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So..we Were Only Saying..

K

Kandor

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My gran and auntie used to drink Nut Brown Ale and Mackesons, except for the times they used to send me to the outdoor on the corner of Church Vale and Hutton Road for a jug 'o beer. Me: American Ice Cream Soda was my tipple. These days a nice glass of red wine (any make :)) does me nicely. I think I've gone all sophist...sofistc....erm...gone up in the world!
 
Kandor

Did you ever get into the outdoor in Francis St, it must have been nearly opposite your back gate, I can remember fetching pint bottles of I think it was "Sam Brown" ale from there from there for my step father and sometimes a bottle of Bulmers Cider for my mother. Occasionally it was a jug of M & B mild. All this many years bofore I was eighteen.

pmc1947
 
Hi,

I'm afraid I dont remember any outdoor in Francis St, just the public washing baths which I sampled every Saturday night whether I needed to bathe or not..actually, that would have been LITTLE Francis St running between Ashted Row and Heneage St.
 
I drink a can of Vimto almost every day Les, just shows you I guess what a tasteless man I am? :)

I used to fetch my grandads beer in a huge cider bottle with one of those funny screw down stoppers, The guy at the Dog & Duck, used to put a sticky Ansells label over the cap as a seal but because the bottle was wet it was easy to peel, drink some of the beer and put the label back..... I can still remember the smell in the outdoor at the Dog & Duck. Our cat used to go in the cellar and come home drunk from there lolol

I was amazed they still made Manns Brown, but I dont think its as nice as it was, I used to love Brown and Mild made with Manns. Nowadays I like larger to a point, what I really like is a bottle of Newcastle Brown Ale.

Most of my drinking mates used to drink Brew XI, I thought it tasted dreadful, but I never did like Bitter of any make.
I was quite a naughty lad inasmuch as I used to get blind drunk on Fridays and ride my Motorbike home from Kings Heath to Kingstanding, for the life of me I could never ever remember doing it the day after, it wasn't a clever thing to do, but it wasnt so socially unnaceptable either.

Cider ....... once youve had a bad dose it never is quite the same drink again, a bit like whisky, I got very drunk on it once at a New Year Party just smelling the stuff makes me feel sick now.

RodB
 
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Yo Jack b , you inde House :pWas saving you a bottle of Whisky but
guess will have to drink it myself now :)
But,,looking ahead to buying you a Guinness in the future m8,
Cheers JohnY :cool:
 
My parents like Charlie's liked to drink the Ansell's nut brown ale - Dad sometimes liked a whiskey and chaser -
My grandad would send me to the Swiss Cottage for draught beer on Grosvenor Road - The thing was he always seemed to ask me before I could change my girl guide uniform. . .

Just like Charlie I really liked the taste of American Icecream soda - it was the best. . .

It's odd that I have the same nick name 'Charlie' and we lived so close but never knew each other - Yet we both knew Maurice Bassett who lived on Hutton Road - it's a strange world. . . .

I don't care for beer but a glass of red wine will suit me just fine 'Cheers'
 
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John thanks so much, I have never drunk Guiness, praps a glass of Vimto?

Les maybe you could teach me POKER.......
 
Who remembers M&B Strong Ale? Fifty years ago a small bottle (less than na half pint) cost 2s6d - twice the price of a pint of bitter! When we were feeling naughty we would tank up on that. I remember one lad tipping most of his in somebody's aquarium. Not very kind to the dumb fishes, but I seem to remember them face up, mouth out of the water for the rest of the evening. Can't remember whether they recovered.
Peter
 
I can remember my Dad would buy a cask of beer before Christmas. It was put in a cupboard under the stairs "to settle" he would test it ocasionally to see if it had. What he didn't know was my brothers would do the same, by christmas there would be a couple of pints left:D
 
Hi,

I'm afraid I dont remember any outdoor in Francis St, just the public washing baths which I sampled every Saturday night whether I needed to bathe or not..actually, that would have been LITTLE Francis St running between Ashted Row and Heneage St.


