Eamon1943
proper brummie kid
Birmingham The 50s
The 50s began with rationing and austerity. The 50s gave us Rock n Roll. The glamour of the American lifestyle heavily influenced Britain in the 50s. The 50s was the new age of television. In the UK we had just one BBC channel at first. Screens were small, television sets were expensive, and everything was in black and white.Some of the characters I knew back in those days were larger than life .Many had been recently demobbed from the forces and had many a tale to tell.
Gentleman Jack Hood .A professional British boxer who was active between 1921 and 1935 A great Birmingham legend regularly came into my fathers butcher shop nexr door to Woolworths in the Bull Ring.
Birmingham wholesale market was the epicentre of Birminghams vegetable, meat & fish trade. A Victorian architectural landmark gone forever.
The six great wrought iron gated entrances were a sight to behold. Cobbled streets intertwining around this bustling cacophony of chaos. Overloaded barrows being pulled up St Martins ramp delivering the produce to the retail carousels that were scattered among the crowded throng.Outside our shop the market stalls were set up. Hawkers shouted their wares and street entertainers & escapologists performed their acts .Spivs ducked & dived up & down the crowded street fleecing those who stood for " find the lady "three card trick".
Imagine terrified cattle running amok in the Bull Ring! Occasionally we would hear the screams of people scattering as these crazed beasts tried to escape their fate. It was like a smaller version of the Pamplona Bull Run! LOL What a time to be alive!
My father in Law Jack Gibbons fabricated the gates outside " Birds Custard in Digbeth which had the little ducks on.Amazingly they have survived and stored in a Birmingham warehouse.
I loved the hustle & bustle and ever changing days growing up in such an exciting and eclectic atmosphere ! 1954 my uncle Tommy took my brother & I to see Laurel & Hardy at the Aston Hippodrome Birmingham .This was a special treat for my birthday. We were also treated to see a show at The Theatre Royal in New Street, starring Tessie O'Shea. [Two ton Tessie] Who remembers Roy Rogers & Trigger his horse? Crazy now to think back & remember us waving to a horse on a balcony! outside The Queens Hotel Birmingham.
As the fifties came to and end, a new era was just about to begin. There were already stirrings of the freedom that would sweep the country in the 60s. Birmingham was radically developed in the 60s. There was a new ring road system, which, like most city centres, was of a unique design, which changed the old Birmingham forever.
The 60s was the decade of great music - the Beatles, Gerry & the Pacemakers etc - the Plaza dance hall in Handsworth ,the West End ballroom ,the list could go on and on. The 60s was also a time of great social change; old conventions were challenged and old attitudes faded with the decade. Alex's pie stall on Snow Hill was the place were musicians would gather at three o clock in the morning .
On the corner of Navigation Street and John Bright Street was Chetwyns a gents outfitter. They sold imported suits, jackets, shirts, ties etc directly from America. Above Chetwyns was the Whiskey a Go Go, a club hosting live bands. Local bands played there as well as Motown and R&B bands from the US. Friday and Saturday nights went on until 8am the following day. I saw many acts there including John Lee Hooker.
A few doors up from Chetwyns in Navigation Street was Eddie Fewtrells first night club The Bermuda .He opened the Cedar Club in 1963 on Constitution Hill.
The 60s changed attitudes. Britain became a more liberal and less restricted society. People at all social levels had more money to spend and more time to enjoy it. The 60s ended on a note of optimism for a better, fairer and brighter future.
Stanley Nixon .A seldom mentioned stalwart of Birmingham's post war Bull Ring revival. Stanley was brought up with his brother Sammy in their parents greengrocer shop in Aston. From an early age Stan was familiar with the Bull Ring. Stanley went on to build a property empire between London & Birmingham.He & his brother were successful bookies at Point to Point meetings around the country.One of his many acquisitions was the world famous Portobello street market in London which his son Maurice still operates.
