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Fardons Vinegar

A

angeleyes

Guest
does anyone remember fardons vinegar factory it was in glover st of gt barr st watery lane bham. gt place to work years ago. was a babby then.only 16.
 
Peter it was indeed Fardon's........... I'm sure they made Flag Sauce? Perhaps Mary can tell us?

Peter you may be mixing this up with Sarsons one of the other Vinegar producers?
 
I think I found a reference to this firm under info on H.P.on the main Aston web site
 
Sorry, I must have been thinking of Sarsons Vinegar, which I believe has its roots in South London.
On a related point, what was the name of the firm on the Nechells 7 trolleybus route in Great Lister Street, on the corner with Dartmouth Street or Windsor Street who made vinegar and pickles until they were bombed in about 1941? As I remember the shell of the building stood until well after the war.
Peter
 
Vinegar

Hi Peter,
I remember my Uncle used to live & work around that area & I think his employment was at a Company called "Manor Vinegar"

Thats about all I can add, except the "pickles" he used to bring to my Mum (His Sister ) were the best I ever tasted, Wow ,burn the roof of yer mouth out :shock: Ok & best regards John
 
A BIG OPERATION - STRAW IN WIRE BASKETS, BIG GLASS JARS POURING OUT, LINED THE PAVAMENT. THE PLANT WAS OFF THE CANAL BY THE GRAND UNION BRANCH.
I DO NOT KNOW IF THEY EVER USED WATER FOR SHIPPING THE PRODUCT (NOT IN IT).
THE PICKLES WOULD HAVE MADE A NICE SIDE WITH THE VINEGAR ONLY.
I THINK IN THOSE FAR OFF DAYS PICKLING SPICES WERE INCORPORATED TO GET THE MOUTH FROTHING.
SO MANY TASTES HAVE VANISHED.
FAGGOTS TO SAVOUR WERE LIKELY MUCH MORE COMMON THEN.
THE ONLY DECENT ONE I COULD FIND IN THE 80S (19) WAS ABERYSTWYTH.
THURSDAY WAS RELIGIOUS OBSERVANCE DAY.
THE ONLY PICKLES TO MATCH WOULD BE THE MASS PRODUCED IN JARS.
OF COURSE THE SOLUTION IS TO MAKE YOUR OWN.
 
I love listening to you old timers talking about 'the good old days'
Damn..Why am I so young?
 
Oh Di my fave, Pork Pie Stilton Pickle Cabbage, Onions, Beetroot,Piccaliie & Cream Crackers :D

Plus Horlicks & the best Vodka :smitten:
 
:-[

MARVELLOUS STUFF. NOT ONLY IS IT MONEY SPARING IT IS INTELLIGENTLY GRATIFYING TO MAKE A STOCK OF PRESERVES - IT WAS COMMON AMONGST WOMEN WHO HAD THE LEISURE TO DO SO. NOW EVERYONE CAN GRAB. THE POSSIBILITIES ARE INFINITE.
WHICH BRINGS ME TO ANOTHER POINT REGARDING SELF STARTING:
DRESSMAKERS WERE COMMON THROUGH THE 1960s AND MANY OPERATED FROM THEIR ABODES BY WORD OF MOUTH.
THEY DID ALTERATIONS OF COURSE.
WOMEN WOULD SELECT THE MATERIALS THEY WANTED FROM MANY AND VARIOUS OUTLETS - GRAYS WAS BIG ON THAT. THOUGH JUST ONE. ASK PARENTAGE TO GRAND SUCH AND YOU'LL DEFINITELY COME UP WITH A POSITIVE RESPONSE.
YOU COULD DESCRIBE WHAT YOU WANTED OR SHOW A SNIP FROM A MAGAZINE OR NEWSPAPER OR CATALOGUE.
IT WAS A BIG COTTAGE INDUSTRY WHICH MADE FOR SENSIBLE INDIVIDUATION.
ONE CAN EASILY IMAGINE THE WORK IT WOULD CREATE FOR MANY AGILE SEAMSTRESSES, TAILORESSES(?) - BESPOKE, AFFORDABLE, TO ONE'S OWN LIKING.
I FIND IT UNINTELLIGIBLE WHAT IT IS NOT ALL THE GO.
SURELY CHOICE BETWEEN A SACK LIKE SKIRT DOWN AROUND THE ANKLES, HIKED UP WITH SAFETY PINS AND A BELT OR BRACES OFF THE RACK FROM TESCO AND LIKELY MADE IN A SWEAT SHOP IN CHINA, SE ASIA, INDIA OF ARTIFICIAL FIBRES ALL PRODUCED BY INDENTURED SERVITUDE AND A PIECE NEAT 'N' NIFTY SELF DETERMINED AS BESPOKE IS SURELY A WORLD APART.
SELF GENERATING ECONOMIC ACTIVITY IS INEVITABLE WHERE THERE IS ANY GATHERING OF PEOPLE AND I FIND NO REASON TO DEVOLVE IN THIS RESPECT. AS WELL AS A BOLD ECONOMIC TONIC IT IS A MORAL BUOYANCY BOOSTER. AN ELECTRICAL ENGINEER WHO RESIDES IN A FANTASTICALLY OVERPRICED PAD ON 'PARADISE CIRCUS' (A SHOEBOX TARTED UP WITH STELLAR VIEWS OF WALLS AND WINDOWS) TOLD ME SO MANY WOMEN WHO FREQUENT PUBS ON BROAD STREET WEAR FROCKS. IN RESPONSE TO MY QUERY AS TO WHAT THEY WEAR. IN OTHER WORDS C&A, TESCO, ETC. MODS. SAD.
???
 
