Quote:
Originally Posted by Gordon Booth
That was my spending money when I was in my late teens- delivering Stantons.
He was a very short, quite fat man, the recipe was secret, nobody was allowed in the mixing room except him and a little old man.
We set off at 6am at the latest(we'd loaded up by then). The wagons were red and black Bedfords and the drivers drove like demented F1 drivers- all over Lancashire and Yorkshire. They were on some sort of bonus system and could make good money so you had to learn how to run up and down streets delivering 4 stone bottles at a time- they were heavy but you could hook each index finger into two bottles if you tried.
I remember running up streets in Yorkshire ducking under rows of washing, even in Accrington you never saw that.
Back 10 or 11 pm, shattered. I remember if the drivers were pleased with your efforts they'd buy you pies for lunch(and free Stantons).
Without that money I couldn't have taken my girlfriend to the Con Club on a Saturday when I wasn't delivering- the good old days!
I think when he retired(or died) the business closed down.
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I had the virtually identical job for Stocks who were located up Burnley Road. You have me remembering the deliveries to most of the chip shops in and around Accrington. I also remember the great secrecy of the mixing room with all the recipes. Slogging yourself to a frazzle for a few shillings. Happy days though!