Memory Lane

[Dan]

Spangles discontinued in 1984. Brought back for a few months in 1995- then became extinct.

Forgot blackcurrant Spangles-they were even better than Old English.

[IanA]

One occupation which seems to have died out is the trade of knife sharpener. In 1950s Bootle, it was a regular thing to find a man at the door asking if we had any knives that needed sharpening. Usually, 3 or 4 would be handed over and the chap had a little hand-turned grindstone on the back of his cart and did a decent job. We did get a visit one day and knives were handed over but we couldn't see any cart - we watched as he sat on the edge of the pavement, spat extravagantly on the kerb and vigorously rubbed our knives back and forth. I can't remember whether the knives were sharp after that - I suspect they may never have been used again!

[Peter S]

Re. Photo of Altcar Road street party for coronation. I lived at number 21 on and off from 1948 to 1956 (My nan's house) then again in the early 70s when I came back to Liverpool to teach at Sefton Park Secondary School on Smithdown Road. I remember my mum making the crown for the top of the cake. I am pretty sure I 'm the one on the front row holding my present - a coronation pencil case. I can't put names to faces but other children on the street at that time were the Hamilton family (Number 5?), Billy Shaw (11?), Peter Connolly at number 19 and the Buckley boys from number 23. I remember using the base of the gas lamp outside my bedroom window as a wicket and picking tar from between the cobbles with a lolly stick in very warm weather.
Peter Simpson

[BOBHAMO]

Hi Peter remember you well
Mrs Mc Keown a great lady
did you have a bond 3 wheeler
all those years ago but the houses are still there
but no smelly melly
sad to say Billy Shaw passed away a few years ago
hope life treated you well
bob hamilton
bobhamo

[Peter S]

Thanks for prompt reply, Bob. (Robert??). Yes, we did have a Bond minicar 3 wheeler.
We left Altcar Road to live in a new development just outside Ellesmere Port. Before he got the minicar my dad was cycling to work in Upton by Chester. He lived to 100 and I'm sure his longevity was due in part to his super fitness as a young man. I went to Ellesmere Port Grammar School and then to Swansea University. But you know what they say about taking the boy out of Liverpool and when I qualified I couldn't wait to teach back home. It's a cliche but I wanted to give something back. My nan was ill so I moved back into 21 Altcar to support her till she moved to live with my aunt in Kent.
Life has been good to me! I married an amazing woman and have 3 kids and 7 grandchildren. I live in Saughall just outside Chester with a big garden with views of the Welsh hills. I am retired now but spend a lot of time looking after grandchildren. Sorry to hear about Billy - we were very close as youngsters and he came to stay with me a few times after we moved. Hope you are well. All the best, Peter.

[BOBHAMO]

Most of the lads around. From Altcar and Lunt road
Played football for local leagues
Billy was a fast winger who played for the melly and R.E.M.
He went to Saint Mary's college not sure where he worked
But a great mate
Your Nan was a smashing women I used to help here decorate rooms
In the house as a kid
Ended up Painter Dec sure your nan put me on path
Have not Been down to Altcar road for a few years but got loads of photos
of the area. I now live in Liverpool west derby. With my wife
4 kids 4 grand kids.
Still plodding on
Glad life is good.
Like bit of history local. Photos
Bobhamo

[Peter S]

I was very slow earlier, Bob. As kids I always knew you as Robert and of course I remember you. I remember also playing hide and seek and getting stuck between two pallets on a low trailer which hadn't been unloaded at the Melly. I took my younger son to Altcar Road not long ago. He was working on a television script for the Moving On series and wanted some background on the area ,(In the end he didn't use it) but when we'd driven round Bootle he turned to me and said, "Bloody hell, dad, you were really working class!" The only photos I have of those days are some of my nan and her daughters across the road from 21 and one of me on my big wheeled tricycle outside the front door. It's been great to share a few memories. Keep in touch. All the best to you and your family.
Peter

[Peter S]

Hi, Bob. They say memory is like a muscle and the more you use it the better it gets. Last night I remembered that you have a brother, Colin. I don't remember any other siblings. How is he doing?
Pete.

[Glenys]

Peter S,
Just read that you live Saughall; my daughter and family also live in Saughall. Won't divulge exactly where..............the view from their back garden is a field that at times has calves for rearing, at moment flock of Texel sheep, prone to flooding.
We will be visiting soon when 'him indoors' takes car for service and m.o.t., very handy to have somewhere to have lunch and watch t.v. whilst waiting!!

Glenys

[Dan]

Bootle Times front page

December 19 1952

[Dan]

Bootle Times January 4 1973

Pictures of 1972

[Dan]

Bootle Times March 8 1957

What's On at the cinema.

