Barbers tea

[robb128]

Hi Jeaneee I new a Larry Wilcox lived by Witton Island up top of Emscote Rd
robb

 

[bobby b]

Hello Rob 128.Yes remember John Shorthouse very well spoke with him on the phone last year. also his sister Betty.Remember John Poynter well also Iv got a pic of him somwhere in Station Road Football Team lived in Station Road and went to school with John at Birchfields Road. bobby B

 

[robb128]

yes i played football with J

 

[robb128]

sent to soon bob

 

[robb128]

played football with Jonnie Poynton i must be on picture along with Brian Roberts Tony Cole cant remember any more

 

[bobby b]

Robb. whats your name then as Brian Roberts is also on the pic i have Brian was a friend of mine he lived in Village Road bobby b

 

[robb128]

bobbie houghton you i recall were a star at cricket bob

 

[bobby b]

Robb 128.now i know who u are its been a long time, Yes thanks for saying i was a Star at Cricket you wernt to bad yourself ah ah how are you keeping, this Forum is bringing loads of memories back to me. they were happy days wernt they. would love to meet you again , but we live down in Kent now near to Margate.hope to hear from you soon Bob

 

[Big Gee]

Hello Rob 128.Yes remember John Shorthouse very well spoke with him on the phone last year. also his sister Betty.Remember John Poynter well also Iv got a pic of him somwhere in Station Road Football Team lived in Station Road and went to school with John at Birchfields Road. bobby B

Bobby,

Was John Shorthouse any relation to Charles Shorthouse who ran a packing-case company on Witton Circle, almost next door to the bus-garage? I think it was the Clifton Case Company Ltd. My dad was a big pal of Charlie's.

Big Gee

 

[bobby b]

Big Gee,I always thought John Shorthouse s father was the owner of the Clifton case co .John shorthouse took over from his father,i remember playing in there when we were kids with John we used to have some fun jumping all over the cases, bobby b

 

[G G Jean]

Big Gee and Bobby I'm sure my brother Albert Lyndon took me there as a child and remember hurting myself and he got into big trouble. I was very young and it's something that's in the back of my mind. Was the place by the little bank. The Municipal I think?. Jean.

 

[bobby b]

Yes Jean , it was next to the Bank,and it was full of packing cases i e Tea chests, we had hours of fun in there, bob oh by the way iv just met on here Rob 128 he is a old school pal of mine. bobby

 

[sylviasayers]

Jean you
mentioned Roger Arkell on an earlier post, he is a nephew of my late sister. Roger went on to be a policeman, do you remember his sister Lynne. The shoe shop on the Witton was Smiths if I remember right, and going back to the Little Miss Barber advert, it has been there for as long as I can remember.

 

[G G Jean]

Sylvia Roger contacted me before xmas on friends reunited. If you like I will pass your message on and maybe try to get him to join the forum. Will go on tomorrow. Jean.

 

[TCWARDPLUMBERS]

Hi lloyd,
i used to watch these birds drinking many times a week
in the fiftys , gaskell & chambers in colesill st used to
have them in ther windows, they were bar fitting maker,s.
Thanks terry

 

[Astonian]

Wasnt A Bad Cup Of Tea ,If I Remember Correctlly They Was The First To Offer Customers A Six Pence Orange Coloured Stamp On The Side Of The Packet
And You Collected Them Up To The Value Of Five Bob ,,[ two half crowns]
Take Then On The Card To The Shop And Claim Your Five Bob ,
My Old Lady Done It Regular Came In Handy When She Had No Money , Ah .
That Was Every Day Of The Week ,

 

[sylviasayers]

Jean, thanks for your reply, but I can contact Roger via the family. But you can ask him if he would like to join the Forum by all means

 

[Frothblower]

Wasnt A Bad Cup Of Tea ,If I Remember Correctlly They Was The First To Offer Customers A Six Pence Orange Coloured Stamp On The Side Of The Packet
And You Collected Them Up To The Value Of Five Bob ,,[ two half crowns]
Take Then On The Card To The Shop And Claim Your Five Bob ,
My Old Lady Done It Regular Came In Handy When She Had No Money , Ah .
That Was Every Day Of The Week ,

Very interesting, thanks

 

[ornette]

Getting back to the sign it has been there at least 15 years - I used to drive past it going to work. I remember it being renovated when the building was done up.

 

[Radiorails]

Barbers Teas were at Teaplant House, Pershore Street, B5 having been established in 1797

 

[sweeney todd]

Yes, there was an advert hoarding there until a year or so back. What happened to Barber's tea, anyway? And 'Little Miss Barber'?

