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Memories : Essence Of The 50s And 60s

mike never actually went into one of those restaurants its just that the food and drink mentioned was popular during the 70s as well...i would eat and drink them anywhere:eek:

lyn
 
I think the first Berni Inns dated back to the late 1950's. I left school in 1963 and I remember a family outing to a Berni Inn, I think in Lichfield, when I was still at school. Can also remember, much later, going to a Berni Inn in York, and there was a long wait for a table. We waited, as my wife quite liked their menus, and I have to say I've eaten in much worse places. The steaks were usually pretty good, but the 'cheeseboard' was to be avoided....

G
 
We went to the Berni Inns most weeks and in a variety of places, Gloucester New Inn mostly, the Llandoger Trow in Bristol and the Imperial in Hereford. A shame they went away.
 
I quite liked them at the time. At least the main item was not revolting chopped predigested "meat" made into a "patty" as it is with many of the pub eating chains and even other supposedly decent "restaurants" today.
 
Bernie inns, remember taking my girlfriend at the time, 1970, to the Garden House on the Hagley Rd in Edgbaston, I was out to impress, what sophistication.
 
Ross Frozen Foods also started a similar small chain called Cavalier Taverns, which was typically Berni steak house style on the ground floor and a fish restaurant, serving things like a whole dover sole, in the basement. This would be in the second half of the 1960s. My late brother-in-law managed the branch in Bournemouth and I was a parttime bookkeeper for him. I have to say the the food was fresh and the quality of the food was excellent. Perhaps they didn't charge enough as they didn't last many years.

Maurice
 
I think most of these businesses suffered from the fact that the local councils saw them as easy targets for high rates, as the high streets are finding now they get taxed out of business.
 
That & lack of parking spaces on the high streets coupled with high crime rates. I must admit that I had stopped going out of an evening even in Bournemouth for those reasons years and years ago.

Maurice
 
Elmdon Boy said:
Bernie inns, remember taking my girlfriend at the time, 1970, to the Garden House on the Hagley Rd in Edgbaston, I was out to impress, what sophistication.
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And for those of us who couldn’t afford the luxury of Berni Inns there were Wimpy Bars ...:)
 
Having started on about Berni Inns, I believe they started in Bristol, because the finance company I was with dealt with a Head Office there, but I have a remembrance of going to one somewhere near New Street Station (recently described as Britain's third best railway station by Transport Focus although the same letter in Rail magazine contained a description of it as 'the subterranean hole that is platform level'). A further thought was that it was in Stephenson Place, just round the corner from Midland Bank. Once discovered they became the 'in place' to go for us newly weds and our friends (late 50s, early 60s). Reasonable prices, friendly atmosphere and quite good food. We visited Gloucester, Bristol and one or two others, then with children it became MacDonalds (occasionally), Pizza Hut. The problem with Macdonalds was the Wine Waiter!!!!
Bob
 
I just checked, and see that the Berni brothers started the chain, their first restaurant opening in Bristol in 1955. There were about 150 Berni Inns by the mid-1970's, including some in Japan, which came as a surprise to me! Getting British working families out of their kitchens and into restaurants was a major challenge back then, and I suppose the Berni Inns kicked it all off. My mother took a lot of persuading to go and eat out, and I don't think she ever felt comfortable being waited on with food she hadn't cooked herself.

I spent some time in London in my teens, in the mid-1960's, and my favourite 'fast food' restaurants were the Golden Eggs, which I don't recall ever seeing outside London, although I believe there were a few. As the name suggests. they were (sort of) 'egg based', and their breakfasts were great! I do recall that the decor of the London Golden Eggs was rather eccentric, but added to the atmos.

G
 
I seem to remember a Golden Egg in Leeds, but it might be a similar name.
There was a program on BBC 4 about 2(?) years ago about Bernis, with old film, menus etc.
 
There was a Golden Egg in Boscombe, Bournemouth until at least 2000, with their usual logo on both the fascia and the menus.

