory? (1995) features this Soho street, chosen because it was home to a number of record shops. The two men on the cover are DJ Sean Rowley, left and facing, and album sleeve designer Brian Cannon.

Stocks House, Hertfordshire

The pool at this Hertfordshire mansion, once owned by the Playboy executive Victor Lownes, was where Oasis dumped a Rolls Royce for the Be Here Now album cover. It was a spa and golf resort at the time, but is now a private home.

Primrose Hill, London

Anita Heyert is the woman framed in the cover for the Wonderwall single. Primrose Hill is the location.

251 Menlove Avenue, Liverpool 

John Lennon's childhood home (a blue plaque marks the spot) appears on the cover of the single Live Forever.

Derbyshire Moors

The cover photo for the single Whatever features the Derbyshire Moors. An Arizona desert scene and Salisbury Plain were also considered.

Southend-on-Sea

You'll spot Southend Pier in the video for Rock 'n' Roll Star, along with the bowling alley that used to live there before it burned down in 1995. For other music videos shot in Southend, see this helpful guide.

Cromford Station, Derbyshire 

The cover for the single Some Might Say was shot on the platform at this railway station near Matlock.

Wigan 

An alleyway outside a Wigan boxing club is where the cover for D’You Know What I Mean? was shot.

Bournemouth

That's the beach at Bournemouth on the cover of All Around the World.

Blur

The East Anglian Railway Museum

Blur's first gig (they were then called Seymour) took place in a goods shed at this living heritage site in Essex. They returned for an anniversary concert in 2009, after which a commemorative plaque was unveiled.

Camden 

It was after a 1989 gig at the Camden Falcon that Blur, still called Seymour, were signed by Dave Balfe and Andy Ross from Food Records. The Good Mixer in Camden is where the Oasis/Blur rivalry is rumoured to have started; Graham Coxon became part of the furniture during the Nineties, occupying his favourite spot and chatting to anyone who had the time.

Neuschwanstein Castle 

Country House was the single which won the Battle of Britpop for Blur. The cover features Neuschwanstein Castle in Bavaria.

Mile End Stadium 

The running track and sports centre hosted a 1995 concert, headlined by Blur and featuring Pulp, The Boo Radleys and Dodgy. It is still open. Pulp would later sing a less-than-flattering song about a flat in Mile End.

Walthamstow Stadium 

This former greyhound racing track, just off the North Circular, was where the cover for Parklife was shot. It closed in 2007, however, and is now flats.

Trellick Tower 

The video for Blur's single For Tomorrow features a whistlestop tour of the capital, with Primrose Hill, Trafalgar Square and Erno Goldfinger's Trellick Tower all appearing.

Prague

The Czech Republic features in the video for the wonderful single To The End, taken from the album Parklife. Locations include the National Museum in Prague and Zámecky park in Libochovice.

Leytonstone 

A blue plaque was unveiled at Damon Albarn's childhood home on Fillebrook Road, Leytonstone, in 2015.

Ford Street 

This hamlet near Colchester is where Albarn lived from the age of 11 until his late teens. Among his haunts were Fiddlers Wood and the Shoulder of Mutton pub (now closed).

Goldsmiths, University of London

Albarn met Graham Coxon and Alex James at Goldsmiths College. Fellow alumnus Damien Hirst directed the video for Country House.

Greenwich Peninsula 

This London area, whose landmarks now include the O2 Dome, is where the video for Parklife, featuring Phil Daniels, was shot.

The Verve

The Honeysuckle, Wigan

The band's first gig was at a friend's birthday party here in 1990. A homecoming gig at Haigh Hall in 1998 lured 30,000 fans. The pub is still in business.

Thor's Cave, Staffordshire 

It features on the cover of The Verve's first studio album A Storm in Heaven.

Hoxton Street 

The classic video for Bittersweet Symphony sees Richard Ashcroft lip-synching while walking down a busy London pavement. He begins at the junction of Hoxton Street and Falkirk Street, before heading north.

Richmond Park

The cover photo for Urban Hymns was shot in Richmond Park, magnet for deer and cyclists.

Merton Avenue, Chiswick 

The band walk out from Merton Avenue at the start of the video for The Drugs Don't Work.

Thames Wharf, Hammersmith 

The video for Lucky Man was filmed at this riverside spot.

Suede

Otterburn Training Area, Northumberland

The cover photo on Sci-Fi Lullabies, a B-sides compilation from Suede (1997), shows the Otterburn Training Area, Britain's largest firing range. That's an English Electric Lightning fighter riddled with bullets.

Lisson Green Estate, London

This Westminster housing estate appears in the video for Animal Nitrate. They reportedly used flat number 18 and paid the occupants a tenner for the inconvenience caused.