Hi there, I thought you might like to know that I worked at Barber's Teas for almost 3 years. I was booted out aged 19 as "redundant" after Twinings of London bought the company. The main boss was a Mr Stanley (as we called him) with a less senior partner called My Waugh. He was the only "taster" at the company. I was there aged 16 to 19 and initially as a person who opened the tea chests and poured the tea leaves into one of 2 hoppers. There were usually 5 or 6 of us plus the foreman, "Eric" who smoked like a chimney. Two West Indians (one called Justin...great bloke) and two brothers, Fred and Edward Brown and myself. A change of employees were appointed at various times during my "stay"and at one point, I had become the foreman sorting out the blends for the princely sum of 2/6 per hour working 52 & half hours a week. Eventually I was moved downstairs to the large mixing drum where the tea leaves had been cut and rolled. After mixing, I filled and stacked the tea chests for later pouring into hoppers on that floor which was then packed into 1/4lb or 1/2lb packets. Larger bags of 5 or 6lbs were packed on the "drum floor".Barber's Teas was located on the corner of Ladywell Walk and Pershore Street @ 5 storeys high. During breaks a few of us used to go up to the flat, railed-off roof and watch the demolition and re-building of Birmingham Centre. Somewhere in my possession, I have a photo of me "holding" a letter on the Barber's Teas sign, on the roof of the company. Trivia: The teabags we use today are "royalty" compared to the ones we had in the late 1950's....which we called "Sachets"...and tasted bloody awful! Similar to dunking paper into a cup because thats what they tasted like! When mixing a blend of tea for tea sachets with a very fine "cut", the extraction fan (which was near the drum) was switched off because without the tea dust going into the "mix", there would be no real colour to the tea once it was steeped. NB. the dust added to the "acceptable" colour. More Trivia: I believe Barbers were the first company to start supplying concentrated, liquid tea in 1 gallon, plastic containers (similar to bottled, liquid, Camp Coffee , WITHOUT THE LEAVES! During the last months I was there, I was sent to Mr Waugh's office to help in making the concentrated liquid tea..... The leaves were steeped for 2 &3/4minutes on a timer (to avoid causing too much tanning) liquid was filtered out of a large urn and used leaves were placed in a cotton sheet to be fly-pressed to gain extra strong liquid. the 1 gallon containers were then placed in a very large fridge for cooling and later delivery by one of the salesmen to selected restaurants and cafés in Birmingham Centre.. To this day I have no knowledge as to whether other tea companies attempted this. Maybe the above will answer your query

 

[sweeney todd]

Hi there, I thought you might like to know that I worked at Barber's Teas for almost 3 years. I was booted out aged 19 as "redundant" after Twinings of London bought the company. The main boss was a Mr Stanley (as we called him) with a less senior partner called My Waugh. He was the only "taster" at the company. I was there aged 16 to 19 and initially as a person who opened the tea chests and poured the tea leaves into one of 2 hoppers. There were usually 5 or 6 of us plus the foreman, "Eric" who smoked like a chimney. Two West Indians (one called Justin...great bloke) and two brothers, Fred and Edward Brown and myself. A change of employees were appointed at various times during my "stay"and at one point, I had become the foreman sorting out the blends for the princely sum of 2/6 per hour working 52 & half hours a week. Eventually I was moved downstairs to the large mixing drum where the tea leaves had been cut and rolled. After mixing, I filled and stacked the tea chests for later pouring into hoppers on that floor which was then packed into 1/4lb or 1/2lb packets. Larger bags of 5 or 6lbs were packed on the "drum floor".Barber's Teas was located on the corner of Ladywell Walk and Pershore Street @ 5 storeys high. During breaks a few of us used to go up to the flat, railed-off roof and watch the demolition and re-building of Birmingham Centre. Somewhere in my possession, I have a photo of me "holding" a letter on the Barber's Teas sign, on the roof of the company. Trivia: The teabags we use today are "royalty" compared to the ones we had in the late 1950's....which we called "Sachets"...and tasted bloody awful! Similar to dunking paper into a cup because thats what they tasted like! When mixing a blend of tea for tea sachets with a very fine "cut", the extraction fan (which was near the drum) was switched off because without the tea dust going into the "mix", there would be no real colour to the tea once it was steeped. NB. the dust added to the "acceptable" colour. More Trivia: I believe Barbers were the first company to start supplying concentrated, liquid tea in 1 gallon, plastic containers (similar to bottled, liquid, Camp Coffee , WITHOUT THE LEAVES! During the last months I was there, I was sent to Mr Waugh's office to help in making the concentrated liquid tea..... The leaves were steeped for 2 &3/4minutes on a timer (to avoid causing too much tanning) liquid was filtered out of a large urn and used leaves were placed in a cotton sheet to be fly-pressed to gain extra strong liquid. the 1 gallon containers were then placed in a very large fridge for cooling and later delivery by one of the salesmen to selected restaurants and cafés in Birmingham Centre.. To this day I have no knowledge as to whether other tea companies attempted this. Maybe the above will answer your query

My pleasure.