[Dan]

Songs that turn 50 this year.

David Bowie - Starman
Don McLean - American Pie
David Cassidy - Could It Be Forever
T.Rex - Telegram Sam
Elton John - Crocodile Rock
Donny Osmond - Puppy Love
Gilbert O'Sullivan - Clair

[Dan]

Today is 807 years since the signing Magna Carta at Runnymede.

[Dan]

Nice piece in the Echo on Berni Inns.

From the Echo July 26 2022

Lost steakhouse chain where kids had their 'first grown-up meal'

'I thought it was the most luxurious place I'd ever been'

ByJess MolyneuxNostalgia Reporter


Undated picture of the River Room restaurant at the Pier Head, which was opened in 1967, and was set to be converted to a Chinese restaurant the Shanghai Palace (Image: Liverpool ECHO)

A lost chain of British steakhouses, known for serving signature prawn cocktails, steaks and Black Forest gateau is where many Merseyside children had their "first grown-up meal."

The Liverpool ECHO recently took a look back at the Berni Inn, a brand which started life in Bristol before expanding its empire to London, Birmingham, Liverpool, Southport, New Brighton and more. The Berni Inn brand started in 1955 after brothers Aldo and Frank Berni were inspired by a chain of restaurants they had seen in America.

Introducing British families to the like of prawn cocktails and steak and chips for the first time, Bern Inns arguably paved the way for the pub-restaurant chains we know so well today. Back before restaurant and café culture was how we know it, it was a real treat to dine out at a Berni Inn and for many Merseyside children, it was their first experience in a steakhouse.

Readers have since taken to social media to share their memories of the Berni Inn restaurants they visited decades ago. From 1961 to 1966, they are said to have opened an average of one new Berni Inn a month, owning nearly 100 restaurants in the late sixties.

In Merseyside itself, many will remember the likes of the Berni Steak Bar in Sefton House, the River Inn on St George's Road, Pierhead, The Albany on Old Hall Street and the Mersey Tavern on Lord Street. Berni Inns in Southport included the Fox & Goose on Cable Street and Thorps Tavern on Nevill Street and there was also the Queens Royal in New Brighton.

On our website, Hibbo said: "Loved the Berni Inn at the River Room on the Pier Head. My mum and dad took me there for my birthday when I was about eight years old.

"To me it was very grand and beautiful and for it to be placed directly by the river was a bonus. Wish it was still there."

Saxham said: "The family treat was a visit to the Albany one in the basement on Old Hall Street." Jamoe posted: "My wife and I got engaged in the Riverside Berni Inn in 1983, still together today."

And Wirral commented: "Ah yes - the Queens Royal in New Brighton. Many happy memories, when eating at a Berni Inn in the early '70s was the height of sophistication!"Prawn cocktail, steak and chips then Black Forest gateaux. Mmmm! I can't help thinking that a return to this winning retro formula would work really well, especially if scampi and chicken and chips in a basket are also on the menu."

On Facebook, Bernadette Sefton said: "Loved Berni Inns, especially the River Rooms. Prawn Cocktail to start, steak followed by Black Forest gateau , from the dessert trolley."Glass of Blue Nun or Mateus Rose', oh and an a must was Irish coffee to finish. Great times and memories."

Jennifer Mahoney said: "Had my first cocktail in there - a Jelly Bean." Patricia Cheers said: "Berni Inns, loved Black Forest gateau, it was yummy Irish coffee and never had a tough steak."

1984 Berni Inn menu.



From wiki;

Brothers Aldo and Frank Berni, alongside their partner Paul Rosse, opened the first Berni Inn on 27 July 1956 at The Rummer, a historic pub in central Bristol.

The chain offered slick service and value for money, achieved partly by offering only a limited meat-based menu and a relatively small wine list.

The chain was sold to Grand Metropolitan for £14.5M in 1970.

Berni Inn was sold to Whitbread in 1995, who converted the outlets into their own Beefeater restaurants.

The most frequently ordered meal, even as late as the 1980s, was prawn cocktail, steak and Black Forest gateau.

Aldo Berni died in 1997 at the age of 88. Frank died 10 July 2000, aged 96.


Personal favourite was in The Albany Buildings on Old Hall Street.

[Dan]

From the BBC Rewind archive.

Look North West: Dinky Toys

Wednesday, 9 December 1981

The Murphy family of Bootle collect and restore Dinky Toys, particularly the fire engines.

https://bbcrewind.co.uk/asset/61d8674d8 ... 2?q=bootle

People in this clip

Richard Duckenfield (Reporter)

Danny Murphy (Bootle school caretaker)

& sons Paul Murphy, James Murphy

[Bonesy]

Wonder if they ever sold the collection ?


