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The price of a pint

P

Peter Walker

gone but not forgotten
When I started drinking legally in 1951, a pint of beer in Brum would cost between 10d and a shilling (roughly 4 to 5 new pence) - it might be a wee bit more in the hotels in town. There was in those days a beerhouse (licensed to sell beer, cider and perry but not wines or spirits) just down Snow Hill facing the station. The rough cider there was only 8d (just over 3p) a pint. I never got in the Black Country to drink in those days, but I expect the prices would have been lower there, as they still are.
Peter
 
:oops:
APPARENTLY THE ENTIRE ISLAND IS UNDERGOING RAPID GENTRIFICATION - EXCEPT FOR A FEW INSTRANSIGENT ELEMENTS WHO MIGHT WELL FACE HOUSE ARREST, BEING TAGGED, CURFEWED - AND SO INEVITABLY CANALSIDES, LIKELY RAILWAY LINES NEXT, WILL COMMAND STRATOSPHERIC RESIDENTIAL PROPERTY PRICES. IN TERMS OF URBAN SPRAWL SUCH CAN ONLY EXTEND TO THE BLACK COUNTRY. OLD WAREHOUSES AND FACTORIES ONE STEP REMOVED FROM SELF DEMOLITION WILL BE CONVERTED TO LIVE-WORK LOFTS, STUDIOS FOR ARTS AND CRAFTS, TIME SHARES, NOVELTY SHOPS. OLD BLUE BRICK AND COBBLED HIGHWAYS AND BYWAYS WILL BE MORE PROMENADES, ILLUMINED BY WHAT APPEARS GAS BUT IS ACTUALLY INERT GAS ELECTRICALLY CHARGED. ALL THIS IS TECHNOLOGICALLY POSSIBLE IN THE BRAVE NEW WORLD.

PRESUMABLY THAT PUB ALONG THE SLOPE FROM THAT MAGNIFICENT ALTARPIECE OF VICTORIANA, SNOW HILL STATION, WAS PRESUMABLY BEFORE THE CONSTRUCTION OF THAT HIDEOUS MONSTROSITY OF A ROUNDABOUT RINGWAY SECTION WITH SUNKEN ISLAND - ALONGSIDE ST CHAD'S CATHEDRAL. IMAGINE THE MONEY CREAMED OFF THAT ITEM ALONE. WOULDN'T YOU THINK THE RC CHURCH WOULD HAVE HAD THE DECENCY TO HAVE NAMED THE CHURCH AFTER ST BONIFICE, WHO WAS THE PATRON ST OF ENGLAND FOR CENTURIES BEFORE THAT COCKAMAMIE ST GEORGE BUSINESS (WHICH SERVES THE INTERESTS OF THE RULING CLASS TO THIS DAY, QUITE NICELY).
ANY MORE RECOLLECTIONS? WHAT WERE THE CONDITIONS OF THE BUILDINGS ABOUT THE TAVERN ON THE SLOPE - PRIOR TO IMBIBING SCRUMPY @ 8d PER PINT? ANY IDEA WHERE THE STUFF WAS MADE? I SUSPECT IT WAS AN ON THE PREMISES JOB.
MARVELLOUS MEMORY TO SHARE - HOWEVER THE BLACK COUNTRY IS NEXT ON THE LIST: A VAST UNTAPPED MARKET FOR THE MOST PART. THE ANTIQUITY OF MUCH IS STILL A WONDER.
BECAUSE OF THE NO BONES ABOUT IT IMPOSITION OF INTERNATIONAL FINANCE OLIGOPOLY CAPITAL I THINK YOU'LL FIND THE PRICES OF TASCOS, WHITEROSE, BOOTS, SAINTSBURYS MUCH OF A MUCHNESS ON PAR WITH BIRMINGHAM, COVENTRY, BRISTOL. CROYDON COMES INTO THE PREPOSTEROUS LONDON WEIGHTING PHENOMENA?
:wink:
 
The first I can remember was the cigars advertised on tv

Which was 1s6d the price of a pint .
 
Went through a spell of drinking Brown and Mild , mainly because the 1/2 of mild was hand pulled into the pint glass and you always got more than the half,if you were smart and talked to the barman whilst he was pulling it you would get almost a full pint !!
Rememeber it being 2/6 so you could get 8 pints for a pound,oh for a time machine.
 
Hi Paul funny you should say that about the hand pulled part of that drink, because my Dad always said the same... chat to the Barman and you get more for your money... LOL
 
I can remember drinking in The Horse & Jockey Small Heath in about 1980, a pint of Davenports bitter was about 30p
 
The father, of a late friend of mine, once told me that how he and another young man, despite the warnings about the evils of drink, decided after fairly long cycle ride into a quieter part of Devon to pop unto a village pub and have an alcoholic drink They did so knowing that in the days of few cars it was unlikely that they would be recognized and that their 'sins' would not become known to their parents and worse still to their Minister.

