Doorstep Deliveries

[Blondie 1,392]

We had doorstep deliveries back in the 50' and 60's at Hucknall - the milkman, breadman, paper lad, Corona, rent collector, Insurance man, catalogue collectors and the odd hawker when my mam sent me to the door to say that she was not in............I regulalry got a clout for saying, me mam says she's not in............

we had a horrible outside loo also and a dark entry to go down at night which was scary as we lived next door but one to a pub and often people would be in there drunk, snogging or fighting..............Good days though.........

[Blondie 1,392]

My ex brother in law was a Corona chap, he was Chris Ward and lived in Netherfield back then in the 60's..........

[Guest]

Are we forgetting the kamikaze TK Bedford drivers who delivered Alpine pop? Did Davenports "beer at home" come near you? On Bulwell and Bestwood est you had 'bus men' BMC vans stuffed with tic tac firelighters and Aztec bars.

[carni 10,094]

I don't recall seeing one of these around Gedling.

[Guest]

That's a posh one Carni,probably Benjamin in a mobile Marsdens.. he worked for 'em you know??

[Michael Booth 7,364]

Benjamin worked at Marsdens? Not a lot of people know that.

When I was a kid, living in Grainger Street, we had the Corona man deliver six bottles of pop. The thing that I remember is my parents trying to find out who'd drunk it all as it never lasted long. They always threatened to stop it but they never did.

[Cliff Ton 10,459]

Benjamin worked at Marsdens? Not a lot of people know that.

What a lot of people really don't know - and we still haven't found any evidence - is that Mardsens became Vernons.

[PeverilPeril 3,279]

In the 40's my Aunt Evelyn who lived on Bovil St would have a fully charged lead-acid battery delivered to power the radio. The delivery man arrived on a butchers bike with about a dozen of those heavy batteries in the front carrier! Don't know how he kept upright? He changed the batteries for 3 pence a visit.

[catfan 14,793]

Shhhhhh, keep it quiet about benjamin working at Marsdens, I didn't think he wanted to let everyone know that.

[Guest]

Was there a Vernon's in Radford?

[benjamin1945 16,139]

Think (not sure) they changed Farrands into Vernons ,up towards Bentinck rd,mid.60s.

[The Engineer 614]

One of my uncles worked as a delivery lad for the Coop in Nottingham, driving a horse and cart. This was probably mid-1930s as he was born 1917. He got the sack after posting a rabbit through a letter box.

Sadly he became a casualty of war in 1940 aged 22 after his sub was sunk. He was engaged to be married so had volunteered for submarine duty as the pay was higher.

[PeverilPeril 3,279]

There was a Marsdens at the bottom of Peveril St near to Bentink Rd. The manager was Alan Oscroft who got me into bike racing.

I remember the counter getting lower as I grew up. Funny, all the counters seemed to get lower?

[Guest]

Always remember the shop on Peveril st.had enamel Fry's signs going in the door..lovely old dear serving.

[Blondie 1,392]

I don't recall seeing one of these around Gedling.

Can remember similar around Bestwood Village back in the 50's.......

[LizzieM 9,507]

The Co-op Grocery van that came to the new estate in Arnold where I lived was a red one and looked like a Library van I think.

This photo was probably taken in Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire when it was a 'new town'

[BilboroughShirley 1,120]

I remember there were a lot of regular doorstep delivery people in Bilborough in the 1950s. The co-op delivered bread, milk and also green groceries. We used to get pop from the green grocer and one type was dandelion and burdock. As a young child the word burdock meant nothing to me and I thought he said it was "dandelion and bird muck"! I was not allowed to forget that one and dandelion and bird muck is still a joke in our family!

There was the Millers Tea man who came in a little blue van. He also sold biscuits.

The Betterware brush man came and my mum thought their stuff was ok. Now I get annoyed when I get the Betterware catalogues through the door. It is just another thing to remember to put them out and I never buy anything.

My mum always bought meat from the butchers at Cockington shops. They were called Frank and Cyril. Before I started school I would go with her and there was often a very ugly bull dog tied up outside the shops. It had big teeth that stuck up outside its mouth and I was scared of it.

In the 1950s and 1960s I do not remember my parents ever complaining about mail deliveries. The Post Office was good. In recent years we have had a lot of post go astray, including a registered confidential package!

[PeverilPeril 3,279]

Always remember the shop on Peveril st.had enamel Fry's signs going in the door..lovely old dear serving.

What year would that be Ian? Did you have a relative named Margery? She would be about 77 now and still about.

[Guest]

PevrilPeril, it was a sweet shop; faded green paint.On your left looking up towards Machins.. almost opposite scientific/tech.shop.closed about 1989?

[PeverilPeril 3,279]

The sweet shop was Godworths. It was next to Marsdens. Further up was a greengrocer, then Parkers Newsagent on the corner of Lake St. I don't recall Machins being at the lower end of Peveril St.

[Guest]

Correct, Machins was top of Peveril st.behind Nat west bank( or Midland).

[DJ360 6,721]

Lovely memories.

Southglade Road on Bestwood Estate we had:-

Milk. Co-op I think, though possibly later Northern Dairies or somesuch.

Bread. Co-op.

Fruit and Veg. A Co-op van at least weekly.. may have been more often.

Davenports 'Beer at Home'. Not to us, but to someone down the street.

Mum got Tea delivered. Can't remember the firm.. could have been Ringtons. All I recall is the words 'Flowery Pekoe Tips'. It was a van, but I do remember those strange things with a van cab on the back and a single wheel on the front. like an old motorbike with girder forks.

Assorted 'pop' deliveries.

Ice cream in the 50s/60s was sold by Pearson's. But when Mr Softee/Mr Whippy arrived.. they seem to have disappeared. Mr Whippy/Softee also sold Crumpets.. for some bizarre reason. (Though as a kid. we always called them what sounded like Pikelets, but I've since found should be 'Pieclets'.. except that 'Pieclets' are a Yorkshire thing and not the same as Crumpets.)

Best of all was Mr Sanderson. He was quite probably the wrong side of 70 when I recall him in the 50s and possibly early 60s. He'd probably be about 130 yrs old now. He had a horse drawn 'Veg Cart' and if I recall he kept it somewhere down Park Lane towards Basford.

We used to get the odd 'Rag and Bone' man appearing, giving very small amounts of money for old clothes etc. I remember one woman coming out of her house and having a right old go at one who'd given a couple of pence for a load of old clothes she'd sent her son out with.. She basicaly shamed him into coughing up more.

I well recall the mobile 'chippy' in the early 70s. I wasn't living in Nottm then but everytime I visited they seemed to be about. Used to blast a high pitched piercing horn type thing to announce their presence. Noisy sods!

Where I am now, in the Grand Duchy of Billinge, we still get a daily milk delivery. It's a bit more expensive than supermarket stuff, but it's keeping our milkman in a job. He's a good bloke and he works hard. I don't begrudge it.

Col

[Michael Booth 7,364]

There's some good memories there, Col.

[Oztalgian 3,271]

The greengrocer that came round our village had one of those BOAC observation coaches like this

http://www.old-bus-photos.co.uk/?cat=226

The inside was fitted out with racks to hold the vegies and far more interesting for me as a youngster they also had confectionary etc.

They came round on Friday evening and the big decision was either a packet of KP salted peanuts or Smiths Crisps with the little blue bag of salt. Sometimes if you were lucky two bags of salt. We were then allowed to watch The Army Game whilst eating our treats. If I remember they cost tuppence.

[Guest]

Seems so long ago..do those mobile van shops and chip vans patrol Bulwell or Bestwood anymore I wonder?