Holborn station 

A disused Piccadilly line platform at Holborn features in the video for Saturday Night.

Lindfield, Sussex 

The village where frontman Brett Anderson was born and where he met bassist Mat Osman.

Mansun

Fat Cat, Chester 

This now closed venue is where Mansun began life. Founding members Paul Draper and Stove King both worked for rival printers at the same industrial park in Little Stanley, on the outskirts of the city.

Liverpool Street Station

As part of a publicity stunt, Mansun (funded by their record company) chucked ￡25,000 in fivers across the concourse at Liverpool Street station during the morning rush hour and filmed the chaos that followed. The incident can be seen in the video for Taxloss.

Pulp

Sheffield Leadmill

The site of the band's very first gig. Still going strong.

St Barnabas Church, East Molesey

The life-size cutouts of the six Pulp members were added to a real wedding photograph - that of Sharon and Dominic O'Connor on August 12, 1995 - to create the cover of A Different Class.

Frank's, London

You can recreate the cover photo for Common People at this cramped little cafe under the railway at Kensington Olympia.

Stepney's Nightclub, London 

That 70s dance floor, Sadie Frost, and Jarvis Cocker's sensational dance moves... It's Stepney's Nightclub, which now lies abadoned beside the George Tavern on Commercial Road. Plans to demolish what has been described as a "cultural icon" have so far been blocked.

Kula Shaker

Richmond

The band's founding members, Crispian Mills and Alonza Bevan, met at Richmond upon Thames College and played gigs as Objects of Desire in the Mantra Shack, a psychedelic nightclub behind Richmond ice rink.

Bhaktivedanta Manor, Watford 

A visit to this Hare Krishna Temple by Crispian Mills, with his mother at around the age of 11, would inspire the young Briton and eventually form the band's trademark style.

Tower Bridge 

The video for Hey Dude sees the band performing on an open-top bus. Tower Bridge is the most recognisable landmark to appear.

Ocean Colour Scene

Moseley, Birmingham

The band's home. The name of their second album was Moseley Shoals. The famous Hare and Hounds pub up the road in Kings Heath hosted the band on many occasions.

Leamington Spa

The cover of Moseley Shoals, however, features the Jephson Memorial in The Jephson Gardens, Leamington Spa.

Stoke 

Their first gig, meanwhile, was at The Exchange on Trinity Street in Hanley, Stoke-on-Trent. Still open.

Supergrass

Oxford 

Gaz Coombes met Mick Quinn, the band's bassist, while working at the Harvester in Oxford. The cover art for Japanese version of the band's second album, In It for the Money, shows the band sitting in a circular window at the restaurant. They were signed following a show at the city's Jericho Tavern - the same venue where Radiohead played their first gig (still open).

Portmeirion, Wales 

That joyous music video for Alright, with bicycles and a bed on wheels, was shot in Portmeirion, one of the quirkiest towns in Britain.

Cast

Mossley Hill, Liverpool 

Cast formed while John Power was residing at Brucklay House, a derelict squat in Mossley Hill.

The Royal Exchange, London

The band took a trip to the capital to shoot the cover image for their 1995 album All Change.

St Etienne

Mario's Cafe, London

The 1993 song Mario's Cafe was written about a real establishment, and it's still going strong.

Button up your sheepskin Caraway
Rainy cafe, Kentish Town, Tuesday
Barry's looking through the Racing Post
Orders coffee, another round of toast

Radiohead

Eldon Street, London 

The Abingdon band were known for their quirky music videos, with No Surprises (1998) and Just (1995) being among the best. The latter, which features lots of pedestrians lying motionless on the pavement, was shot close to Liverpool Street Station.

San Leandro, California 

Two videos were shot for High and Dry, including one at Dick's Restaurant & Cocktails in San Leandro, California. They returned to California to shoot the video for Street Spirit (Fade Out).

Elastica

The Old Trout, Windsor 

The band played their first gig (under the name of Onk) here on May 7, 1993 (it's now gone). Other early venues include The White Horse in Hampstead (now the Cork & Bottle), the Esquires Club in Bedford (still there), Powerhaus in Islington (gone) and Camden Falcon (gone). Oasis, Blur, Supergrass and Suede all played there during its heyday.

Space

Cantril Farm, Liverpool 

The lyrics to Neighbourhood were partially inspired by Tommy Scott's formative years spent in this Liverpool housing estate (now called Stockbridge Village).

In number 18 there lives a big butch queen 
He's bigger than Tyson and he's twice as mean 
In 666 there lives a Mr. Miller 
He's our local vicar and a serial killer