Hi Kandor

No it was definitely Francis St, it ran from Windsor St to Lupin St and it was as you say sandwiched between Ashted Row and Henage St.

The out door was at no 187 two doors from mrs Hardings shop at 189 and I lived next door at 190 for about 10 years. I know my brain is getting a little pickled with age but I can remember where I lived.

If I remember correctly Little Francis St Ran from Lupin St to Great Lister St.

pmc1947
 
I had never drank any kind of 'Beer' until we went to Dublin last summer...

I pulled it I had to drink it....



Got a cert' for 'The Perfect Point' Though...
 
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Nope, little Francis St never did, that would be Willis St.
 
Well done Chris, I was wrong about the 'little' but definately right on the 'Willis'
Thanks
Les
PS...Going to see a feisty midget on Thursday, want some pics?
 
Kandor

What you must realise is, I am a little older than you and I remember the district before Pomgolians map (thankyou Pomgolian). Francis Streets only connection with Willis St was when it crossed over it at the rear of your house. Little Francis St came no where near to it at any time.

If you look at this map you will see that Little Francis St from the bottom of Francis St from Lupin St to Great Lister St. I have marked it with an X for easy location.

pmc1947
 

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Hi Kandor

No problem, don’t forget if you need any further elucidation with any minor problems such as the meaning of life, or the big bang theory I am here for any assistance you may require.

pmc1947
 
pmc1947. Passed it every day on my way to school and had forgotten all about it, which is why I enjoy sharing your memories.
Phil we cannot do without you.
 
Back to the beer.

Do you remember the large cans in the 70s,I think they were called Bumper cans,held 4 or maybe 6 pints.
 
Yo Alberta,,Party Gal :rolleyes:

Brilliant Bumper Jumbo cans up to 8 pints i think,
Well known Ceiling sprayers if the guys didn,t get their mouths over
the punctured tops in time :coolcheesy: Yeh,,real Party packs,
I will drink to that,,Cheers JohnY
 
I used to go to a party some Saturday nights in the 60’s, these parties were in a flat above the bank in Revsby Walk Nechells. I don’t think I ever knew the young girl that held these parties all I know is the price of admission was a 7 pint Bumper Party Can.

The kitchen was awash with the residue of many can openings. The usual method of opening was after the can had been danced around the living room to the strains of the Beatles, Stones or Dave Clarke 5 for about 10 minutes on the way in, was to attack it with a hammer and screwdriver.

After piercing the top of the can in two places after waiting for the eruption to finish the usual practice was to then hold it over a glass while the beer dribbled out. Rather like trying to get the milky liquid out of a cocoanut. Not being much of a beer drinker I used to have spirited away in my pocket (pardon the pun) a half bottle of Johnny walker.

The one Saturday night I had just settled on the armrest of an armchair and started chatting to this young lady who I thought must be Dusty Springfield’s younger sister as I was just telling her how much she looked like her older sister. When this bloke crossed the room and kicked the record player in the air. Strange I thought, well he probably doesn’t like Gerry & the Pacemakers.

Next thing I heard he was screaming “what the hell is going on here, you can all get out” Apparently it was the father of the girl holding the party, and she had told him that she was having three or four friends around. I don’t know how many people there were packed into that two bedroom flat, but all I know is that they seemed to creep out of every nook and cranny of it as the flat emptied.

I think Dusty’s sister and I finished the night at the Ashted Hamlet, and I never got my 7 pint bumper can back.

pmc1947
 
Loved that sti..ory pmc1947, went to a few get togethers like that myself around Nechells.
As I didn't drink beer, I enjoyed myself by watching everyone else get drunk then telling them, when they asked me what they had said, or been up to.
I even managed to help a couple of my girl friends to escape over amorous lads and save their 'Bacon' so to speak. It was always handy to have one friend stay sober back then, not for the reasons they advise it today for a designated driver, but to make sure your friends didn't end up going up 'The Isle' , or even ' The registry' before their time. :D

Pom :angel:
 
