> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.ipswich.co.uk/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # 130 years of the Cali: A social club that has changed with the times - URL: https://www.ipswich.co.uk/130-years-of-the-cali-a-social-club-that-has-changed-with-the-times/ - Published: 2026-09-23T08:08:15.000Z - Updated: 2026-09-23T08:08:14.000Z - Description: From gas lights and all-male bars to a smoking ban and a warmer welcome, the California Social Club's oldest members have watched their club – and their town – change. As the club turns 130 this year, they are reflecting on everything they have witnessed from behind the bar. - Author: Nicola Sebastian - Tags: Long Reads, California Social Club, History, Heritage & Museums ## Named in the midst of the gold rush Known affectionately to its members as "the Cali", the California Social Club takes its name not from the American state, but from the Ipswich neighbourhood that surrounds it on Foxhall Road. The area earned its nickname around 1849, when the Ipswich and Suffolk Freehold Land Society began developing the former Cauldwell Hall Estate. Workers on the site were seen carrying shovels and pickaxes at around the same time as the Californian gold rush was making headlines around the world, and the nickname stuck. In fact, Ipswich's "California" predates California itself – the American state was not formally established until a year later, in 1850. The club itself has been an institution of the area for well over a century. The earliest known reference to it comes from the Ipswich Journal, dated Saturday, 29 February 1896, which noted: "It will be remembered that on the occasion of the opening of the California Social Club, several prominent members of the Ipswich Radical Party declared that these clubs were instituted for educational purposes, and that liquor was only supplied as refreshments." ## Memories from the bar To mark the club's 130th anniversary, club secretary Kate Hebden went into the bar at lunchtime to speak with some of the club's longest-serving members – gentlemen in their eighties and nineties who have watched decades of change unfold and develop from their bar stools. Peter, who remembers coming to the club in the mid-1960s, told Kate that things improved when "the gas lights were taken out". In those days, women were not allowed into the bar, and Peter recalls arriving on a Sunday to play cards through a thick cloud of smoke. With the smoking ban now in place, he says the club is a much healthier place to be. He also remembers the old membership renewal system, when long queues of people would wait to renew outside the club. Today, with no more queuing down the street, membership is processed on the tills over a period of three months. One of the club's most loyal regulars, Winston, remembers a very different Ipswich – one where he was turned away from other clubs in the area because of the colour of his skin. Notably, this was still happening as recently as the 1980s. Winston now comes to the Cali every day, and Kate says it means a great deal to the club that those attitudes are firmly in the past. ## Generational threads within the club For some members, the club's history is woven through their own family history. Colin Canham, 87, is a committee member whose family connection to the Cali stretches back generations. His father was a member, as were his aunt and uncle, Mr and Mrs Bill Nunn, who lived on Back Hamlet, and his grandparents, the Arbons of Newton Road. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/29/1e/291e4b7f-e551-4458-b546-61963954b22f/content/images/2026/09/IMG_4532-3.jpeg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/29/1e/291e4b7f-e551-4458-b546-61963954b22f/content/images/2026/09/IMG_4208-4.jpeg) California Bowls Club has been an important part of the club for many years (Photo: Nicola Sebastian/Ipswich.co.uk) "The dart boards at that time were plasticine, and he reworked them each week as required by using a hot iron," Colin recalls of his father. "I still have one of these boards today, but his rollers have been misplaced." Colin remembers Saturday nights with more children in attendance compared with today, and Christmas morning celebrations that looked very different 75 years ago. "The bar was always full on Christmas morning with lots of wine and spirit draws going on, and this was also a 'men-only' bar," he says. The actual shape of the hall itself has changed too. Colin remembers a very different layout from the one members would recognise today. Within this hall, Saturday nights were once brought to life by concert parties – live entertainment put on by musicians who worked for some of Ipswich's biggest employers of the era, among them Ransomes and Rapier, and Cranes. Colin's wife, meanwhile, ran the club's ladies' darts team for many seasons under the Mencap banner. "I am proud to be a committee member today," Colin says. ## The bottom line The Cali was never really about the bar. It was about who stood around it. As the club marks 130 years, the regulars – Peter, Winston, Colin and the rest – are proof of the lesson every social club eventually teaches: that people, not liquor, are what keep a place alive for over a century. Though 130 years of loyal custom suggests the bar has done its bit too. That said, a decent pint never put anyone off. --- **Don't forget:** If you enjoy our content, please [add Ipswich.co.uk as a "preferred source" on Google](https://google.com/preferences/source?q=ipswich.co.uk&ref=ipswich.co.uk) so you can easily find more of the content you value. [Add as a preferred source on Google](https://google.com/preferences/source?q=ipswich.co.uk&ref=ipswich.co.uk) --- ### This article cost us \~£135 to produce It's free for you to read thanks to the generous support of our partners. Please support us by supporting them.