Maurice
 
oldMohawk said:
There was a Pearks shop on the Beeches Estate where I lived. Another chain of grocery shops around in the 1950s was Wrensons. I remember the one in Hawthorn Rd and another in Birchfield Rd. A photo of a Wrensons shop possibly in Orphanage Rd Erdington.
from Wrensons thread https://birminghamhistory.co.uk/forum/index.php?threads/wrensons.674/page-8#post-450011 and https://birminghamhistory.co.uk/forum/index.php?threads/wrensons.674/page-8#post-537949
View attachment 125634
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My wife was born in Thornbridge Avenue & lived there until 1969. Went to Beeches Road school and then Erdington Grammer school for girls.
 
landcrab9 said:
Lyn where do you get proper edible dripping nowadays?
Bryan.
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Some proper butchers still sell it in pots. There is one in an alley off dudley street in an alley leading to the Mander centre in Wolverhampton (they sell proper smoked bacon and nice pies as well)
 
Roast a good sized piece of beef - must have some fat on it otherwise you will not produce dripping. Size ideally 5 - 6 (or more) lbs. in weight. Not only will you savour the delights of a traditional roast beef lunch but you can also have slices with a salad or sandwiches. Horseradish sauce or English mustard is an ideal accompaniment.

Now if that doesn't make you all hungry, then nothing will! :yum
 
1950s travelling by car when there were no motorways.
We used to travel in a air cooled VW Beetle from Brum to Richmond Surrey about once a month. Start off down the Stratford Rd through Henley in Arden to Stratford. Then though Shipston on Stour skirting Chipping Norton to Woodstock where we would stop for a cuppa. Then on to the 'modern' Oxford Bypass where traffic was a bit heavy towards High Wycombe. Looking at today's map it starts to get hard to trace the old roads but I remember we used to pass Northolt airfield then turn right into Hanger Lane and then Kew Rd to Richmond. VW Beetles were quite rare in those days and drivers used to wave to each other as they passed.
 
Hi OM,

I just traced your route on my 1972 Lucas Atlas of Great Britain. Basically, you were following the A34 and the A40, a route to London I also knew quite well. Way, way back I had relatives who lived in the Hanger Lane area, and I remember my old man driving us down there in his Ford 100E and its horrible noisy 3-speed gearbox. Those were the days when 'motoring' was still a pleasure, not the pain it is now. I remember how 'easy' it used to be driving to Cornwall before the world went mad and the M5 became just one long traffic-jam, in my 1966 Hillman Minx. Nowadays I wouldn't dream of doing that drive, even in my current car which is far superior to that old but nice Minx.

I never had a VW Beetle, but my mate did, and although it was reliable it was also noisy as hell, and difficult to 'get at things'. A girl-friend of mine had an NSU Prinz, which I drove back from Brighton without being able to get first gear due to the cable linkage breaking somewhere. Driving more than a few miles back then was a real adventure, no doubt about it.

G
 
I those far off days driving a car is exactly what you had to do. Poor internal heating, single wipers in some cases, hand signals often needed, low gears for hills, but at least the seats, in the less expensive cars were leather. ;)
It was not uncommon to see many broken down cars, especially on hills: overheating radiators, out of fuel, broken axles, punctures to name a few of the more common problems encountered. Even so, the joys of motoring, as it was called, were a challenge. Today the most likely broken car will have been in a crash.
 
Radiorails said:
I those far off days driving a car is exactly what you had to do. Poor internal heating, single wipers in some cases, hand signals often needed, low gears for hills, but at least the seats, in the less expensive cars were leather. ;)
It was not uncommon to see many broken down cars, especially on hills: overheating radiators, out of fuel, broken axles, punctures to name a few of the more common problems encountered. Even so, the joys of motoring, as it was called, were a challenge. Today the most likely broken car will have been in a crash.
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Don't know how far back your're going, but my first car, a 1952 side-valve Morris Minor, didn't even have a heater! It was possibly the most uncomfortable car I ever had, but it was at least mechanically reliable, and ended its day being driven (by me) into the rear of an Austin Cambridge right outside the main gates of The Hawthorns. The main problems I had with my first few bangers were: leaking cooling systems, and blowing cylinder-head gaskets. Never ever ran out of fuel, though. Punctures: got a slow puncture at the moment on my Passat, must shake myself and get it fixed!

