• Welcome to this forum . We are a worldwide group with a common interest in Birmingham and its history. While here, please follow a few simple rules. We ask that you respect other members, thank those who have helped you and please keep your contributions on-topic with the thread.

    We do hope you enjoy your visit. BHF Admin Team

Ansells Brewery

Thought I would bring this thread to the todays post as there is some interest in the thread and it's football team. Jean.
 
Coincidentally I was talking to a patient - sorry, service user - in clinic earlier who used to be a drayman for Ansells - trying to explain what a drayman did and where Ansells was proved interesting for all of us, our consultant is really good,and has lived in the area for about 20 years, but couldn't place where we telling him, so eventually between us mangd to take him off the Expressway to it lol - lucky he was the last patient on clinic lol! Think it was what you call information exchange as he was then telling us about Indian breweries and deliveries.
Sue
 
HI ALL
I hope this post is of interest to all and not just to those with interest in ANSELLS. In my early post i stated that my old father in law
worked for the company for 48 years, ALBERT PALMER was his name. when he passed away he left many pictures of his passed life.
He also left 3 brochures of the old days at ANSELLS. Like many firms long ago the highlight of the year was a day out on the company.
The one i am looking at is a brochure of the ANSELLS trip to SOUTHSEA on18 June 1938. 3Trains left SNOW HILL at the following times.
4-35am-4-50 am and5-20am, arriving at SOUTHSEA at8-35,8-55 and9-15am.To get to the station buses were laid on from 10 parts of
BRUM ,the first pick ups started at 3-30am. If you lived less than one and a half from the station you had to walk there ,NO TICKET NO BUS RIDE.
The third train was for staff and foremen only. The staff made their choice of what to do at SOUTHSEA. Trains left at the end of the day at 10-15 10-30 and10-45pm. arriving back in Brum at 2-10 2-17 and2-33am. buses then laid on totake staff back home, again no ticket no ride,this having been on the go for
23hours just for a day trip to the sea. At least they had a free trip around the dockyard, and a trip around the harbour.
I cannot see anyone doing this trip today
KEN
 
hello pete do you know where ken has been laid to rest I would like to place some flowers if poss, he helped me and a lot more people at ansells in the seventies when I worked there, great negotiator he was. regards peter rankin.
 
I remember an off Licence on the corner of Westwood Road and Electric Avenue, opposite GEC. I had over the doorway a
Gas type lamp with the letter A
.......................................A A, thereon. Representing, Atkinsons Aston Ales (Nothing to do with Ron)
 
A week ago Friday Paul. He was a friend of ours for many years and only a few years back I had a session with him at the Tybern House at one of the boss's retirements. He gave us his works number and when I phoned they said he had broken his arm and left. He started me off on Brandy and Babychamps many moons ago. Pete and Kevo worked together for a long time and when Pete was late coming home from Aldridge depot I new he had gone for a bevi with Dek. RIP Derek.
 
hi guys
how many of you worked at ansells on aston cross or how many of you can recall working there and wearing those wooden cloggs they had to wear in brown overalls working there or did you ever see them ;
as you know i lived yards from the building and in the fortys at lunch time when the bull claxton went off it was lunch time
and they all trotted along the lichfield rd from the cross in those wooden cloggs and by golly it was like and army of foot soldiers banging along the rd and queing up at thompsoms for meat some at astons 5the cake shop and the women quueing up at goldburgs for stocking and some at the butchers or going to frenchie and robinsons for the evening meals for after work ; i was fasinated bye whatching all these people marching all down the rd in clippy clot noise ;
i used to stand at the bottom of the entry of cromwell terace and one old gentle man would give me a comic every day if i was standing there
thats when the free gifts was inside he would buy a paper at lunch time from diggers and bring past a comic with a free gift inside one was a twister whizzer if any body recalls it best wishes astonian;;
 
Hi Astonion. I worked for Ansells in the late 50/s as a drayman.i remember seeing the men in the brown coats and cloggs who worked as coopers and barrel fillers
the Brewery just finished using the horse and carts when i started their.a great place to work in them times good blokes who worked with you.
Did you ever remember about the beer tester who fell into one of the holding tanks and drowned. all the brew had to be discarded of'