Keith

[Dan]

Absolutely loved this when I was a kid.

Early 60's, 19" black and white telly (405 lines) rented from Stuart & Dorfman.

We lost generations of budding safecrackers when TV's stopped requiring adjustment for horizontal and vertical hold.

Listening to the music is just like walking into a time machine.

[bjones]

Great clip Dan but I'm about to sink into a deep depression here .. caught a glimpse of Wishbone on the Chuck Wagon and that ancient old dodderer looks younger than I now do!

[Dan]

It's worse watching all the old dears getting on the bus at The Strand then realising I'm an old dear now.

[Dan]

I love reports from the past looking forward and predicting what the future may hold.

[Dan]

Great ad.

[Dan]

Bootle Times January 6 1977

Review of happenings in Bootle during 1976.

[NOAHMAX]

That post was a great read Dan
I can only remember I R O strike

[Dan]

Cheers Noah.

The strike was raised in Parliament in 1973 by Simon Mahon MP for Bootle.

It's a long read, but it does deserve a mention. I've edited a lot out, just leaving the bare details..

The full account can be found by googling the heading below.

INLAND REVENUE OFFICE, BOOTLE (CONSTRUCTION)
HC Deb 12 April 1973 vol 854 cc1649-60

Mr. Simon Mahon (Bootle) For two years there has been a strike affecting a Government building of some proportions in this town. It is a building worth, I believe, £10 million. It is one of the largest office blocks in Europe —a sort of Government-owned Centre Point. All of this has taken place in St. John's House, known locally as "the IRO"; it is the proposed Inland Revenue Office planned to deal with the income tax affairs of 3 million people.

The strike, which has lasted 158 weeks, is taking place against the background of 50,000 people who are unemployed on Merseyside. I am concerned about the effect on school leavers and on people who are over 55 who find it almost impossible to obtain work.

I wonder whether the conscience of the Joint Industry Board, the ETU and the 16 men who have been on strike is stricken because so many people are being kept out of work by an unnecessary and vicious strike. My constituents who are searching for work come to see their Member of Parliament, and they describe the strike as nothing short of a disgrace and a scandal. I have deplored the strike. I have asked questions of the Prime Minister, and I have been down to shop floor level to try to help in resolving it.

I have been in touch with the Joint Industry Board which has been set up for the ETU. Each time I am in touch with the board I become more pessimistic. I refrain from commenting on that organisation, save to say that I hope it will do more to resolve the difficulties which affect my constituents. I say to all the organisations I have mentioned—the trade union, the men on strike and the Joint Industry Board—that they have no right to pillory my unemployed constituents by continuing the strike. No strike is without solution, and this one causes bad industrial relations in parts of Merseyside.

Within a short distance of St. John's House we have built, on time or ahead of time, the Seaforth container base, St. Hugh's House, Magdalen House, Balliol House, Linacre House, St. Peter's House, St. Anne's House and St. Martin's House —which are all used by the Government —Daniel House, the wonderful Triad building and the New Strand.

In Bootle at present there are 4,124 people out of work, 3,550 men and 574 women. When I look at those figures, after a lifetime of trying to serve my people and after a lifetime living amongst them, I regret that that should be the case. We seem to be running like mad to stay in the same place all the time, and this strike is denying 3,500 jobs to my constituents, the equivalent almost of the total unemployment there.

I have carried out some research. From what I have heard, both on and off the record, it is clear that the problems at St. John's House are the direct result of making these contractual arrangements at long range. It was said that when James Scott, the major electrical contractor, came on the scene there would be difficulty because it was already up to its neck in labour difficulties in Middlesbrough before coming to Merseyside. These matters should be looked at. The contractors are trying to find a way out.

The main contractor, the huge international McAlpine company, should have taken over from another contractor which backed out of the job. I refer to Tersons. I understand from the Liverpool grape vine that McAlpine is now seeking recourse to the Department of the Environment to try to back out of its contractual liability.

The Minister of State, Department of Employment (Mr. R. Chichester-Clark) The hon. Member gave some of the history of this sad situation. The site at Bootle is a £5 million project for an office block for the Inland Revenue. It was planned to bring employment to the area, and everyone who knows the hon. Member's area and who has studied the area's figures will understand his deep desire to bring employment there. It was planned to bring employment to the area not only during its construction but when it was in operation.

