Fans of the late Joe Strummer gathered in a near tribal celebration at Bridgwater’s Engine Room last Friday.

They also witnessed an unofficial twinning of the town with the city of Seattle in America via a telephone call to the US radio station KEXP. There were also clips of the film The Future is Unwritten which featured Joe Strummer’s band the Clash with a talk by its director Julian Temple who also explained how the celebrated punk rocker and musician came to live in the town.

“He came down to visit me and I took to the carnival,” he said, “and as we watched it this amazing float came round the corner with Rock The Casbar on it. Joe was blown away by it and said this is my kind of town, so that’s how he came to be here and we had a great five years as friends.”

He said it was very sad when Joe Strummer died but he helped to leave behind a legacy of The Engine Room. “It’s a place where kids who haven’t had an opportunity of learning through creativity have a place to go. And I’m sure Joe would be very proud of the Engine Room which is an integral part of Bridgwater.”

Cllr Brian Smedly said: “The Clash formed in London in 1976, establishing their unique sound combining punk with reggae, dub, funk, and ska, behind socially conscious lyrics; changed the face of modern music with 5 albums and 16 hit singles. Later Joe Strummer moved to Bridgwater where on November 17th 2002 he played the Palace Theatre with his band the Mescaleros in order to raise money for the launch of innovative new film and media centre The Engine Room.”

Organiser Phil Shepherd said: “Joe was there for us when he played around the corner at the Palace, tragically just a few weeks before he died. We owe him a great deal. It’s great that Brian and the town council have organised this event and to have the link with Seattle Radio who are part of International Clash Day.”

Cllr Brian added: “The purpose of the day was to put Bridgwater on the map for what it does best -that’s be a down to earth radical hub for the creative communities -whether its music, film, theatre, radio, punk, carnival or pantomime it’s what we do well here and we want that to be our focus for regeneration. Joe Strummer had the confidence in Bridgwater and moved here and people who live here need to regain that confidence in ourselves , be proud of where you live and make something of the place.”

The Engine room which opened in 2003 was help by money raised from Joe Strummer’s Palace gig and is now a Bridgwater base for Somerset Film.

One of those at the event was music fan Dave Edney who had researched the role of Bridgwater in the Top Twenty movement in the 1960s when many of the leading bands of the day such as the who played the Town Hall. He said: “The Clash event is a really good idea. My favourite album was London Calling.”

What was your favourite Clash record? Or were you a fan of another punk era band? Did you see Joe Strummer play at the Palace Theatre? We’d like to hear your stories of the time. Email harry.mottram@nqsw.co.uk