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City window cleaners

N

nutter

always an Aston boy
Does anyone have information about the different window cleaning companies that worked in the city in the late 50s through the 60s
I am interested in The City and District Company The Sunlight Company and the Elite company also I think there was a Commando Cleaning Company
 
Dont know if this is any help. Those listed under window cleaners in the 1964 Kellys
mike


kellys_1964A.jpg
 
I worked for Hockton's (Coventry) they had many contracts in Birmingham also I worked for The City and District
Sheldon Window Cleaners was another Birmingham company there were many private window cleaners also around Brum
also known as Diamond polishers LOL
All my brothers were window cleaners
 
nutter said:
Does anyone have information about the different window cleaning companies that worked in the city in the late 50s through the 60s
I am interested in The City and District Company The Sunlight Company and the Elite company also I think there was a Commando Cleaning Company
Click to expand...


This is from the 1959 directory
 
I knew you would reply to this one John - How many windows did you peer through LOL
 
I remember Stan and Greg Cole brothers who cleaned city centre window round about that time. They were also mad keen fishermen. BOTH HAD HEART ATTACKS WHICH THEY SURVIVED BUT ARE NO LONGER CLEANING WINDOWS. Beryl I bet they have many tales to tell. Bye. Jean.
 
there was second city window cleaners alum rock,ones worked a month for them cleaning power station windows,what a hot dangerous job. The commando cleaners picked you up at the mermaid pub.if you wanted a days casual work.
 
Hi all, thenks for the replies, what a site this is, ask a question and the responses come pouring in, it's great.

John-I worked for the City and District from the day after I left school in 58 until 1961. My two cousins George and John Austin had worked there for years(thats how I got the job) The company was owned by the Hossell family Peter and Pim also the mother,they lived near the cricket ground Edgbaston. I was part of Frankie Greens gang (later taken over by my cousin George) I was posted onto the hotels, Grand in Colmore Row and Imperial other side of town, I was put with Eric Mason (another Aston guy) we occasionally would go with the bigger gang to Brum University, Malvern, Rugby, Droitwich etc etc.
What great days they were, going on the bus from Aston Cross getting into town at 7.00 breakie in the Milk Bar in Colmore Row, then a prompt 7.30 start, pushing the barrow with all the ladders and steps, bucket of very cold water(ice on it) lashing big extension ladders together so as to reach 3rd and 4th floor windows, freezing cold, but always happy to see the foreman peering at me from inside (in the warm) telling me it was 'character building stuff this' nice hey? all for £3/00 a week plus 12/6 for saturday morning, ha!!! happy days.
Names I remeber from the City and District
Brian Green-Ralph Taylor-Brian Gibbons, Barry Aston-Alan Harris-(his brother Ted worked for Hocktons) Brothers Jimmy and Alf Davis-Jimmy Haynes-I could scratch my head and think of more. John when did you work for the City and Dis? I went on to do painting and decorating with the Sunlight Brush and Spray from perry Barr (they did window cleaning as well) then somehow got into Steeplejacking worked with Swinnerton steeplejacks from Winson green,then to Clovers Erdington way.
wonderful memories all.
 
I worked with Tom Hoper and Sid Evans for City and District then I worked for Hocktons and guess what I worked with Teddy Harris on the Birmingham contracts our first job every morning was the British Home Stores Ted lived in Coventry and came into Birmingham every except Sundays as we had to do the foundries on Sundays skylight cleaning.
then I went to work with Tom and Sid till I had a fall in 1970 at Alkaline batteries Redditch and damaged my spine which meat leaving the widow cleaning game do you know Bobby Houghton our kid ?
 
When were you there John? cant say I knew 'your kid'
I do seem to remember about someone having a bad fall at Reditch. George Austin had a bad one also, he was at Brum universtity, walking ledges about 30ft up, from one window to the next,someone opened the window and knocked him of the ledge,badly broken legs,the risk we used to take hey John?
I knew Teddy though, his folks lived down witon way,his younger brother (Alan) started with the city a few months after me,stayed a friend for years after. George Austin left the City and district with Alf Davis and started Erdington Industrial Cleaners that would have been about 1967/68
they had a big industrial contract with Cinncinati at Erdington,not sure what happened to them, took a load of guys from the City&Dis with them,Barrie Aston-young Alan Harris, I came across them once, they were doing really well. George Austin sadly passed away about mid 90s I know Johnny Austin carried on with C& D for ages.but sadly thats where my contact ended.
I remember the skylight cleaning, we used to mop em outside with Hydroflouric?hydrochloric? acid I remember the big glass carbons, so dangerous to handle,ha happy days.
 
i used to clean the windows on the gpo tower for city and district, had to give 14 days notice prior to cleaning for security reasons, had to wedge tipper window open with a coin and drop onto the ledge to clean em, good job they are wide ledges...worked for m.i.c, commandos, jacksons, and globe
 
looks like we could set up our own window cleaners gang mind you with health and safety now there would be no ledging or playing about with acid,can't use ammonia can't use ladders.
 
