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Scribbans Bakery

S

Steve C

Guest
I am researching the Scribbans Bakery and family. It was started sometime prior to 1871 in Lodge Road, Hockley by Thomas Scribbans. He died 1904 and I think his two sons, Thomas and John Henry took over.

They must have expanded the business and certainly Henry made enough dough (scuse the pun!) to move to Little Aston Hall. I believe they did mostly door to door sales from horse and wagon, and probably later a van, rather than have shops? My wifes Grandfather worked for them all his life.

Understand they later opened a much larger bakery in Windmill Lane, Smethwick and it was bought out in the 1970's. I have heard also of a fire at the Windmill Lane premises in about 1978.

Any memories or info appreciated

Steve
 
Further to previous post; a pic of one of the bread wagons.
 
Hi Postied

Thanks for the ad; It's enough to put you off isn't it!!
 
Steve...

There are several fragments of information about the Scribbanses and Little Aston Hall in my WW2 website. Use the Search function at the foot of this page to find them. Search using the terms "Scribbans" and "Little Aston".

In the Guestbook of that site you'll find the contact details of a Canadian lady, a member of the family, who has also been carrying out research.

If you find out anything further about the family in your researches which is relevant to Little Aston Hall and Mrs. Ada Scribbans in the period 1939-45 I should be very grateful if you would share it with me.

Chris
 
Chris M

Thanks for the link to your Home Guard site; In fact, I had already discovered it somewhere. I think I will contact the lady in Canada, we may even be able to help each other. It seems that Scribbans was such a large company but there is little brought together about them. I will try to work out who actually bought up the company and who owns it now, maybe they have archives. I need to check with a relative but she once told me that when she was a little girl her Dad worked as a salesman for them; Apparantly at Christmas she remembers going to the front door of a large mansion and the children were all given a present or something; I guess that will have been Little Aston Hall.

Steve
 
Was Scribbans Bakery the building with the dome shaped roof? :confused:

If so.... I remember that it could be seen for miles.... a true landmark. :cool:

(if it wasn't... I've just made a pillock of myself) :blush:
 
Just two pennyworth from a new member, I started work at Scribbans Bakery in 1957 as a 15 year old helping on a bread round, the guy I worked with was named Bert Pollard, the manager (I think) was Billy Hinton, I stayed for about 4 years or so and learned to drive in a walk through bread van and evenyually got my own round. At the time I was living in Park Rd just down from the bakery at number 93.

Maybe not important but just wanted to share it.

Frank
 
Welcome to the forum, Frank. I hope you get much pleasure from it.

ALL these things are important and thanks for your first contribution.

Chris
 
A good source of information is one of the books written and beautifully illustrated by Ron 'Smudge' Smith on Hockley Brook, as he started work as a van boy working for them. I forget which book it was, and I don't have a copy at home, but they are still available, and would be in a local library, I imagine. Those books are a joy to have, and I wish I could remember who it was who borrowed mine.
Peter
 
Frank. You may not think that was all that special, but I bet there are people on here that find it very interesting. Any more recollections, just put them up. Barry.
 
Hi,

Just wanted to mention that my grandmother Olive Wilkes (b1922) and her sister Lilly (b1920) both worked at Scribbans on Windmill Lane during the war, in fact their dad Bill used to joke to friends when asked about what his daughters did, "they pack cakes for the troops, and what they dont eat they throw at the Germans!" I know that they and a lot of the other girls who worked there used to put little good luck notes and messages into the boxes when they were sending them to the troops. I also know that sometimes they used to take their gas mask into work, minus the mask and fill the box with sugar instead! They said that their manager who was Irish, used to put music on over the system for the staff to sing along to.

One day during the war, some kind of bomb was dropped just outside the building and landed on the tram wires, and stayed hanging off them unexploded, of course no one was alowed into work for a couple of days!

My grandad on the other side of my family Wilf Haynes (1909-1959) also worked at Scribbans in the 40's
 
Welcome to the forum, happa_lee.

Great contribution! Keep them coming and enjoy the forum.

Chris
 
Hello Frank and welcome to the forum.. some members may remember scribbans had a bakery depot off Lodge road winson Green... in later year I Believe it became Part of Allied Bakeries? I think some one will put me right if not LOL
 
Re my previouse post, after re-reading it and the other posts related to it I think I or someone may be a little confused, when I started work at Scribbans bakery it was located in Lodge Rd Hockley this was in 1957, in fact I lived at number 93 Park Rd Hockley which was only 5 or ten minutes walk away.

