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Hardings Royal Steam bakery

A

Angela

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My father Douglas Hadley was a master baker and after duing national service in the army catering corp worked at Hardings Bakery. I think it was near The Swan pub, but unsure if it is there now. While working there he lost two fingers in one of the machines.
 
I remember Hardings Bakery; my brother Alf worked there in the late 40's and early 50's as a roundsman. Originally he drove a horse and cart, delivering in Aston and Lozells. He later worked for Bradfords; did they take over Hardings? Bradfords were in West Bromwhich, just past the point where you had to buy a new ticket if you were on a Corporation Bus and passed the boundary from Birmingham to West Bromwhich. I worked with him on saturdays when I was at school. By then his round was in Handsworth. I earned 5 shillings for the day; my mom had half and I had the rest.
 
My Dads brother worked for Hardings after the war and drove Horse & Van delivering Bread around Sdho road area. Later driving a van.

I worked with a delivery man with Rowlands Bakery 2/6 for Saturday 4/- for the week had to give all to Mom but got it back through the week I'm sure. (Had 6d every Saturday for Speedway.)

Nice reminder Michael of my late Uncle :)

Yes we used to use that service where you had to buy another ticket near West Broms ground on our Days out to Dudley Zoo
 
His name was Alf Ingram. Born in Guildford St and lived in Bevington Road for many years and finally moved to Kingstanding
 
Birmingham Bakeries

Hello all,
I am looking for some help with my GG grandfather, Charles Ernest Wilson, who was a baker/confectioner shopkeeper in the Aston area... late 1800 - early 1900.

Reports from family suggest he used to roam the streets with a van, selling bread etc.

In 1891 he is living in Alston St, Aston and in 1901 he was livng in King Edward Road, Aston.

Perhaps there is another website dedicated to searching this type of history ?? ??? It would be nice to get some old photos of these streets in that era, ultimately... a picture of his shopfront ! :p

All help appreciated

Phil
 
I worked part time for Bradfords around 1948 to 50, Saturdays and holidays.

The bakery was in Norton Street Hockley at that time , I worked with a man named Wally Smith, he lived in Cranbourne Road Kingstanding.

Our round was in the Handsworth area mainly, I can remember going up in the lift at the block of flats in Hampstead Road to deliver one wholemeal loaf (the only one on the van) to some old biddy on the top floor.

I remember the Harding's horse and cart delivering in Kingstanding, an unusual cart with just two big wheels instead of the usual four, there was also another baker which I think was 'Purus' or something like that. E.
 
I did the same about the same time, around Kingstanding and Great Barr, we had the same Wagon at Rowlands they were called FLOATS our Horse was called Virity:)
 
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I worked at Samuel Groves in Norton Street from 1978/1986 directly opposite the building that had been a bakery, at that time it had been converted into a factory but there was still a painted logo on the wall facing the railway line. A lot of the smaller bakeries were bought out by Rank McDougall Hovis. I think it might have been a Scribbans at one time.
 
not just the royal part viv but using ultra violet rays to make the bread ? never heard of that before

lyn
 
UV was and is used in prevention of bread mould it seems, although the sunshine bit seems a sales pitch more than health reason. The curious part is that bread at one time never went mouldy it just went stale more rapidly.
 
That's a bit of an exaggeration Alan. Bread did go mouldy eventually. Certainly modern mass produced sliced bread produced by the Chorleywood process, high in water and air does go mouldy more quickly than old style bread, but older style bread does go mouldy eventually. Though I think, then, that bread was more likely to be eaten before it was given the chance to eventually go mouldy
 
I always get confused HAWLEYS or HARDINGS but now I see it was Harding's on Church Rd Yardley. across from Billy Haden's Barber shop and a Newsagents now all gone with the new store there. I still can smell the new baked bread YUMMY
 
To answer the original (2006) question, Harding's bakery was on the other side of Coventry Road from The Swan pub, where Tesco's is now. The buildings would have been demolished as part of the previous development, the Swan Shopping Centre and the Bakeman House flats. The Tivoli cinema on the Lily Road/Coventry Road corner was demolished at the about the same time. (The replacement centre was 'supposed' to contain a cinema/bowling rink I believe, but never did). Harding's were certainly operating from that site (with small horse-drawn delivery vans) into the mid-1950s.
The follow-up question, regarding Charles Ernest Wilson, intrigues me as Wilson's (bakers) delivered bread using light grey-painted (motor) vans to the Sheldon area in competition with Harding's horses. Could that have been the same business?
As to the keeping properties of modern bread, I recovered an un-opened loaf from a relatives cupboard when they were in hospital. It was two weeks-old and looked, smelt and tasted fine when I opened it but by the end of the day it had started to develop mould.
 
mikejee said:
That's a bit of an exaggeration Alan. Bread did go mouldy eventually. Certainly modern mass produced sliced bread produced by the Chorleywood process, high in water and air does go mouldy more quickly than old style bread, but older style bread does go mouldy eventually. Though I think, then, that bread was more likely to be eaten before it was given the chance to eventually go mouldy
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I follow you Mike, but older style bread soon went stale and was either fed to animals or made bread pudding. I never had any with butter and jam. Modern bread, because it feels soft rather than stale (hard), can be deceptive and believed good - until opened.
 
I agree that old style bread went stale a lot quicker, and that is the reason that modern processes were introduced, though these brought evenyual mold problems , together , of course, with the fact that it does not taste as good
 
Should have added the other point, that the newer processes are quicker and thus cheaper !!
 
mikejee said:
Should have added the other point, that the newer processes are quicker and thus cheaper !!
Click to expand...
The Chorleywood process allows the use of 'soft' (low protein) grains, such as was grown in the UK, rather than the 'hard' (high protein) grains imported from North America.
 
The Norton Street bakery mentioned in Sylvia Sayers post way back up this thread was Bradford's Bakery, I worked for them Saturdays on one of the delivery vans a thirteen year old until I left school at fifteen, 1948-50
We used to load the van with hot bread straight out of the ovens, they also bought a bread slicing machine about that time but the bread had to be left for a day to cool before it could be sliced and wrapped.
 
The bread of in the USA is to sweet. I really miss the good old English bread. Hardings was my favorite. Fresst cut with good Danish? butter
 
Also posted in "Old and New Photographs "
This is Hardings Royal Steam bakery, not sure of the year though, van in the front of the building, and I assume this is the office complex with the factory further down the road? . Nice styling to the building - name in the centre with a large central entrance.
20230128202739_10.jpg
 
SteveBhx said:
Also posted in "Old and New Photographs "
This is Hardings Royal Steam bakery, not sure of the year though, van in the front of the building, and I assume this is the office complex with the factory further down the road? . Nice styling to the building - name in the centre with a large central entrance.
View attachment 184439
Click to expand...
I guess this is Church Rd just north, towards the Yew Tree, from the Swan.
 
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