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Cafes in and around Birmingham

Alan,

I am really sorry about all your misfortunes and hope that you and your son are both soon 100% fit. If you find out where that mugger lives set George Cummings on him. George used to frighten the life out of the Blueboys.

Chris Beresford (Old Boy)
 
Alan I knew you had not been well but you have really gone through the mill as they say. It took a long time for my broken funny bone to heal but I persevered with the exercises the physio told me to do. You take care from Jean and Peter.
 
Re: Cafes.

hi, ive got some photographs of heath street mid 1900s there are shops on the picture but cant quite see if the cafe is on there x
 
Re: Cafes.

Hi Anitaszaban
Will you be posting them i would love to have a look.

Regards Stars
 
thanks for the reply Alan, so sorry to hear of your troubles, and am pleased your son is now well on the mend, but I hope your own injuries are healing too, this year has been a long and difficult one for me and my family, my wife is very ill, and my son in Afghanistan,but as you say we from Brum are a hard lot.
paul
 
HI SYLV;
Whattons grocery shopwas bout fifty yards past the the billard hall on aston crosss park lane
i remember there shop very well and it was about twenty yards past cryrils fish and chip shop
the jelfs sold the shop to cyril [ little cyril ] in height hy used to wave to each other every day ;
ernie jelf grand fatherhad the chip shop facing theone he sold to him and the exit betwen the shop was 237 rear park lane was the one of the jelfs provision ware housing for all there bussiness around brum set up by there father george jelf the jelfs cafe was next to the chipy and the entrance when grand father ernie jelf sold the cafe to some indian family they painted the offee shop in a dark purple coulourit was terrible
but prior to that he tv people came around for there foods when this happenend and he sold the coffee shop is when the whatton family openend up therecoffee shop as they seen the marketfor the servives and fair play its sounds whatton family idea payedofffor them which i am pleased to hear because at the time my emediate thougts was no ne from the studio wood go into this dirty looking colour cafe so i presume the whatton won them over as there was no where else aroud the corner
thats where our friend whatton parents had there shop it was a proper grocery shop before i remember them very well nice people ; and our famiy was good friends of most people aound there in fact almost of aston
every body knew the jelfs and therebussiness and for what they did for people in and around
when i was a nipper i always remember when grand father was around i hisposh over coat and bowler hat people would stop ad say good morning mr jelf its was much later in my life i learnt of whom they was and behind the scenes and where they orinated from and learnt from two old senor detectives from steel house lane for what and whom they was they was a secretive family and hardley ever spoke to each other they kept a lowprofile
any way i think i will stop here going on a i do ;have a nice day best wishes astonian ;; alan
 
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Thought i would add this to thread.
 
Topsy there,s just no stopping you now since you cracked the posting photos keep up the good work. lol. Dek
 
Here! Here lyn! , Thanks Dek.
I Find it more interesting to see the pictures if any attached to the stories. So i have been going through the ones i kept and trying to do my bit to get some back on that were lost.
 
topsy you are doing a brilliant job of it too..it will make such a difference to the forum as the images do play such an important part..we must not let the blithering idots who tried to bring us down get the satisfaction...

lyn
 
Does anyone recall the Café on the Coventry Road, near Bordesley Bridge ?

It directly faced New Bond Street. The rear of the café was Birmingham smallest park ! This was almost on the corner of Sandy lane near the traffic lights
The Café’s main windows were boarded up and painted brown with just top part of the window showing to let in some light. This had to be boarded due to missiles being thrown with football crowds walking past on their way to and from the Blues ground. This was in the 1960’s and early 1970’s long before metal shutters that we see today.
The café did not have a name , but was often referred to as The little Brown Café.
Long before microwaves, mod cons or cling film , food was bought in fresh everyday and cooked to order. Besides breakfasts, a lunch time roast meat and two veg was also cooked fresh, with various puddings, besides sandwiches to take out in grease proof bags. The bread pudding was delicious.
There were many industries /factories in the area during that time , they used to telephone their orders through. However, I suspect that the outside appearance of the café put many of the general public off. Yet inside was spotlessly clean.
My relative had to leave the café in 1973 due to the widening of the Coventry Road and to make way for the large Island.
 
it might have been a old consul when he went round his cafes to get his rent with Penny, but it was some much better going at weekends.
 
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I had plenty of breakfasts and dinners in here when I was a tipper driver.
 
Hi Stitcher great photo of the cafe was this the cafe on the corner of Chesterton St off Rocky lane in Aston. like you i was a driver of hgv's for 56 years.

all the best
 
I used the Last Chance in the mid sixties when I worked nights, during the main holiday season, as a mechanic for Stocklands Coaches. About the nearest local Cafe at 2 in the morning.
 
I used to drive a tipper, seven and a half tonner before I was old enough to drive the big ones and the company I worked for had a lot of work demolishing many parts of Aston and Perry Barr so I was always out and about with hardcore. We also did a lot of 'muck shifting' which was the phrase used for taking away and tipping or delivering topsoil, We were busy with that when Spaghetti Junction was in the very early stages of construction. You will know if you were on the road that one quickley learns where all the good breakfasts are cooked.
 
As an Engineering Apprentice at G.E.C.in the 1960's, I used to do day release and one night a week at Erdington Technical College.
On Wednesday night I used to leave work and pop into a cafe on the corner of Electric Avenue and Westwood Road. I cannot remember the name of the cafe or who owned it but the food was real comfort food. The couple who ran it always had a friendly smile and kind words to say which made you come back the next week. Mike.
 
As an Engineering Apprentice at G.E.C.in the 1960's, I used to do day release and one night a week at Erdington Technical College.
On Wednesday night I used to leave work and pop into a cafe on the corner of Electric Avenue and Westwood Road. I cannot remember the name of the cafe or who owned it but the food was real comfort food. The couple who ran it always had a friendly smile and kind words to say which made you come back the next week. Mike.
Mike. I know which cafe in question, but I can not remember either. I used to have sandwiches from there when I worked down electric avenue in 1969. I was a trainee welder making tables & chairs for schools just after leaving school.
 
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