The two-year main contract was let to Tersons on a firm price basis, and it started on 30th December 1968. Unfortunately, from the outset the project was beset by labour troubles, strikes, go-slows and so on. In August 1969 a decision was taken by Tersons' parent 1655company to terminate its activities, and the contract as the hon. Member will know, was assigned to Sir Alfred McAlpine and Son Ltd. McAlpine tried to speed up the work by instituting double-shift working but this led to a strike and subsequent industrial action until mid-1971, since when major labour difficulties have been confined to the electrical subcontractors.

The contract should have been completed in December 1970, with the computer accommodation three months earlier, but at that date the project was only about 25 per cent. complete because of the low output arising from the labour situation on the site. The main contractors subsequently sought an extension of time on account of the exceptional labour troubles which they claimed to be beyond their control, and this was granted to some extent by my right hon. Friend the then Secretary of State for the Environment.

Electricians employed by the two electrical sub-contractors first came out on unofficial strike on 11th February 1971 in support of a claim for wages in line with those paid to other workers on the site by McAlpine. The claim did not accord with the agreed rules of the Joint Industry Board for the Electrical Contracting Industry, on which the men's union is fully represented. The men refused to resume normal working and were subsequently dismissed.

I should explain—the hon. Member knows these facts well but they should be on the record—that the Joint Industry Board, which is the joint negotiating body for the industry, establishes a standard rate in the electrical contracting industry, and that additions to the rate by way of plus payments are not permitted in the industry except on large sites where special additional payments have been agreed under a JIB determination procedure, about which I shall have more to say later.

In this dispute there were a total of 17 electricians on unofficial strike, although two of these returned to work for a period before the site was finally closed. I understand that those on strike have been supported by collections, mainly from workers on other sites, and pickets are still on duty at the site. There 1656were a number of occasions when attempts were made to put electricians recruited from other parts of the United Kingdom on the site but they were stopped on each occasion by pickets. It was also reported that men who tried to work on the site were threatened. Eventually, the electrical subcontractors gave up trying to put labour on the site, so all electrical installation ceased.

McAlpine continued to progress the work but, in the absence of electricians, it was not possible to take it beyond 68 per cent. completion. It began laying off the men from July 1972, and the last of them was paid off after Christmas. At present the site has been closed down by McAlpine except for security guards.

The situation now is, unfortunately, that the site has for all intents and purposes been closed because no more work can take place, and this has led the main contractor to claim frustration of contract. That matter is under consideration by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for the Environment, and I cannot comment on it tonight. It may be a matter for the courts.

I appreciate the hon. Gentleman's concern in the dispute, which I share. We can all understand his regret that work on the site has now stopped following the activity of a handful of men who have failed to follow agreed means 1660of resolving disputes of this kind and the instructions of their own union.

[Dan]

Bootle Times January 6 1977

The year 1976 in pictures

[Dan]

The size of video players in the 1980's.

[Dan]

From the BBC Archive; music in 1987, with Keith Chegwin.

[Dan]

Bootle Times April 3 1914. Front page and classified ads.

[Dan]

Bootle Times August 25 1921




This is one of the few occasions when it is possible to put a face to one of the many names from the past.

The secretary of The Metropole mentioned above as Miss Annie Stewart was known to Mr. T, - a class mate at the Salesian for 5 years.
Then on opposing sides for 2 years, in the Arts v Sciences wars in the VI th form.

In Paul's words;

"Our upstairs neighbour at 22 St Catherines Road, Annie (Fanny) Stewart, was the Receptionist at the old Metropole Theatre for many years. What tales she used to tell us. A fine old lady. Here she is, also mentioned on the Bootle Times advert."

Annie May Stewart.


Paul went on;
"She was a great lady. I've been in contact with her nephew who also sent me this pic of Annie and her sister.
Fanny is on the left.
The pic was taken at Linton Cottage in Timms Lane Formby. Her brother lived there, who I recall.
This is how I remember her when she used to baby sit us.
Co-incidently the cottage, hardly changed, is literally only two roads away from where we live now. "

Fanny and Chris Stewart. August 23 1966.

[Dan]

Bootle Times August 30 1879




The ad that caught my eye is, upper right, for the Stanley Market on Stanley Road.

You could buy a 2lb. tin of the Tolman Packing Company's celebrated spiced boneless pigs' feet for 9½d.

[Dan]

Bootle Times January 13 1950.

Looking forward to the General Election and the mass X-ray screening programme.

[Dan]

Bootle Times December 19 1952

The post-war expansion of Bootle.

[Dan]

Just like the first video-recorder we rented from Radio Rentals in the Square. It was huge.

[Dan]

Weird seeing this in colour.