Savekers Phillip St Newtown

[Astonian]

Hi every-body
i have just learnt that savekers of phillips st aston
are going into receivership after all these years of manufactoring in little phillip st aston
i would like to know the views of our other members on the forum how they feel about it .i know we have one or two members whom have worked there in time gone bye along with my brother roy in the polishing shop and georgie jarratt and i know we done a thread on this a couple of years ago i think they done well to survive all these years even through the war years
its a sad state this country is in -i blame the dam inports
what are other members views i think postie lived across the rd from the firm what are your views --postie ,
best wishes astonian ,;;

 

[postie]

Sorry mate I never lived in Aston at all, I think you will find that Rod may well have lived near Savekers.

 

[Astonian]

Hi postie
i do beg your pardon for making the mistake i knew one or the other person lived down philips st whom lived by savekers
it was a family run business and i know we do have members on the
forum whom have memories of tjhe old company i thought i would mention it just in case they haven,t learnt of it
enjoy your day postie . Best wishes as always astonian ,;;

 

[sylviasayers]

Astonian, so sorry to hear that Savekers are going out of business, I never worked there but remember it so well from my childhood as I walked down Phillips Street countless times, and my friend Jeanne Wallin lived a few doors from there.

Some years ago Mrs Muriel Saveker - who I think was a one time Lady Mayoress of Sutton Coldfield - if not she did a lot for charity - put an appeal in the Mail to ask if anyone had a TV set they would be willing to give to some old/poor person. We had just had a new TV and I rang the number and someone came to collect it on behalf of Mrs. Saveker.

 

[Rod]

Its very sad that Savakers who were in Phillips street are going into recievership. I lived directly opposite them Astonian, they had quite a workforce in the sixties. I remember one or two of the ladies who got married while working at Savakers, they had been decorated I guess by their collegues with streamers in their hair, and tin cans and L plates attached to their backs, I think most factories around that time had similar traditions.

I used to buy Glass cabinet locks, and those rope barriers you see in banks from them when I managed a shopfitting warehouse in Tamworth.
Thats a fascinating snppet youve posted Sylvia with regard to the TV. Its funny how times change. TV's are very cheap by comparrisson now.

Astonian thanks for posting that.

 

[sandrada]

I worked there in 1966 and it was a happy place. I was a secretary to Mr Frank Saveker. It's a shame that it went out of business

 

[Astonian]

HI SANDRADA
Yes it was one complete family affair from the management through to his work force ;
there was not many firms like there,s whom treated there work force as human being ; and you would have thought they was his sibbling ;
at one time there was a party picture on here of some of the work force i know one was georgie jarratt; whom i reconised
whom lived at number 2 cromwell terrace or should i say cromwell square ; on the lichfield rd which was when phillips street was along the rd from
if you went down phillips street from along the aston cross you would come up behind miller brothers of aston brook street
and facing there in phillips street there was some houses facing ; and that was in the days of the old bokie runners ; and i had to take the old mans bet to this lady down there ; is code was on the betting slipp as steve x ;he had afew wins quite often ;
he also used the one in park road up the alley of ronnie coxis family entry ; whom our family was friends with ;
if i went down there at any time i would stand on the wal by the 39 bus stop that took you to dale end and watch the bott;les going around
and he would say where have you bin got got told off for it ;
i can also recall all those opld little shops that was there around the front of there new built ansells i recall them knocking all the old houses and the courts that was at the end of all there shops they demolished and building the whole complex ;
there issome old pictures knocking about in some books and alot was taken from the site ;
but there is one picture that sticks in my mind and that is the one down around the corner of upper portland street where there yard used to be it was going up a slope its a ver early picture but when they built the extention of there plant they redezigned the entrance yard for there vechicles as the horses
would be pulling in there carts ; but when the new developements was finished for the boilors they built a whopping big pitt and filled it with small coal
slack it must have been about seventy feet down but it being filled up colin gaskin and myself was about nine or ten by then
we would look over our shoulders to see if any body was about ; which more often than not we would dare each other to jump and drop down into this great hight and with gravity we would sink into it and try and be as quick as wecould to get out and climb the big high steel ladders fixed to the wall to climb all the way back up ;before the big scoop came down to pick up more slac for the boilers ;when i look back how stupid we was we could have been buried alive and scooped up by the shovel for the furnaces ; but at the time we thought it was fun but there was neverever any bodythere in the yard office ;
when i seen this old pic of the yard it all came running back to me and said yes thats the old yard before they rebuilt it and i can recall it as yesterday ;
o victoria r those where the days of the slow pace of life and we would follow the blokes with there indivisual shire horse up to there stables yard
all with there brasses and rossetts on ;which ever way they would come from the stable or to the stablethe driver always stoped at the care takers house
on the corner with the horsr spo tal the care taker always gave them a peice of bread whilst they chatted and then carried on that was every day of the week except sundays ,best wishes astonian;;

 

[sandrada]

Hello Astonian
I have so enjoyed reading your memories. When I lived in Alma St in the fifties I could never understand why the chap who took the bets was called the bookies runner because unfortunately he only had one leg, and kids take these terms so literally! If I remember correctly there were three brothers who ran the shop fitting firm and one had a son who also worked there.
The shops I remember best down that way were of course The House That Jack Built and Blacks. Neither were far from Phillips St
The delivery horses be they bringing bread, milk, whatever, knew their route and stopping places didn't they! Often they would plod on to the next place they were to go to without waiting for their driver if they knew that there would be bread when they arrived!
Thanks again for the interesting read! Sandra