I used to mek me own frocks HMLD. ;)

Alfie, I love piccalili, haven't had it for ages though. I'll put it on the beloved's shopping list. I'm not sure I could make it :)
 
angeleyes said:
does anyone remember fardons vinegar factory it was in glover st of gt barr st watery lane bham. gt place to work years ago. was a babby then.only 16.
Click to expand...

My wife and her sister used to work there somewhere around 1960.
they were twins Sheila and Shirley.

Dave
 
re fardons vinegar,

i worked there i cant remember for how long, but i still have a vauge memory of standing in a silo of grain and shoveling it into a lorry.

shardeen
 
Going back to a very old thread, below is the advert when the freeholders of the site of fardons vinegar factory were selling the freehold in 1866. From Birm Post. 30.4.1866
 

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  • Sale of freehold of Fardons vinegar factory glover st.jpg
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Whilst working for Midlands Electricity Board I carried out some work in a substation at Fardons, the s/s was down below and it was very eerie, the factory was empty and clear of all machinery and equipment, the walls and floors were green, I imagine through the vinegar over the years staining everything. I have to admit to feeling glad to get out of the place when we had finished the work.
 
Evening Everyone
The factory on the corner of Dartmouth Street was Holbrookes Pickles. World famous for Pickled Walnuts. What a flavour sensation.
Some more info about Holbrookes can be found if you google. Stourport Vinegar Factory History. When you got to within 5 miles of Stourport you could smell the vinegar.
The bombing raid must have been intended for the steelworks across the road. The shell of Holbrookes remained for some years after the war and they did start up again on a very small scale but I think they sold the name to an American company.
That Judge on the dancing show often talks about walnuts. Wonder if He worked at Holbrookes. In Birmingham we produced some very excellent foods we could be proud of. Do you remember Barnetts Kippers cured and smoked in Princes Row.
Best wishes,
Gerald...Garden Gerald.
 
Look at the size of these Fardons vinegar vats at the Glover Street brewery !! Compare them with the men below. Viv.

image.jpeg
 
Would clean up that brick floor nicely Alan! Think the smell would be overpowering. Viv.
 
Just found this old thread and it interested me because I worked at Birmingham's Fardons in the 60s as an apprenticed electrician. I suppose the firm I worked for must have been installing new equipment or rewiring old stuff. I do recall the smell from the vats when open was so overpowering that it made me retch! Hops, I think, were the main cause. I used to dread going near the things. I also remember the little production line of vinegar/sauce? bottles and the girls there probably putting on the labels. I had a real crush on one red-headed young lady, but never had the courage to ask her out.

Regards, Ray T.
 
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