John do you remember the cole brothers Stan and Greg. They were city centre window cleaners all their working lives? Jean.
 
Goodmorning all. I remember the name Cole being W/Cleaners but can't recall them or ever meeting them.

Jonacs, who did you work with on the GPO tower, any names?

John, Yes a cleaning gang we should have.lol doubt we would cut it nowadays,seems to all be done with what looks like a windscreen wiper on a long pole. ha! 'all change' hey folks

The dreaded- Health and safety? I ended up my days as an Outdoor Education Instructor at University of Wales (they run B.A. and Masters courses in Outdoor Ed)
Health and safety has gradually taken away most of the physical dimension to the courses. You should try taking students rock climbing, caving, kayaking etc and work within the confines of ever changing H&S legislation, not easy and doubt it benefits the students in any way.
 
My Uncle was a Master Window cleaner, who's clients included some of the big stores in the city centre.

I'm not sure what the company was called, his name was Hopkins and lived initially in Park lane and later in Shirley.
 
Re: window cleaners in the 50's

Nothing so grand as the rest of you, but my father was also a window cleaner in the 50's and had been for about ten years.

He used to clean mostly pubs around Gosta Green, City Centre and Aston like the Sack of Potatoes, The General Wolfe and Red Lion to name a few.

He was usually given a free pint at each of them and so yes he did have a drink problem but then his whole family of ten liked a hard night out anyway much to the disgust of my mother who didnt like drink.

As the eldest child aged 7 while my mother was at work in the Newtons factory I used to write out the pub receipts for the window cleaning money as my father had limited writing ability, although suprisingly he could read western books from the Aston library but slowly. I often used to read to him.

I had to walk from Nechells to Aston to buy offcut pieces of soft leather in a bag from a leather shop on the corner of Rocky Lane at Aston Cross (cant remember the name of it now) but it was near a pawnshop and on the old cinema side.

I used to cut up the leather pieces into strips and then fold the strip into a loop and with a special needle we used for repairing boots and shoes threaded with rough twine with a large knot in the end to stop the pices slipping off I then would thread enough leather bits on to the twine so that it was big enough to hold in my fathers hand and then tie it off.

I had to soak the leather in a bucket of plain water for a short time. You could not wash the leather in soap as it went slippy and soggy.

We also used to buy offcuts of scrim for the windows. Scrim was roughish and looks like a thin version of the old earthen bags or potatoe sacks which you could make a peg rug with.(if you are old enough to remember them)

He got hot clean water from every pub he went to and the windows were washed with the scrim and then the leather and then polished off with a clean piece of scrim again. The landlord always checked the corners of the windows were done properly.

My father took the ladders round on a cart with his bucket and leathers and stored it at his mothers house in aston on his way home.

He also cleaned some factories and once fell three stories down the ladder and fractured his ribs. He was at home for a few days but then got a tempreture and had to go into Dudley Road Hospital in an ambulance with Double pneumonia.

No health and safety in those days or compensation. We had to fend for ourselves or go on National Assistance.
 
nutter said:
Goodmorning all. I remember the name Cole being W/Cleaners but can't recall them or ever meeting them.

Jonacs, who did you work with on the GPO tower, any names?

John, Yes a cleaning gang we should have.lol doubt we would cut it nowadays,seems to all be done with what looks like a windscreen wiper on a long pole. ha! 'all change' hey folks

The dreaded- Health and safety? I ended up my days as an Outdoor Education Instructor at University of Wales (they run B.A. and Masters courses in Outdoor Ed)
Health and safety has gradually taken away most of the physical dimension to the courses. You should try taking students rock climbing, caving, kayaking etc and work within the confines of ever changing H&S legislation, not easy and doubt it benefits the students in any way.
Click to expand...

the two i worked with on london and midland were mick griffiths and a guy we called dill (mainley casual those days) m. i.c was tom bergin, john morgan, and jimmy kelly, foreman don greening.....me and jimmy cleaned windows on the council house once for ray merricks and we ended up cleaning half the museum and art gallery as well, lost money on that one.
 
Which one is your dad?. Not Frankie by any chance. I lived round the corner from them years ago and Frankie used to clean our windows in Dunedin road years ago. We used to go round in a little gang as kids. Small world Sadie. Jean.
 
Sadie I don't remember you but will ask Patty as she was one of our little gang. I pass Frankies house [if he is still there] on our way to Castle Brom unless the younger brother lives there. I see the window cleaning van on the drive sometimes. Bye. Jean.
 
Frankie and Johnny Wooton, well what a suprise, a say hello to them it's Pat Jones I think one of them used to train with my dad at the boxing. Was it Frankie that was the youngest he had lovely dimples in his cheeks when he gave that cheeky smile. I bet he's still got them
 
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Frankie is the eldest I will pass on your warm wishes when I next speak to him, by the way I was the 'bab' 10 years the junior to my brothers so I didn't get to hang out with them....probably would have cramped thier style!!!!
 
It is Frankie then I new best Jean I didn't want to say G hair some people dont like it
 
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