Teacups with months-old tea still at the bottom. Unfinished pints on the side of a derelict bar. An influx of pigeons that had taken shelter amid the empty rafters.
This is what Nick Pettit, director of estates at Lincoln College, was met with in 2021 when he first set foot in The Drill, a once-glorious community venue that had been shut down and left derelict.
“It was so sad to see,” he remembers today. “It looked like a fire alarm or something had happened and everyone had suddenly left, and they were never allowed back into the building.”
Much to the dismay of the pigeons perhaps, he vowed there and then that he would turn round the fortunes of this much-loved venue, which had once hosted bands like The Rolling Stones, The Damned and Buzzcocks.
In the three years since, it is fair to say he has succeeded. Major touring bands – including The Libertines – now regularly play here, while up-and-coming Lincoln artists can often be seen headlining the place. Just two months ago, The Drill won the Music Venue Trust’s ‘Outstanding Contribution to Grassroots Music’ in recognition of the work it has been doing with young, local and independent artists over the last two years.
The Drill – previously The Drill Hall – had been struggling for some years when it was closed in 2020 after Lincoln City Council voted to end its annual grant funding.
But the Lincoln College Group felt sure that this incredible building – originally constructed as a military training centre – could still be a major community asset.
So, in late 2021, they took over its management and Petit was placed in charge of leading a refurbishment
“The building hadn’t been operated in for six months,” says Pettit. “It needed some serious TLC, and it took us four or five months just to make a list of what needed to be done.
“We had to ensure the building was watertight most importantly, so it was safe and acceptable. Then we spent thousands of pounds getting rid of all the mess left behind by the pigeons and putting up pigeon netting. Only then could the full reconstruction could begin.”
Originally, the aim was for the building simply to be used as a space where Lincoln College students could gain work experience. There was no suggestion it could ever turn a profit.
“But the events we were holding were too big for just students to be working so it had to become a place with paid employees that students could train alongside,” says Amelia Ryan, project manager at the Lincoln College Group
While stage shows, pantomimes and community events were held there, it became that music was the biggest sell.
“I think when we originally took it over, we tried to replicate what had already historically been done,” says Pettit. “But the music scene is ever evolving, and we needed to market it in a way that allowed us to generate a new reputation.”
So that is what they did with The Drill now marketed less towards theatre and more towards live gigs, club events and karaoke nights. Acts including The Hunna, The Libertines and The Rills all played the venue in 2024 demonstrating the sheer ambition of the place – and suggesting it could help Lincoln become a regular stop for touring bands.
Certainly Thomas Kitchen, a senior lecturer in events management and international tourism at the University of Lincoln believes that “the way The Drill continues to market the venue could be really beneficial for the future of Lincoln”.
He said: “Inevitably, The Drill’s success will have a positive effect on tourism as we know from post code data that live music in Lincoln tends to attract people from the outside.”
He added: “There’s a new understanding of the purpose of the building now. The built identity there will bring them clarity and more clarity means they’re going to be able to do better and promote to hit the right audience.”
By welcoming more independent acts to the venue – and thus attracting more people to Lincoln – it may be The Drill could become a serious economic driver for the city’s night time economy. All while continuing to provide those students with first-hand work experience.
Not bad for a place once occupied by all those pigeons.