Further I remember when I was a lad my dad had relatives in Winson Green and we used to use the 96 tram and later the bus that went from winson green to I think Edmund street in town, anyway we would get off at the lodge rd all saints rd junction adjacent to the bakery, and walk down lodge rd to park rd, if it was late at night we could hear the horses stamping their feet as if in reply to our own footsteps, I cant remember a time when Scribbans was not there when i was a nipper, but when it actually moved there I dont know.

Another thing I remember is that at the bottom of lodge Rd was an outdoor called "the hole in the wall" on the corner of the flat and Ford st(actually I think its still there but renamed).

Anyway one day as i was going to school (Farm St) A horse and cart ran away down lodge Rd and crashed throught the window of the outdoor, the poor horse was killed (or put down) cos I remember seeing it being dragged onto a low loader.This account is also written by me on the "Winson Green " website run by Ted Rudge.

In fact in one way or another Scribbans played a big part on my life .... ya know I miss those days.

I hope someone finds this interesting.

Best regards to everyone Frank
 
Frank - I too remember Scribbans on my way to All Saints School, the smell of the bread cooking was fabulous. p.s. Did you live up an entry in Park Road?
 
Hi Steve if you put into the search at the top of the page Birmingham bakeries, as i have
there is a bit about bakeries the last one mentions scribbans don,t know if any other bit,s are of interest. regards dereklcg
 
As a child i lived in Northfield, we always had Scribbans bread, first delivered on horse and cart,then electric van. Does anyone know if there was a local depot, it was a long way to Northfield from the bakery.? Jackie
 
Hi Jackie I drove for them all over the place but dont recall a depot out Northfield way, the main place I used to go was a depot in Walsall and of course the Bradford bakery in West Brom.
 
I was working at Scribbans Bakery when they closed in 1965 i recalect and was transfered to Bradford's Bakery West Browich i was given a choice between Bradfords or Sutton Bakeries Coventry, Happy Days.
 
Just found the interesting contributions about Scribbans's Bakery. My dad was a bread salesman who worked for them after demob from about 1945 to 1952. He had a horse and cart which although similar to the picture shown did not have rubber tyres but very noisy metal rimmed wooded wheels. I helped dad on his round for a few years in the late 40's and was allowed to drive the horse and cart, including travelling along the Dudley Road from Smethwick which was mainly cobbled in those days. I met local artist Smudge Smith a few years ago who has included Scribbans's Bakery in many of his paintings contained in his books.
 
hi all
Scribbans used to deliver bread in bartley green with an horse and cart? did they come all the way from aston or did they have a subsidery near by, in say harborne or selly oak??
and has any one ever heard of wacoden milk?
regards
paul
 
hi paul





hi paul
yes waco was around in the early days
and if my memory serves me rightly
they had a depot on the pershore rd
which was around the spot of the police traing ground
or more precice where the inspectors house is today
some where between on the fields of there sports ground
was there drive into there yard it was only a small indepentant milk trader but covered a wide area of brum
just like handswoth dairies of island rd handsworth
i know waccos was on pershore rd where they
built the police traing ground sport field
as a youth many ,many years ago i worked for the birmingham bottle exchang down factory rd handsworth
the botton of st michaels hill
the business was formed by a guy whom was a solictor
we would go around the midland with a great big lorry
to all out lets .
dairyies .and breweries collecting crates of bottles
and they would wash them out and resort them out
as these crates had different named bottles that did not
belong to them we the company would have washed out and redirected the bottles for the companys
so they could be re-used by the dairy or the brewey,s
and we went to waccos every week and midland . and handswoth , and co/op dairies
have a nice day best wishes astonion .;;;;;;;
 
hi
yes also at scribbons if you went there late of a night around 10
oclock and went to the main delivery gates each night you could get abit of casual labour by asking the drivers if he wants loading up
and the bigger van drivers gave you work in helping to l oad the vans for a couple of quid mind you .you had to be early geting
before the rest of the kids did
 
hi astonian
yep they were all over bartly green my sister loved the sterlised milk the long bottle type with a metal cap, my mom gold top jersey milk and dad and me had the red top.
thanks for the info glad I was'nt wrong about the name.
regards
paul
 
Our yard was one of those that backed onto where Scribbans parked there vans. When they left in the 60s we used it for a footy/cricket pitch.
 
Reading with interest your stories on Scribbans, just wondering if there is a connection with an old Dublin Ireland bakery of the same name which was a fair sized operation but alas in now gone.
 
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