'Shh please girls' - the night 11-year-old Gary Barlow left clubgoers gobsmacked

Everyone has to start somewhere, and for Gary Barlow that somewhere was an unknown social club in north Wales.

Now used to selling out stadiums across the world, the Take That star was only 11 years old when he began performing to patrons at Connah's Quay Labour Club.

After the little-known piece of music history surprised viewers of the Netflix Take That documentary series which was released earlier this year, the town's residents were quick to share their memories of the singer on social media.

From shushing audience members to returning for a cup of tea at the height of his fame, Barlow certainly left his mark on the small Flintshire community.

For Alan Davies, Barlow brings back memories of his late father Trevor, who performed with the youngster at his "go-to" venue.

Davies said: "He'd come back from the club and he'd say, 'oh yeah, I've met this really nice lad, Gary. He's really good, I think he's going to go a long way'.

"My dad kept going week after week, got to know him, and it became like a regular thing where he got up on the mic with him."

In pictures taken at the time Trevor can be seen on stage with Barlow, including one documenting the pair in fancy dress on New Year's Eve.

Barlow built a close bond with the Davies family, bringing back souvenirs from family holidays and even mentioning Trevor in his 2006 autobiography, My Take.

"He said that my dad taught him how to sing vibrato, which is quite funny really, because I don't think [my dad] knew what it was.

"It is really touching, because that special mention kind of immortalises him in a way," Davies said.

"To say such nice things, obviously [Barlow] knows a lot of people, so it's nice to know that my dad has made an impression on him."

The club was also the "regular weekend haunt" for Julie Luff and her friends when Barlow started performing there, his parents keeping a watchful eye on him.

She said: "Every Saturday there would be an act.

"But to me and my friends, 30-something mums who only managed to catch up on Labour club nights, it was our chance to chat and catch up.

"To be truthful, he was extremely talented, but not enough to shut us up."

The club's performers were used to Luff and her friends chatting their way through sets week in, week out, but Barlow was not having it.

"All of a sudden we heard the young Gary loudly say, 'shhhh, please girls', [and] we did.

"Gobsmacked and told off."

Luff said that Barlow was a good sport, and "smiled" when he shushed them again that night.

With the star growing up in nearby Cheshire, resident Darren Strathdee believes he knows what was behind Barlow's unlikely link to the area.

He said: "I think one of the reasons Gary played at the Labour club of all places was the fact that his dad races pigeons, and there is a pigeon racing club built onto the side of the the club."

Strathdee's dad, Terry, was a member of the Shotton and District Homing Society with Barlow's father, who kept his links with the town.

"One of the other pigeon racers, Terry Andrews, was in touch with Gary's dad through the pigeons and received a visit from him a few years ago, and Gary, by now very famous, came along for the ride," Strathdee said.

With the three of them chatting over a cup of tea in the back garden, Andrews forgot to invite one very important person.

"When Terry's wife got home he told told her Gary Barlow had visited with his dad. She was a fan of his and was quite disappointed that she had missed him."