All the best.
CHEERS Richard
 
Hi Astonion. I worked for Ansells in Park lane in the late 50/s as a drayman.i remember seeing the men in the brown coats and cloggs who worked as coopers and barrel fillers<br>the Brewery just finished using the horse and carts when i started their.a great&nbsp; place&nbsp;to work in them times good blokes who worked with you.<br>Did you ever remember about the beer tester who fell into one of the holding tanks and drowned. all the brew had to be discarded of'<br><br>All the best.<br>CHEERS Richard
 
HI RICHARD;
On the subject of the beer tester i don,t recall that incidence but i do recall quite afew things on the cart driver having a heart attack at the drive inon his dray cart and how the horse was that trained at stopping on the entry red light when they was using that system
when coming back to the brewery and on the change of red to green the horse waited patiently with his master driver whilst the driver had been
laying down out cold on the cart and emediately on green the horse turned into the brewery and up the ramp of the brewery entrance to pull up and the workers discovered him unconsios and they called the ambulance
on the subject of the coopers they worked right down under neath the brewery as i recall as a nipper making those barrells
if you walked up the hill of upper portland st all the way up the hill on the pavements there was grating of that thick glass bricks which you would walk over
and on the bottom of the building for about a fift yards or more there was a arch opening with iron bars on them it woould have been about twelve inches high
and if you got down on your knees you could look through that arch window and see the coopers working and making the barrells
they was or must have been about three hundred feet or more down in the under ground at least we used to shout down to them but they could never hear you ; and the cold blow of wind would be blowing up to you and it was down there they had the war time air raid shelter for hundreds of local people
would dash when the air raid shelter went off asyou know its was a masive complex which musthave housed hundres of people
i also recall the newboiler houses and systenm they built in uper portland street and the huge pitt for the coal supplys for the all brewery
when they first built it me and col gaskin used to be stupid and thought we was super man and dare each other to jump down into the pitt
when we did do it we was worried about the over head autoatic crane coming down and scooping us up because when we jumped down into this vast pit
know one could ever see you or even of any kids or people stuck down there in the pitt s we jumped we would sink to our waist in the coal pile and we had to wriggle through it to get to he steel ladderon the wall to get and climb out up the wall as i have said it must have been at least seventy feet deep
there was an office in the yard but the bloke was never in half the time thats whenwe would creep in the yard and do our silly game of jumping down the pitt
but we was only young and stupid kids then but had we been older you would have knownit was a stupid thing to do and never would have done it
have a nice day best wishes astonian;
 
HI ALL
Enclosed is a picture of my father=in-law Albert PALMER and his old brewery mate Jimmy Jones. Some of you old ones may
remember them. Sadly both no longer with us.
KEN
 

Attachments

  • img067.jpg
    img067.jpg
    139.6 KB · Views: 40
HI
Yes he was over the transport after many years on the delivery side. Jim was his mate on the deliveries for many years.
Iam sorting out some pictures of the years he spent on the Ansells pensioners club commitee,you may remember some
of those on them. Albert started at the brewery at the age of 14,and spent 49 years there.
KEN
 
Ken will ask my brother Albert later today if he remembers either of them as he was with the brewery most of his working life. He was a checker at Aston Cross, Aldridge then Tybern road. He started at Holte street if I remember correctly?.
 
When I was 11yrs old in 1957 I used to lived at the "Manor Tavern" pub in Portland St. The pub is still there today. My Aunt Betty Middleham used to run it with uncle Frank. Me and my cousin Johnny used to sleep in the corner bedroom, right opposite the huge (Ansells better beer) neon sign that constantly flashed from red to red & green then off, then back to red again 24hrs a day!
 
When I was 11yrs old in 1957 I used to lived at the "Manor Tavern" pub in Portland St. The pub is still there today. My Aunt Betty Middleham used to run it with uncle Frank. Me and my cousin Johnny used to sleep in the corner bedroom, right opposite the huge (Ansells better beer) neon sign that constantly flashed from red to red & green then off, then back to red again 24hrs a day!

Never even heard of that pub and amazed it still exists, is it any good?..
271577_4aff1e91.jpg
 
Back
Top