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Societies: Loyal Caledonian Corks Society

This extract from the 1940 Kellys shows where the Moseley Road club was. Also it can be seen that there were then four addresses listed in Birmingham

Mike


Corks_1940.JPG


1940_kellys_moseely_rd.JPG
 
Here is a couple of photo's I copied today of The Loyal Caledonian Corks at a dinner at The Acorn Public House in Wheeler Street. I think the date would be about 1920. The first picture middle row fourth back is Alfred Pursehouse with his neck sash. The second picture he is second from the end of the first row pictured with his wife Ethel née Harding.

Sorry about the quality but they are photo's of photo's and the shiny finish was difficult to photograph.:)
 
interesting pictures ...Wendy there is a gentleman first row second picture looks a lot like a boxer from a later time and I cant for the life of me remember his name ...Oh well it may come to me thanks:) got it TERRY DOWNES ?
 
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I posted the photo's with the lady's permission. I always hope someone will be recognised in these pictures.:)
 
Wendy it would be great if someone recognises somebody from the pictures the gentleman I was reffering to is not Terry Downes (too Early ) however he certainly looks like him :)
 
Tom I was just about to tell you that Terry Downs was born 1936:)
 
Hi Wendy

From the Lodge lists I have form the 1890's Lodge Number 1 met every tuesday at the Junction Inn in Wheeler St. It may be that this was still the same Lodge??

Still not sure why they were "caledonian" or "corks".

Barry
 
Looking again at the photo's the two men in the front of the second photo look like father and son. The photo's must have been taken at different times as the flowers on the tables are different. The rooms look different as well. The first photo looks like it could be a Christmas party as I think there are decorations hanging on the ceiling.:) The information on the photo's was given to me by the owner who is 83.:)
 
The Corks at Kings Heath is a social club and as such is run as a business the origins of how it started out or where from in the beginning ..I think have changed over the years as it now run by "commitee" with self interest at heart at least from the little I know about it :) some members will put me right if they know different ;)
 
My husbands family also has a, myth maybe, story about his great grandfather being a founding member of The Caledonian Corks in Kings Heath. They lived that way too for nearly a century.
 
still its nice to see the corks doing well ,and how nice it is to see the
that they have spent money on it ,
the corks have been through some bad patches over the previous years especialy
during the 70,s and 80,s but it as survived and it looks smart from the out side of the building i go next door now every sunday evening to the kings heath cricket club
i was a member years ago of the corks i knew alot of people there at the time
and like alot of members of yester year bailed out when it was struggling
alot to do with the committees which is often the case of these clubs
these guys only want the badge of office and the afters
they are the down fall of most clubs [ thats why they have almost folded ]
i can certainly under stand the clubs around the alum rock folded
but exservices club like the ward end should not have been closed down
and left to rot in the state its in now ,i notice in depair the other club up the top
end of alum rock the gardeners closed down
any way its nice to see the corks are doing well as i said in the years gone bye they nearly went under best wishes astonian ;;;;
 
Astonian
I agree with what you say about the corks I worked there a few years ago and another one of our members was a steward there till last year..
 
HI MAGS
Nice to hear from you again its been along time since i heard from
you ,and tom hope you are both well as i am on top of the world
at the moment . of course i knew you worked there, its a pity you are still
not there now. other wise i would be coming around rather around brians,
next door, i have known brian for donkeys years
have you managed to find your self another postion yet ? .
or are you not going to bother yet
another friend of mine has just bought a big pub in reddich
by tescos called the duck pond he,s only taken over a couple of weeks ago
he,s seems to be building it up trade ,i go there at week ends some times
tuesdays and wednes day as well
i went to coventry rd last saturday and i was horifyed to see what i did
i could not make up my mind whether the castle was still open
and whom may be running it the last time i knew of it
that liam was running it [ occonnor ] he bought it but i don,t know
whether he as finanaly sold out to the asians
i know he doing a roaring trade over at maggis in acocks green
he packing them in most nights
well magg it was nice to hear from you again ,give my regards to tom
and keep your threads a coming i do not do much threads now on site
for variuos reasons but i do look most days owing to my business
that keps my time . speak soon astonian ;;
 
Hiya Astonian
No I haven't bothered to find another place cos to be honest I wouldn't get anything as good as the Tally..I left the corks to go to the Tally..went and did a shift at the Corks a few weeks back but wouldn't go back to working there now
Take Care
Maggie
 
hi maggs
sorry to hear about your disaproval at the corks ,
but some think will turn up given time
i remember when a guy called around to one of my places
his name was alan , he used to run the jaguar on chester rd many years ago
and he said to me one evening ,why they sacked him .it was for sex
discrimination with one of the ladys whom worked along side of him
they was having an affair and they fell out . but cutting the story short
this guy had been in the trade for many years just like me and well known
and is remark he said to me whilst we were drinking was .
i do not care but he said A, we are like foot ball team managers
we get the sack and but then another foot ball team comes along
new club , new manager and thats us , and in way he is correct
so do not be to hastie in jumping in and thinking nothink is gonna come
i do the ciruit so i will keep my ears to the ground as i am involved
with in the game still with important people connected
did you felt that nothink as changed since you were there or was it the
members or the so called badge bearer still trying to run the place
because i thought a couple of years back they got rid of the lot of them
and selected a complete new lot .
well maggs i end here look foreward to speaking again
and give my regards to the other half .take care best wishes astonian;;
 
Hi Lisa

Do you know what job your ancestor did? As I've said before the origins of the Corks is fairly obscure as a group. They had over 800 lodges at one time. They seem to have originated in Birmingham and spread out form there. I have just managd to get hold of one of their sashes (which I'll photo and put on here). It shows workmen in aprons with (not surprisingly) corks around them. I wondered whether it was originally linked to the brewing trade.

Incidently Maggie...I see you are researching 'Wilkes'. I am also a Wilkes..where are your family from? I think mine were originally Darlaston or Walsall.
 
Otherhalf - Thanks for that. Not much I'm afraid..I think Wilkes is a Black Country name.
 
Hi I am a new member interested in the Loyal Caledonian Corks, My Grandfather who I never met was a Cork.
I have his sash and also a photograph of him wearing his sash.
He was also a past Captain of which ever branch he belonged to, he lived in the Hockley area and ran a greengrocers, but was also a trained Silversmith.
 
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