They were frequently told that drinking caused poverty so they guessed the prices they would have to pay would be large. Accordingly they decided on something in a small glass on the assumption that the smaller amount would be cheaper than what was contained in those large glasses. They duly ordered whisky and of course their surprise at the cost only confirmed, in their view, that the larger glasses of liquid must be very expensive and thus confirmed in their minds their parents strictures on how alcoholic drink caused poverty.
 
Hi When i started drinking in 1962 at the Redhill tavern Haymills, a pint of mild was one shilling and four pence in the bar and one and six in the lounge ( or was that the price of the bitter?)
 
1964. Friday night Football Team Meeting. Venue; Monarch Public House, Quinton Road West. 1/8d a pint (mild) 12 pints for a £1. Pass the time machine!!
jimbo
 
In 1972 I worked behind the bar at the Greyhound in Court Lane Erdington, when the pint was still pulled form wooden barrels or hogsheads (54 gallons).

11p for a pint of M&B mild, 12p a pint of bitter, you could still have a good night out for a quid.

A guy who was a regular borrowed a quid off me till payday. He never came back in the Greyhound again; a quid well spent I thought.
 
HI Mort ;
I Don,t know whether or not you are aware that the monarch is now what they call a private members club ;
you have to be known by some-one to get in or you will not be served ;
there are alot of pubs now that ar looseing there licence and the only way they get to open is becoming a members only pub ;
there is various reasons why the licence officiers or the courts will take away a licence its known as as a chequered history pub ;
rebellious kids ; fighting an breaking up the pub or druggs nd stolen goods handling and the manager canot handle the pub ;
around your time of visit it was a half decent pub with the locals whom was decent familys useig it
my number one sister inlaw madderline used to be the barmaid there for years and her husband used to work there as well [ jim ]
and it was a guy called hughie boyle whom ran it a good gather stood no nonsece from the kids
maggie and carole moved and left the pub when hughie died they went to run the old house at home ; for years before moving to nuneaton
many years later my friend nd myself went in to search the pub looking for an old friend of ours from winson green [ aberdeen street ]
his name was johny dunkley ; john was a big ladand well fancied by the ladies al is life but it was a winters night
we heard that john went to live with his parents over at quinton ;and the monarch was the name we was told that he used to drink in
well wewent there it was a wicked night ; high winds and raing cats and dogs but when wegot to the monarch it loked like they had been blown up by a bomb; there was not one single window left in the whole pub they had completely gone and the curtainns was blowing out of them
but we stuck our heads in the door we loked at each other and decided there was about six people standing by the bar
as welooked in the people looked at us and the look in there eyes they was wondering whom are you ;
any way we asked the gaffer did our friend john come in here ;and he said he as not been in here for a long time; then ten mins later this guy walked in ;
and it was our friend john he was in a bad state ; apparently he could hardley talk or walk he told us he had thre months to live his speech was slurred
ridled with cancer the fagshe got was for his wife ; so we went back to his wifes house and spent the night with them laughing about our younger days
sadley john died excactaly threm onths to the day he said ;
thats another memory for me of the old monarch
best wishes astonian;;
 
I know I started drinking early but I can remember when mild was 1/1d a pint, but I think that may have been because of the only budget within living memory that beer prices actually came down (anybody know when that was?) I can remember in the early 60's going out with a pound having 6 pints, a packet of cigarettes, a fish & chip supper and still have my bus fare home.
 
Years ago the price of beer in a pub was a lot less than buying bottled, or even draught, beer at an outdoor. Very few people drank at home. Thanks to the supermarkets, this situation is now reversed. Two weeks ago, in a not-very-clean pub, I paid £3.25 for a pint of tasteless lager (I won't drink so-called 'keg' bitter, which is all this place had), against 3 x 500ml bottles of Stella Artois at the off-licence for £5. This is the equivalent of £1.90 a pint, and is a damn sight better drink. Last week Lidl were selling real English ale (Marston's, Hobgoblin, etc) at £1.25 for 500ml, which works out at £1.42 a pint. Here in a nutshell is the reason why I now rarely drink in a pub. This has been the situation in France for years.

Cheers!

G
 
Astonian, I well remember Hughie Boyle. He was a great gaffer and a lovely man. He was the gaffer when we played football from there. Never any trouble in the pub while he was in charge, it was soon "sorted". He went to The Bale of Hay in Bartley Green when he left the Monarch, and I think his son took over the "Bale" when Hughie died. I've been in the Monarch once since it became a Members Club, not impressed. The guy that owns it also owns the Avenue Social, which is also a Members Club, again not impressed.
jimbo
 
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