1965 Jersey In April 1965 I decided to spend a weekend in Jersey. Getting away seemed like a good idea. Friends of mine had already established themselves , the weekend extended to eighteen months! I worked for awhile for Big Johnny Hart often confused with Little Johnny Hart who worked in the Bull Ring & the son of Winnie Hart a well known Bull Ring character along with sisters Mary & Nelly Kelly the " flower queens of Birmingham "
Eventually four of us rented a beautiful house just outside St Helier. One night the police knocked on the door & asked if I could identify two deceased car accidents victims, who turned out to be my two friends. Returning to Birmingham for their funerals , I never returned to Jersey for many years
Jack Walker . Jack was a British industrialist and businessman from Blackburn, Lancashire. Walker built his fortune through Walker Steels in West Bromwich amassing a personal fortune of £600 million. Jack who was a jersey / Hagley resident bought Blackburn Rovers football club. He spent a fortune buying Allan Shearer for his team which I believe was a world record at the time . Years later we would have a pint together in the Dog at Harvington which was also my local & reminisced over old times. He was also the owner of the airline Jersey European Airways .
John Palmer . John was a Birmingham businessman and former Bull Ring market trader and bullion dealer. John had a jewellery business in Birminghams famous jewellery quarter, lived in Bristol & was shot to death in June 2015.
1982 we were staying at The El Paradiso a five star hotel in Palma Majorca. We arrived back at the hotel one evening & waited for the lift. Directly behind us was a crowd also awaiting the lift. On arrival, being a gentleman I offered a lady & her two children to enter. Once in I asked her what floor she would like she replied third floor please. A few days later she gave a press conference .She was the late Shah of Irans widow Farah DiBa; the Empress of Iran.
My son Jamie & I flew over to Alicante to bring back a Range Rover. On the way back we stopped at a little seaside place called LlaFranc Girona. After dinner we retired to the bar for coffee & brandy & engaged in conversation with an elderly gentleman named Tom Sharp, well known author & story teller. A delightful evening was had by all; especially his telling of what his good friends Salvador Dali & Picasso got up to. Delightful !
Howard Marks Described by the press as 'the most sophisticated drugs baron of all time', Howard Marks was the writer of the best-selling autobiography Mr Nice. He was sentenced to 25 years incarceration in America's toughest federal penitentiary Terre Haute.
We met Howard Marks one afternoon in York. My son & I decided to have lunch & chose a little bistro type place. The only other person in the restaurant was sitting opposite us. After a while I realised who he was & he joined us at our table. Although I do not agree in the dealing or taking of drugs; I felt he'd done his time & was worth listening to. All in all a very interesting & highly intelligent character.
In 1978 I bought a cafe in Electric Avenue Witton, opposite the GEC. I'd already established a car sales business up the road trading as Avenue Car Sales.I doubled the staff, converted the upstairs to a B & B & off it took like a rocket! Pat Roach & some Aston Villa team players used the cafe .Word got about & the place soon filled up! I was offered a very flashy new imported American Dodge Space Wagon SUV with a multitude of lights & chrome .It looked the part outside the cafe It certainly turned heads. One afternoon some bedraggled looking characters showed interest & asked for a test drive, I said no way If you want to drive it you've got to buy it! After bargaining they said they'd think about it. THEY CAME BACK PAID CASH & ASKED IF I WANTED THEIR AUTOGRAPH! They were a band called ACDC. I'd never heard of them!
One afternoon I happened to look out my office window when two mounted policeman appeared. Out of curiosity I went out & asked how may I help " We don't take horses in part exchange " ! He asked who owned the car across the road, I replied me. I then got the riot act for not displaying a valid road fund license; which had fallen off the windscreen into the passenger foot well! No amount of diplomacy would change his attitude, until his horse decided to defecate in one big steaming pile on the sales area; causing customers to walk away in disgust!.................. NOW IT WAS MY TURN!
I ripped into him saying if he didn' t clean the mess up I would sue him for allowing an animal to soil private property. The policeman was apoplectic; he dismounted; tied the horse to a lamp post & asked to borrow a pan & brush. I replied we didn't have one. It was like a scene out of Candid Camera. It still makes me chuckle forty five years later.
Back in the 70's down Electric Avenue Witton. " You can't go far without a car jump on the bus and come and see us ! We may not be the biggest but sure are the best , buy your next car from Eamon and put him to the test !