Pomgolian

I have many such tales, but I fear some of them would be a little too racy for the youngsters of this site.

pmc1947
 
No problem there then, just post them in the BRAwomen section..not a youngster in sight.. :)
 
Regarding PMC's wonderful account of his party in Revesby Walk..I worked there as a paper boy at the Newsagents next to the Bank, the Bank was a branch of the TSB and long since closed down now..
It was where we did most of our shopping in those days..way before the advent of Hypermarkets and suchlike
I remember Higgins the hardware shop (they had moved up from near to Bannister and Thatchers on the corner of Gt Lister St/Cromwell St.)
likewise the ex Newsagents called Bennetts, there was a Laundrette (God the hours I spent in there washing my rags) we had the Cobblers next door to the EBCC (East Birmingham Constitutional Club), we had a Post Office, Goodes the 'Super' market, the Chippie..Tyrone the hairdressers..(you had to be really careful in the mens part of the shop, as a teenage boy/man you put more than your mortal soul in danger, I'm sure you can work it out) ;) we had a Butchers, a Greengrocer, an Off Licence and a Cake shop, everything you needed in life to get by on.
It was outside the bank we sheltered from the rain, waiting for a 55 or 56 bus to take us into town...(which seemed to come along every 28 years)
It was right by the Bank I saw my friend Chrissie Ward leave me and Ray for the last time as he walked off to his Murder..he was only 13.
He was stabbed in Bolton Road, Small Heath.
Like you we bought the 4 pint cans (or if we struck lucky, the 'Party Sevens'
One hammer, one screwdriver, two hits..followed by a beer shampoo..
https://www.headington.org.uk/adverts/drinks_alcoholic.htm
In Winter the gentle slope of Revesby walk became a fabulous frozen slide, in Summer we played Football against the side wall of the Supermarket.
I kissed one of my girfriends in Revesby Walk..her name was Madeleine..(the first three letters of her name summed her up nicely)
I also did some of my first shoplifting up there, hooking imitation copies of 'Action Man' through the letter box with a wire coat hanger (I think we got about 6)
Revesby Walk was a huge part of my life...
I used to wait there for the Sports Argus, I had a fight in the Chippy there, I kissed Co-op Carol there (then walked her home and kissed her some more) come to think of it, I blame Revesby Walk for making me into the slut I am today..
(I plead mitigating circumstances your honour, I lived near Revesby Walk)
Ahhh happy days.
Les (aka Kissed out Kandor)
 
Hi Kandy M8, my Sister and Brother in law took me for a sightseing drive one evening last summer around the area of Revesby Walk (Hadn't the heart to say both you and Crommie had done the same), because our Mom once lived in Willow House the tower block there and I'd visited her there in 1986. Anyway my Sister bought me some Fish, Chips and Mushy Peas from that Chppie there and they were really nice. :)

Pom :angel:
 
I don’t really remember much about Revsby walk other than the flat above the bank, the trouble was I used to have such a hard time getting past the Hamlet. I sometimes managed to get into the Conservative Club as it was then. The trouble is they were very choosey who they admitted when it first opened, and there was no room for young tearaways like me.

When I remember the paper shop was it the first shop on the left from the Duddeston Manor Rd end (Willis St End in our reality). I think I can remember the post office and chip shop on the same side. I do admit I could be wrong about the paper shop, but I am talking about when Revsby Walk was first built which was I think about 1963.

All I remember on the opposite side was the Dry Cleaners shop, and the bank of course. Was there an ironmongers? The reason I remember the dry cleaners was because there was a young girl that worked there that I fancied like mad. The trouble was I was only 16 at the time and out of work, and she was about 22 and had a job. I used to spend hours in the shop talking to her, she even used to make me coffee and I would walk her to the bus stop at night when she closed the shop. I never got round to asking her for a date. I think the age difference frightened me off, scared of being refused I guess. Ah the innocence of youth.

By the way the last time I passed the Hamlet it was covered in scaffolding. Does anybody know if they were demolishing it or renovating it?

pmc1947
 
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