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British Restaurants

Annie Murray said:
The canteen in Digbeth n the pic above looks very well set up but does anyone know please, generally whether the cooking was done in British Restaurants on the premises or brought in from somewhere?
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ps don't know who decided I was knowledgable - certainly wasnt me!
 
Radiorails said:
https://dro.dur.ac.uk/10299/1/10299.pdf
Some interesting facts here. The food the sheer numbers of the restaurants was amazing.
I bet the one in Deritend was very busy as there was so much industry around and not every where had a canteen I believe.
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Hi All,
The British Restaurants were always busy. Apart from anything else they supplemented the normal ration. The poor housewife who had to stay at home to look after the family was the one who suffered.
Old Boy
 
The only British Restaurant I was taken in as a small child was the one in Birchfield Road and as far as I remember the food was cooked there.
 
I believe, given food rationing during WW2 and a little while after, plus in most cases the volume of meals served over a large proportion of the day would mean that all meals were cooked on the premises. I also believe my earlier post suggests that.
 
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I was interested in reading about the british restruants my mom cathy vaughan workrd in tje one oppositet the mermaid for many years and i ofter went down to see her witj jer greind cathy henry
 
Thank you for posting this I had never heard of them called that name. I suspect Cov had them there were lots of good cheap places to eat up to the 80's maybe 90's. My trendy friends used to go to Priestlys Bridge Restaurant in Coventry. I can't find it on a map now. Fashionable to eat with the poor folk? Lots of poorer people frequented it and elderly. When I was scraping to buy my place, I used to go to a little tin roofed wooden café with about 4 tables up some dark damp steps. It was in the rear of somebody's garden. They did lovely pork batches, They used to plate up dinners on a plastic tray with cling film popular with the elderly. It was in bedsit land. And transport cafés. Grandad used to take me in those as he was a driver. He said good conversation and food which wouldn't leave a hole in your pocket. I thought you got a real hole in some places!
My friend's mum ran a sailors' mission, hostel and café, they were always busy he said.
 
The British Restaurant scheme was a WW2 measure, which according to a post by former member Bernard lasted until 1947. It certainly helped to assist women with the rationing still in force at the time. It would be the reason why I only went to one or two, a few times, when taken by my father after he came home from the Army in late 1946. I do remember liking their meals, especially the pie dinners with peas: I still like a good steak and kidney pie. ;)
 
Radiorails said:
The British Restaurant scheme was a WW2 measure, which according to a post by former member Bernard lasted until 1947. It certainly helped to assist women with the rationing still in force at the time. It would be the reason why I only went to one or two, a few times, when taken by my father after he came home from the Army in late 1946. I do remember liking their meals, especially the pie dinners with peas: I still like a good steak and kidney pie. ;)
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Just met my friend who's mum ran the sailors' mission. He said it wasn't actually a mission! But the sailors who lived on boats all their lives had to come off sometimes. She put them up for £1 a night, he thought it was about 50 years ago. He said he didn't know how she ran it so well and so cheaply. She made several pies like steak and onion, and kidney on huge trays and cut them into squares.
 
Canal boatmen's missions are detailed in this thread - post 210 to be specific.

Canals of Birmingham

I seem to remember that in the "who do you think you are" program on Patsy Kensit, her 4-greats grandfather , who was a vicar, once performed several marraiges on christmas day. This was, I think, explained as being due to a combination of the demand for marrages and when the people could attend...
birminghamhistory.co.uk birminghamhistory.co.uk
 
Radiorails said:
Canal boatmen's missions are detailed in this thread - post 210 to be specific.

Canals of Birmingham

I seem to remember that in the "who do you think you are" program on Patsy Kensit, her 4-greats grandfather , who was a vicar, once performed several marraiges on christmas day. This was, I think, explained as being due to a combination of the demand for marrages and when the people could attend...
birminghamhistory.co.uk birminghamhistory.co.uk
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Thank you. Canals fascinate me. And the people
 
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