My early life in Accy 1946-68 - Page 10

Atarah · 29-11-2011, 15:45

Hi, what was the family name of your family who worked on the fish markets?

Gordon Booth · 29-11-2011, 16:44

Quote:

Originally Posted by Margaret Pilkington

Does anyone remember Stanton's pop wagon? Sarsaparilla out of a brown jug like bottle....the kind they use in the US for moonshine.....Dandelion and Burdock....supposed to have tonic properties...we just drank it because it was good.

Like Barrie I used to deliver Stantons pop during the summer holidays while I was in the sixth form.
Stanton was a little tubby man, always smartly dressed and no-one was allowed in the upstairs room where he mixed the sarsaparilla and others-he said they were family secrets.
The drivers had Bedford wagons, always beautifully clean and they drove like absolute maniacs-they were on commision and as we sold a lot in Halifax, Huddersfield, Bradford etc they had to go over Blubberhouses(no motorways!) and that meant seriously fast driving to get there,sell and get back.
I'm sure we were loaded up and off by seven and didn't get back 'til late at night.We actually ran(so did the drivers) up and down those steep streets to sell as much as possible-those big stone jars got very heavy by evening, especially if you were carrying three or four at once.
We didn't get much pay but I remember finding out how much the drivers made-it was an absolute fortune in the late fifties.
Funnily enough the weather always seemed warm and dry- I don't remember getting soaking wet, just having to drink plenty of free pop.
Who knows, I might have sold some to you and your families!

susie123 · 29-11-2011, 16:59

Quote:

Originally Posted by Atarah

Hi, what was the family name of your family who worked on the fish markets?

Our family firm was I Creasey, started by my great grandfather Isaac around the1890s. It was the end stall on the left in the old pre 60s market and there was always a lot of wooden fish boxes with our name on kicking around. The name disappeared after after my grandfather's death in 1959 when I think the firm was bought by some of his colleagues.

Doug · 29-11-2011, 17:15

Quote:

Originally Posted by susie123

I was just looking through some old family papers. I always thought my dad rented that garage but actually it was owned by our family. It was part of my great grandmother's property empire (she owned a few terraced houses and a farm) and was sold for 35 pounds in 1965 when it was described as Old stable, Weir Street, Lowerfold, Accrington.

What was his surname Susie. My father use to repair cars down that end with a chap called Jim Peters.

susie123 · 29-11-2011, 17:22

Quote:

Originally Posted by Doug

What was his surname Susie. My father use to repair cars down that end with a chap called Jim Peters.

See previous post for our family name Doug. My dad was the fish merchant's grandson but didn't go into the business.

susie123 · 30-11-2011, 09:56

Quote:

Originally Posted by Atarah

Hi, what was the family name of your family who worked on the fish markets?

Was there a specific reason for your question or were you just curious??

Barrie Yates · 30-11-2011, 13:40

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gordon Booth

Like Barrie I used to deliver Stantons pop during the summer holidays while I was in the sixth form.
Stanton was a little tubby man, always smartly dressed and no-one was allowed in the upstairs room where he mixed the sarsaparilla and others-he said they were family secrets.
The drivers had Bedford wagons, always beautifully clean and they drove like absolute maniacs-they were on commision and as we sold a lot in Halifax, Huddersfield, Bradford etc they had to go over Blubberhouses(no motorways!) and that meant seriously fast driving to get there,sell and get back.
I'm sure we were loaded up and off by seven and didn't get back 'til late at night.We actually ran(so did the drivers) up and down those steep streets to sell as much as possible-those big stone jars got very heavy by evening, especially if you were carrying three or four at once.
We didn't get much pay but I remember finding out how much the drivers made-it was an absolute fortune in the late fifties.
Funnily enough the weather always seemed warm and dry- I don't remember getting soaking wet, just having to drink plenty of free pop.
Who knows, I might have sold some to you and your families!

I worked on that round as well Gordon - the driver was a German ex-POW who had married an Ossy girl. Think his name was Hans, a really nice chap.

Dandy · 03-12-2011, 17:30

Susie
I haven't enjoyed a thread this much in a long time, such a good read.
Going back to your very early post (sorry only just caught up).
I think the couple who had the chippie on York St were John and Dora Birtles and I think his brother Bill had a garage down Clayton and sold Vanguard cars. Wouldn't like to fill one up with petrol today.

susie123 · 03-12-2011, 19:32

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dandy

Susie
I haven't enjoyed a thread this much in a long time, such a good read.
Going back to your very early post (sorry only just caught up).
I think the couple who had the chippie on York St were John and Dora Birtles and I think his brother Bill had a garage down Clayton and sold Vanguard cars. Wouldn't like to fill one up with petrol today.

Thanks for the comments on my thread, glad it's given pleasure to folks. Don't know the name Birtles but in the late 60s the York Street chippy was owned by a family named Greenhow. I know because my teenage brother who was just about to go off to university got their daughter pregnant. They married and had a son but it didn't last.

katex · 03-12-2011, 19:47

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dandy

I think the couple who had the chippie on York St were John and Dora Birtles and I think his brother Bill had a garage down Clayton and sold Vanguard cars. Wouldn't like to fill one up with petrol today.

Bill Birtles was my father-in-law.
Yep, those Vanguards sure had big tanks ... ex army stock they were.

katex · 03-12-2011, 19:59

[quote=susie123;953835] Don't know the name Birtles quote]

Well, you know one now...

Was told Dora and John did have a chippy at one time, but I wasn't married until '64 and they lived on Windsor Street (I think it was), and I don't think they had it then.

Retlaw · 03-12-2011, 20:13

Quote:

Originally Posted by katex

Bill Birtles was my father-in-law.
Yep, those Vanguards sure had big tanks ... ex army stock they were.

Bought my first set of 4 wheels off William Birtles, after a bullet wound in my leg prevented me riding motor bikes, he sold me an Austin Tilly GXB 777, and a spare engine for 40 quid.

Retlaw.

katex · 03-12-2011, 20:55

Quote:

Originally Posted by Retlaw

Bought my first set of 4 wheels off William Birtles, after a bullet wound in my leg prevented me riding motor bikes, he sold me an Austin Tilly GXB 777, and a spare engine for 40 quid.

Retlaw.

Austin Tillys ... Ah yes, that's brought back a memory ..

You forgot to put the safety catch on yer gun, Lurch ?

Dandy · 04-12-2011, 07:17

We had a rag top a Austin tilly and it had some old car seats in the back, ok in the summer but very cold in the winter.

jaysay · 04-12-2011, 08:59

Quote:

Originally Posted by MargaretR

An old widow named Laycock used to make ice cream at her home opposite St Paul's church Ossy, and sold it from a chest freezer parked in her vestibule. That was creamy yellow too, but sometimes had lumps in which was the 'skin' caused when she boiled the milk.
There was no 'pasteurised' or UHT, and herds weren't TB vaccinated.
The option to whole raw milk was sterilised milk which tasted very different.

Used to love calling at Ma Laycocks for an Ice Cream on the way to the Park when I was a kid, can even still picture her, was good stuff including the lumps Margaret