[1] The opening night was attended by 1,600 people, including World Cup winning England international footballers Geoff Hurst and Gordon Banks.

[2] Its location in one of England's smaller cities meant that some acts were initially reluctant to appear and only did so after their peers had performed there.

[2] Acts who appeared at the venue included Cliff Richard, Roy Orbison, Tommy Cooper, Norman Wisdom, Cannon and Ball, Freddie Starr, Ronnie Corbett, Cilla Black, The Barron Knights, Morecambe and Wise, Sarah Vaughan, Petula Clark, Johnny Mathis, Engelbert Humperdinck, David Essex, Frankie Laine, Jack Jones, Andy Williams, The Shadows, Les Dawson, Ken Dodd, Frankie Howerd, Bernard Manning, Tommy Steele, The Three Degrees[2][1] and Demis Roussos.

[3] Visitors included members of the British royal family, such as The Duke of Edinburgh and Princess Margaret.

[4] In the 1983 Championship, unseeded qualifier Keith Deller beat the top three seeds on the way to winning the tournament in a result often cited as one of the biggest shocks in the history of sport.