Eamon 1943
The 50s began with rationing and austerity. The 50s gave us Rock n Roll. The glamour of the American lifestyle heavily influenced Britain in the 50s. The 50s was the new age of television. In the UK we had just one BBC channel at first. Screens were small, television sets were expensive, and everything was in black and white.Some of the characters I knew back in those days were larger than life .Many had been recently demobbed from the forces and had many a tale to tell.
Gentleman Jack Hood .A professional British boxer who was active between 1921 and 1935 A great Birmingham legend regularly came into my fathers butcher shop nexr door to Woolworths in the Bull Ring.
Birmingham wholesale market was the epicentre of Birminghams vegetable, meat & fish trade. A Victorian architectural landmark gone forever.
The six great wrought iron gated entrances were a sight to behold. Cobbled streets intertwining around this bustling cacophony of chaos. Overloaded barrows being pulled up St Martins ramp delivering the produce to the retail carousels that were scattered among the crowded throng.Outside our shop the market stalls were set up. Hawkers shouted their wares and street entertainers & escapologists performed their acts .Spivs ducked & dived up & down the crowded street fleecing those who stood for " find the lady "three card trick".
Imagine terrified cattle running amok in the Bull Ring! Occasionally we would hear the screams of people scattering as these crazed beasts tried to escape their fate. It was like a smaller version of the Pamplona Bull Run! LOL What a time to be alive!
My father in Law Jack Gibbons fabricated the gates outside " Birds Custard in Digbeth which had the little ducks on.Amazingly they have survived and stored in a Birmingham warehouse.
I loved the hustle & bustle and ever changing days growing up in such an exciting and eclectic atmosphere ! 1954 my uncle Tommy took my brother & I to see Laurel & Hardy at the Aston Hippodrome Birmingham .This was a special treat for my birthday. We were also treated to see a show at The Theatre Royal in New Street, starring Tessie O'Shea. [Two ton Tessie] Who remembers Roy Rogers & Trigger his horse? Crazy now to think back & remember us waving to a horse on a balcony! outside The Queens Hotel Birmingham.
As the fifties came to and end, a new era was just about to begin. There were already stirrings of the freedom that would sweep the country in the 60s. Birmingham was radically developed in the 60s. There was a new ring road system, which, like most city centres, was of a unique design, which changed the old Birmingham forever.
The 60s was the decade of great music - the Beatles, Gerry & the Pacemakers etc - the Plaza dance hall in Handsworth ,the West End ballroom ,the list could go on and on. The 60s was also a time of great social change; old conventions were challenged and old attitudes faded with the decade. Alex's pie stall on Snow Hill was the place were musicians would gather at three o clock in the morning .
On the corner of Navigation Street and John Bright Street was Chetwyns a gents outfitter. They sold imported suits, jackets, shirts, ties etc directly from America. Above Chetwyns was the Whiskey a Go Go, a club hosting live bands. Local bands played there as well as Motown and R&B bands from the US. Friday and Saturday nights went on until 8am the following day. I saw many acts there including John Lee Hooker.
A few doors up from Chetwyns in Navigation Street was Eddie Fewtrells first night club The Bermuda .He opened the Cedar Club in 1963 on Constitution Hill.
The 60s changed attitudes. Britain became a more liberal and less restricted society. People at all social levels had more money to spend and more time to enjoy it. The 60s ended on a note of optimism for a better, fairer and brighter future.
Stanley Nixon .A seldom mentioned stalwart of Birmingham's post war Bull Ring revival. Stanley was brought up with his brother Sammy in their parents greengrocer shop in Aston. From an early age Stan was familiar with the Bull Ring. Stanley went on to build a property empire between London & Birmingham.He & his brother were successful bookies at Point to Point meetings around the country.One of his many acquisitions was the world famous Portobello street market in London which his son Maurice still operates.