G
 
I remember the route you describe as far as Oxford very well, and this was in the 60s and 70s. After Oxford I branched off.
 
My first car, a 1935 Austin 10 (banger) I got in exchange for a £12 second hand Echo or Phillips portable radio in 1957. The radio actually was about the size of a toaster. The engine worked fine; little else did. It was only driven in daylight! ;) I had it for some months and sold it for £25. Police rarely stopped RAF folk - unless they were being stupid. Every vehicle I bought from then on was an improvement. I have to be honest I never had any of the serious issues I described in my post ##226, those seemed to happen to some other poor devil. Some of the RAF vehicles I drove, from time to time, were hard work.
Those Austin Cambridge's and Westminster's were quite tough in the rear. I slid into one on an icy road near Newton Abbot one morning when in a Ford van - the four geared version. The front crumpled, but I didn't. :eek: I then got one of the first A suffix (1963) Fords. It was registered in Plymouth and as Devon did not issue A suffixes I was often asked what it meant.
 
Big Gee, yes your right, I had a 1954 Moggie, no heating. Radiorails must have had one of those luxury cars, some sort of heating and probably indicators.
I remember coming back to Brum from my girlfriends home in Sheffield in the pouring rain with no wipers. Her dad suggested I smeared the windscreen with half a potato which he said would repel the water, didn't work just made matters worse, but somehow I got home.
On another occasion, once again coming back home from Sheffield with my girlfriend the water pump bearings packed up. Had to keep stopping every few miles to fill up the radiator.
She was in Birmingham at Teachers training college. Got her back to the hostel in the early hours of the morning. Her friends didn't believe her excuse giving her a lot of ribbing. Still my birthday was only a few weeks away and she enrolled me in the AA for my pressie.
Happy days.
 
Another aspect of travel I remember well from those days was going to London down the M1 on a Midland Red single-decker. Their boast was Birmingham to London in less than 90 minutes, and they could do it! No speed limit on the motorways in those days, so these buses would get to well over 100 mph, and being non-stop were generally faster than the trains! They were also the first buses I travelled on to have a toilet. I don't recall any serious accident with them (the buses, not the toilets) but I wonder if the technology of the day would permit an emergency stop at 115 mph, fully-loaded.... Back then I used to go to London quite frequently, and always used the bus as it was cheaper than the train.

G
 
Big Gee said:
Another aspect of travel I remember well from those days was going to London down the M1 on a Midland Red single-decker. Their boast was Birmingham to London in less than 90 minutes, and they could do it! No speed limit on the motorways in those days, so these buses would get to well over 100 mph, and being non-stop were generally faster than the trains! They were also the first buses I travelled on to have a toilet. I don't recall any serious accident with them (the buses, not the toilets) but I wonder if the technology of the day would permit an emergency stop at 115 mph, fully-loaded.... Back then I used to go to London quite frequently, and always used the bus as it was cheaper than the train.

G
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I too remember, in the early 60s, during a day trip down to London, watching the Midland Red's speedo passing 100. (Try telling THAT story to the younger generation !). That was the first time I'd ever been at that speed, on the road.
 
maypolebaz said:
I too remember, in the early 60s, during a day trip down to London, watching the Midland Red's speedo passing 100. (Try telling THAT story to the younger generation !). That was the first time I'd ever been at that speed, on the road.
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The first time i did a `ton` was on the autobahn in a zephyr 6. The first car i drove in Germany was a beetle, & you had to pull the choke to get started & when i engaged the clutch it took off like a rocket & with snow on the ground it was a bit panicky, trying to steer the car & fumble about trying to push the choke back in.:eek: The early beetles were terrible cars, but i suppose cheap & fairly reliable. It`s mind boggling how far cars have progressed since then but so has the amount of traffic. :scream: (Love my heated seats in this cold weather ):)
 
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