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Alex's Pie Stands
- Thread starter Alf
- Start date
alan bartlett
master brummie
Dead right Stitcher, spent many a night at Alex,s in my biker days. There and the Double Zero in Digbeth.
Catherine Aston
Dancing wenchette
Those fleur de lys pies, Chicken and Mushroom were the best ever, massive if I remember, those from the Alex's closest to the Albany.
The biker chaps used to congregate there also.
The biker chaps used to congregate there also.
Catherine Aston
Dancing wenchette
Wow, that photo takes me back, thank you Carolina (great reggae song from the same era!)
alan bartlett
master brummie
Cake and Sydney were my fave, plus a wiff of Castrol R. I remember some nights you could not get in the car park, had to park down the side street.
devonjim
master brummie
I used to get Fleur de Lys chicken and mushroom pies from a upstairs café at the town hall end of New Street(opp Theatre Royal) when at Matthew Boulton tech and also from a pub of that name in Lowsonford near Lapworth as well as from the caravan opposite the Albany . Were they all the same pies?
Catherine Aston
Dancing wenchette
Yes they were the same pies, the factory/bakery was based in Warwick , they supplied so many places round about:- and some years later my son took me there to buy up whole boxes of so called reject bakes, same pies but with bashed in lids etc., still brilliant I believe the company was taken over in late 1991/2:- anyone know if they are made anywhere, (not those awful Pukka things) Cheers
PS They were ready to bake as opposed to baked and seemed to taste even better.
PS They were ready to bake as opposed to baked and seemed to taste even better.
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alan bartlett
master brummie
The pies at Villa Park were the worst, you were still tasteing them three days later. Our local chippy sold Fleur de Lys pies, as you say better than the Pukka rubbish.
oldMohawk
gone but not forgotten
Hi Peg, I used to buy my coffees from a mobile canteen outside the entrance and probably looked across at the Kardomah.
oldmohawk
oldmohawk
After an evening at the Ice Rink, we used to walk up to Snow Hill entrance and hang around there chatting and buying cups of tea and pies from Alec's mobile canteen. It did not take much to please us in those far off days. I remember one particular night there because I came back to the station next morning to catch a train for two years RAF National Service.
They had plenty of trade so look happy.
Peg Monkey
master brummie
Hi oldmohawk, I would pass the tea wagon on my way to get the night service bus after clubbing in the city, it must have been open well into the early hours, certainly 2-3am, providing a valuable service to revellers, bus drivers and taxi drivers. Something magical about enjoying a drink and a snack in the open air maybe it evokes childhood memories of pic-nics.
Regards,
Peg.
Hi Carolina, this is a great photo. I was a regular in the early sixties, we would meet up an go of for rides to Stourport-on Seven, Watford Gap, Leamington Spar or some other caffe, then back to Alex's for a pie or hot dog.
adap2it
master brummie
Often wondered what happened to the wagon on Snow Hill after the land was developed. I remember it being parked on very rough ground there. But it did a very good trade. Quite honestly they could have served up anything and most of us revellers would have eaten it after a night on the bottle! Did they move to somewhere else in Town. I don't remember seeing it. Viv.
I now live in Stourport!
quite rightly Alan, stichers is correct in what he as stated alex,s was right behind the pub the crown at the bottom
of station street and hill street and yes it was across the road from the Albany
during the sixties an friend of mine from the summer hill stores father moved from there and took on that old crown pub
and the rock bands used to play upstairs in a very large room in the end they made larger space by removing the tables and chairs
so more people in and could dance about and you would all sit around the room on your back sides with your drink
it was a very busy pub for years eventualy it started to decline sadley
Back to Alex,s pies yes they was great but you did have a job to get serves because of the volume of the bikeres bikes and there owners and to top it all and make it more harder the turning out of the crown with the rockers ;
best wishes Astonian,,, Alan,,,
of station street and hill street and yes it was across the road from the Albany
during the sixties an friend of mine from the summer hill stores father moved from there and took on that old crown pub
and the rock bands used to play upstairs in a very large room in the end they made larger space by removing the tables and chairs
so more people in and could dance about and you would all sit around the room on your back sides with your drink
it was a very busy pub for years eventualy it started to decline sadley
Back to Alex,s pies yes they was great but you did have a job to get serves because of the volume of the bikeres bikes and there owners and to top it all and make it more harder the turning out of the crown with the rockers ;
best wishes Astonian,,, Alan,,,
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Pedrocut
Master Barmmie
We can just the the bonnet of the car, but what is the make?
maypolebaz
master brummie
It looks to me like another Vauxhall like the model in full view.