1965 Jersey In April 1965 I decided to spend a weekend in Jersey. Getting away seemed like a good idea. Friends of mine had already established themselves , the weekend extended to eighteen months! I worked for awhile for Big Johnny Hart often confused with Little Johnny Hart who worked in the Bull Ring & the son of Winnie Hart a well known Bull Ring character along with sisters Mary & Nelly Kelly the " flower queens of Birmingham "
Eventually four of us rented a beautiful house just outside St Helier. One night the police knocked on the door & asked if I could identify two deceased car accidents victims, who turned out to be my two friends. Returning to Birmingham for their funerals , I never returned to Jersey for many years
Jack Walker . Jack was a British industrialist and businessman from Blackburn, Lancashire. Walker built his fortune through Walker Steels in West Bromwich amassing a personal fortune of £600 million. Jack who was a jersey / Hagley resident bought Blackburn Rovers football club. He spent a fortune buying Allan Shearer for his team which I believe was a world record at the time . Years later we would have a pint together in the Dog at Harvington which was also my local & reminisced over old times. He was also the owner of the airline Jersey European Airways .
John Palmer . John was a Birmingham businessman and former Bull Ring market trader and bullion dealer. John had a jewellery business in Birminghams famous jewellery quarter, lived in Bristol & was shot to death in June 2015.
1982 we were staying at The El Paradiso a five star hotel in Palma Majorca. We arrived back at the hotel one evening & waited for the lift. Directly behind us was a crowd also awaiting the lift. On arrival, being a gentleman I offered a lady & her two children to enter. Once in I asked her what floor she would like she replied third floor please. A few days later she gave a press conference .She was the late Shah of Irans widow Farah DiBa; the Empress of Iran.
My son Jamie & I flew over to Alicante to bring back a Range Rover. On the way back we stopped at a little seaside place called LlaFranc Girona. After dinner we retired to the bar for coffee & brandy & engaged in conversation with an elderly gentleman named Tom Sharp, well known author & story teller. A delightful evening was had by all; especially his telling of what his good friends Salvador Dali & Picasso got up to. Delightful !
Howard Marks Described by the press as 'the most sophisticated drugs baron of all time', Howard Marks was the writer of the best-selling autobiography Mr Nice. He was sentenced to 25 years incarceration in America's toughest federal penitentiary Terre Haute.
We met Howard Marks one afternoon in York. My son & I decided to have lunch & chose a little bistro type place. The only other person in the restaurant was sitting opposite us. After a while I realised who he was & he joined us at our table. Although I do not agree in the dealing or taking of drugs; I felt he'd done his time & was worth listening to. All in all a very interesting & highly intelligent character.
In 1978 I bought a cafe in Electric Avenue Witton, opposite the GEC. I'd already established a car sales business up the road trading as Avenue Car Sales.I doubled the staff, converted the upstairs to a B & B & off it took like a rocket! Pat Roach & some Aston Villa team players used the cafe .Word got about & the place soon filled up! I was offered a very flashy new imported American Dodge Space Wagon SUV with a multitude of lights & chrome .It looked the part outside the cafe It certainly turned heads. One afternoon some bedraggled looking characters showed interest & asked for a test drive, I said no way If you want to drive it you've got to buy it! After bargaining they said they'd think about it. THEY CAME BACK PAID CASH & ASKED IF I WANTED THEIR AUTOGRAPH! They were a band called ACDC. I'd never heard of them!
One afternoon I happened to look out my office window when two mounted policeman appeared. Out of curiosity I went out & asked how may I help " We don't take horses in part exchange " ! He asked who owned the car across the road, I replied me. I then got the riot act for not displaying a valid road fund license; which had fallen off the windscreen into the passenger foot well! No amount of diplomacy would change his attitude, until his horse decided to defecate in one big steaming pile on the sales area; causing customers to walk away in disgust!.................. NOW IT WAS MY TURN!
I ripped into him saying if he didn' t clean the mess up I would sue him for allowing an animal to soil private property. The policeman was apoplectic; he dismounted; tied the horse to a lamp post & asked to borrow a pan & brush. I replied we didn't have one. It was like a scene out of Candid Camera. It still makes me chuckle forty five years later.
Back in the 70's down Electric Avenue Witton. " You can't go far without a car jump on the bus and come and see us ! We may not be the biggest but sure are the best , buy your next car from Eamon and put him to the test !
Eamon 1943
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