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Banana Warehouses & Ovens

A

Astonian

gone but not forgotten
This thread was created from posts on other threads about the bull ring banana houses.

many memories flooding back to my nipper I have got memorys of the old banana ware house ;i think it was mr jacksons ware house ; can you recall the name
have a nice day every body
best wishes Astonian ;;;;
 
Astonian said:
many thanks mike and phil
like max , many memories flooding back to my nipper days
i hope you do not mind i will down load the pics
once again guys , thanks a million
and also it was nice to read max had got memorys of the old banna ware house ;
max i think it was mr jacksons ware house ; can you recall the name
have a nice day , max, mike and of course phil and every body else
best wishes Astonian ;;;;
Click to expand...

I have always believed Astonian that it was owned by the Prykes ( Birmingham Banana Kings ) the club was certainly owned by Rob Pryke. Max
 
Hi Max
hope you are well, i think you are correct the name rings a bell prke
they was the king of bannas as i recall there was quite afew bannaa seller on the circuit
and he used to wear a very smart slick suit with a dark red hanky in the top pocket
as my photographic memory flashes back in time
i hope it brought you back some good memories like myself as i was always down on new cannal street and old jamica row , before any street changes took place
many thanks max for your reply best wishes Astonian ;;;
 
Your welcome Astonian, i have seen a photograph of Mr Pryke, now i dont know if its in a book i own or in a library book i had borrowed, i will have a look see anyway , God Bless Max
 
The Club was owned by Rob Pryke and it was called The Moat House. It was the place to be seen in the early 60's and many local bands got their start there.

Phil
 
pmc1947 said:
The Club was owned by Rob Pryke and it was called The Moat House. It was the place to be seen in the early 60's and many local bands got their start there.

Phil
Click to expand...
The club i mentioned was The Midnight City on the site of an old banana warehouse opposite Digbeth Police station, the groups that appeared at this all night club were very well established , The Who being one that i saw there. It was also owned by Robbie Pryke, Max
 
Astonian said:
Hi Max
hope you are well, i think you are correct the name rings a bell prke
they was the king of bannas as i recall there was quite afew bannaa seller on the circuit
and he used to wear a very smart slick suit with a dark red hanky in the top pocket
as my photographic memory flashes back in time
i hope it brought you back some good memories like myself as i was always down on new cannal street and old jamica row , before any street changes took place
many thanks max for your reply best wishes Astonian ;;;
Click to expand...

Hope you like this photo of Rob Pryke and Beryl Reid no less. Max
 
There was a company called Guests the were big in bananas they were based under the railway arches in Alison St. Dek
 
HI MAX
many thanks for finding or should i say searching out the picture for us
i can recall the day of reading and seeing that pic in he paper as i said old pke always wore a suit
at one time he used to wear a grey suit with his hancky in is top pocket
i use to see him regular around the town
dek ' thanks for reminding me me of guest banna,s company around in allinson street
i also remember them delivery them by the tons around there the arches
they used to supply all the market traders in those days along with jacksons banna,s ware house
on new cannal street
have a nice day every one .best wishes Astonian ;;;;
 
Oh Astonian what a great memory you have , thanks so much for sharing them. Max
 
Lovely to read your memories Astonian - I expect a lot of people tried the fruit without buying any.
Polly
 
dek carr said:
There was a company called Guests the were big in bananas they were based under the railway arches in Alison St. Dek
Click to expand...
Hi Dek - was it Guests or Geests? Not sure if my meory is working properly.
 
hi bernie..there was a co called geests that imported bananas...i can well remember the little geest sticker on them...

lyn
 
I thought Fyffes were the biggest importers and handlers of Bananas in Birmingham. Didn't they have that big warehouse in Park St under Moor St Station?

Phil
 
morning phil...i only quickly googled and it said about geest...britains biggest banana importers...but now you have bought fyffes to mind...maybe there were two importers...havnt had time to really go into it as im dodging from the lap top to washing down the bathroom tiles..lol

lyn
 
Can Any one remember the TV advert for Fyffes, It was something like " Fyffes Bananas are a fine fine meal "
I think it may have been Fyffes that started banana growing in Tenerife ( big business for that country now, although most are too small to be exported to England as they are too small ) Max
 
Lyn

I think that as Fyffes were a multi national firm, Geests were probably one of the largest sellers of bananas on the the home market that was English based. But I believe they were bought out by Fyffes in 1996.

Phil
 
Thanks for the story about the Bull Ring area Astonian...that's great memory power. The old photos are great as well. I
worked for Francis Nicholls in Upper Dean Street at their Wholesale Grocery office which is still awaiting redevelopment. It's a heritage building .
When you turned the corner at the bottom of the Bull Ring on to Edgbaston Street on any weekday morning in the 1950's (at least
for me on my way to work) you entered a very different world from the actual Bull Ring itself. This would be around 8:30am and the
wholesale fruit and veg traders had been at work for several hours. I remember Pryke's company on Edgbaston Street, Mr. Rob Pryke was a larger than life character and well known. One of our neighbours Mr.Len Aston had a fruit and veg business in the market. There was always so much going on,lorries loaded with goods leaving and then the cleaning up of the area. This activity would be going on in all the wholesale market area at this time of day.
I remember the banana companies of Fyffe and Geest. There were often stories around the market about the huge spiders that were discovered in the big banana bunches that hung from the rafters in the nearby warehouses. Different shipping techniques later on made spiders in the bananas much rarer event it seems. There were so many characters around the markets in those days and it was a part of Brum that a lot of people never saw unless they worked around there.
On the way home from work I passed all the barrows lined up along the street and the traders selling their wares. In the new Market area you can still experience some of the friendly "sales performances" from many traders as they call out what they have to sell. I visited a few times last year and enjoyed shopping there very much. Babs, ducks, darling and love were words spoken often by the market traders.
 
jennyann said:
When you turned the corner at the bottom of the Bull Ring on to Edgbaston Street on any weekday morning in the 1950's (at least
for me on my way to work) you entered a very different world from the actual Bull Ring itself.
Click to expand...

Jennyann

This would be a familiar sight then?

Phil

CityPostOfficeEdgbastonSt.jpg
 
I think the tall building next to the Post Office was Pryke's. Thanks very much for posting this.
 
pmc1947 said:
The Club was owned by Rob Pryke and it was called The Moat House. It was the place to be seen in the early 60's and many local bands got their start there.

Phil
Click to expand...
My dad was a life long friend of Christopher & Robin Pryke, he has amazing tales of their early days on the Brum night life circuit, i met Mr Pryke senior, a dapper gent. Shame those days are gone!
 
pmc1947 said:
The Club was owned by Rob Pryke and it was called The Moat House. It was the place to be seen in the early 60's and many local bands got their start there.

Phil
Click to expand...
My dad was a life long friend of Christopher & Robin Pryke, he has amazing tales of their early days on the Brum night life circuit, i met Mr Pryke senior, a dapper gent. Shame those days are gone!
 
HI GUYS ;
I am still trying to get a picture of a shop or it may have been a ware house called the banna ovens
which was owned by a mrs irene jelf in the old jamica row in the 1930.s if any body as got a copy of an old birngham brum
magerzine it was the old jamica row where the old whole sale market halll was and i beleive it was between a shop and a oldpub called the drovers arms and surrounded by the market stalls of the old days of the 1930s
i would really appreciate it if they copuld send me a photo copy of it or down load a picture copy for me as irene was my mothers first cousin in the family best wishes astonian ;;
 
I recall part of the top yard buildings at BR Curzon Street acted as a storage place for bananas in the 1970's
 
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