Was it the Wyvern ?
Think it is a Ford Consul, but wouldn't bet on it.t
Think Alex went up market c1958 by opening a shop near Cape Hill selling Fleur-de-Ley pies before opening in the city. When we were in B'ham in 1974 we were in the arcade opposite what was left of Snow Hill Stn. Royal Arcade? (seniors moment !) and there was a swish looking restaurant advertising the famous pies and I thought I would introduce my Scottish born wife and Aussie born son to there delights. A rather disinterested waitress told us the dining room was closed and if we wanted fed we would have to be served in the smaller room, to which we moved and waited 15-20 mins. for service. When we were attended I said we would have 3 chicken and mushroom and 2 steak and kidney we were then told the pies were off and we could only have fry UPS due to staff shortages. Reluctantly went elsewhere.
I like most were introduced to the pies being sold out of a window at the pub in Lowsenford. After what seemed ages a window was opened and the pies were sold out in a matter of minutes but the beer and ambience was great. I think this would have been in the mid to late '50's .
Cheers Tim.
Think Alex went up market c1958 by opening a shop near Cape Hill selling Fleur-de-Ley pies before opening in the city. When we were in B'ham in 1974 we were in the arcade opposite what was left of Snow Hill Stn. Royal Arcade? (seniors moment !) and there was a swish looking restaurant advertising the famous pies and I thought I would introduce my Scottish born wife and Aussie born son to there delights. A rather disinterested waitress told us the dining room was closed and if we wanted fed we would have to be served in the smaller room, to which we moved and waited 15-20 mins. for service. When we were attended I said we would have 3 chicken and mushroom and 2 steak and kidney we were then told the pies were off and we could only have fry UPS due to staff shortages. Reluctantly went elsewhere.
I like most were introduced to the pies being sold out of a window at the pub in Lowsenford. After what seemed ages a window was opened and the pies were sold out in a matter of minutes but the beer and ambience was great. I think this would have been in the mid to late '50's .
Cheers Tim.
devonjim
master brummie
This is bugging me, the Alex pie bar I remember was on the corner of Hill St and Hinkley St.(see map) and I just can't make this fit this picture. I guess the pie bar must have had a different site at some time.
diane james
proper brummie kid
Yes Inremember Alex's station street, used to have a chicken n mushroom, after dancing the night away in the Locarno, where I met my husband of 52 years. Diane James. Near Camp Hill
mw0njm.
A Brummie Dude
sure did it was on the number 8 route just off stratford rd
Gerry Cannell
master brummie
Ok, here we go. The old Theatre Royal site, was where Alex had a portable Pie stall. He did indeed sell "Fleur de Lys pies". they were made by R.F. Brookes, in Warwick, then later at the Wigston, Leicester, factory. That was when they were a new and brilliant tasting pie, with a great short crust top. The "Fleur de Lys" contract from R.F. Brookes was very strict, and would not allow their pies to be sold close to another retailer, that is why they were sold by a few select outlets. After Birmingham, the nearest place heading north was at Blake Street, Four Oaks, Sutton Coldfield, then Lichfield. The name was sold later to Avana Bakeries of Cardiff, who cheapened the product, and rammed the price right down, so they became nothing special any longer. The factory in Emscote Road, was bought by PUKKA. Happy memories of the fantastic "Fleur de Lys" pies. I still have one of the original Pie Trays, from RF Brookes Limited. Gerry
diane james
proper brummie kid
I used to go out with the drummer in the Modernaires Brian
Gerry Cannell
master brummie
You know, that looks really familiar. Note the Fleur de Lys insignia. Happy Days! Gerry. ps Being mobile, the locations could change quite easily I guess.
Wyvern or Velox..
APB Another Proud Brummie
New Member
Very interesting.
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Gerry Cannell
master brummie
Thank you for an interesting insight into the ALEX pie business. Tell me, back then I used to go into town and, with my girlfriend, would buy a "Fleur-de-Lys pie from a unit, which was roughly sited on the waste land behind the old Theatre Royal, close to where the ABC FORUM cinema stood, on New Street. Was this one of yours? I seem to remember it was. Later on, in the mid-sixties, because of how delicious the pies were, I contacted RF Brookes, at Emscote Road, in Warwick, and asked them if they would supply my Fish & Chip shop, based in Lichfield, with their pies. After a long discussion, we did indeed get supplied direct from Warwick, and ended up selling hundreds of them each week. Suffice to say, I tasted them first in Birmingham, on a cold Saturday night. Thanks.
