Home Ales

[Jill Sparrow 10,307]

I know the Home Ales Building quite well as I often attended child protection meetings there when I worked for Children's Services of Nottinghamshire County Council. It doesn't/didn't have a ballroom but does have what must have been, in its day, quite an impressive Boardroom on the second floor. Sadly, the building is not in very good condition now. It has metal framed, possibly Crittal, windows which were very popular in the 1930s. There are warning signs appended to these that they should not be opened as they are unsafe.  The central heating system is still pretty efficient: cast iron radiators of the old school type.

 

The lift, as I mentioned, is very untrustworthy and tends to stick between floors. Those unlucky enough to get caught have to wait for an engineer to come out. Fortunately, it never happened to me. Those not wanting to use the lift have to take the stairs and these have been cased in with perspex panels and doors, presumably for security purposes. When I worked for Nottinghamshire, we all had ID cards with chips which were supposed to be programmed to open doors in any building where we needed to work. I don't know why but my card, and those of many other staff members, played up in the Home Breweries Building. It was common to be walking down the stairs only to find that the door giving access to the next landing wouldn't respond to the ID pass. You'd then walk back up the stairs only to find that the door on the landing above wouldn't open, either, and you were trapped! Then it was a case of ringing reception if you had a mobile phone with you or hammering on the perspex until someone saw/heard you. I didn't like attending meetings there, although it was always warm in winter!

 

At one point, Nottinghamshire County Council tried to sell the premises but there were no takers. It needs a small fortune spending on it. Incidentally, Nottinghamshire County Council took over Meadow House on Littleworth in Mansfield, the former Mansfield Brewery Offices and that was my base at one time. Although a much more recent building it, too, had its problems.

 

[Jill Sparrow 10,307]

1 hour ago, letsavagoo said:

Incidentally, if you ever get a chance to visit St Mary’s church just along from the Home Brewery building, it has the most magnificent interior, quite stunning. Built as a memorial to his late wife by Col Charles Seeley, one of the richest men in the country at the time. 

Not sure about St Mary's but St Paul's church, Daybrook, was where an uncle of mine was married for the first of three attempts in 1960. 

 

I think this church is connected with the Seeley family. It's separated from the Home Brewery Offices by almshouses.

[philmayfield 6,145]

Yes definitely St. Paul's Daybrook. I remember playing a gig in the church hall in the early '60's. Never been in the church though. I do recollect that the vicar of St. Paul's moved to Rolleston church in the early 60's. The church in Arnold is St. Mary's.

[letsavagoo 963]

45 minutes ago, Jill Sparrow said:

Not sure about St Mary's but St Paul's church, Daybrook, was where an uncle of mine was married for the first of three attempts in 1960. 

 

I think this church is connected with the Seeley family. It's separated from the Home Brewery Offices by almshouses.

My mistake. It is indeed St Paul’s. I’m giving a talk later this year on the history of convalescent homes in Nottinghamshire and Col Seeley features heavily and this church get a mention. I have for some reason got this Church in mind incorrectly as St Mary’s. I don’t know why that is, possibly as it’s in St Mary’s Parrish. I should know as my parents were married there in 1947. My dad would always raise his hat as we drove past. I visited the interior for the first time last year as it’s rarely open (other than Sundays I assume) and was astonished at the magnificence of it.

[Marrowman 34]

On 6/18/2023 at 10:49 PM, LizzieM said:

I’m from a family of drinkers!   My Great-Grandparents kept the Station Hotel in Hucknall in the late 1800s.  They used to open very early in the morning so that miners from Hucknall pit, coming off the night-shift, could get a drink.   My Gt Grandfather died relatively young and my Gt Grandmother had to leave the pub because women were not allowed to be tenants or licensees.  She moved across town to Long Eaton and ran an off-licence.  I have a shoe-box of old family postcards going back to the early 1900s and there’s a postcard addressed to my Gt Grandmother and the address is just ‘the Beer-Off, Long Eaton, Nottingham’.  Beer-off must be a Nottingham term, we lived in the Home Counties for 30 years and never heard an off-licence called a beer-off!

I used to love the smell of beer-offs, a yeasty mix of bread and beer, especially the ones that used to sell beer on tap. There was one near Noel Street Baths that used to sell cups of pop to kids for a penny. We used to stand outside the shop and drink our pop (cream soda for me) and then take the cups back in. There was never any thought of nicking the cups.

[letsavagoo 963]

There was a Shipstones beer off on the corner of Glentworth Road Radford very near where I lived. I’d occasionally be sent for a bottle of IPA if one of my Aunts was visiting. When you entered there was a mirror positioned in the doorway to the back room and you’d see the shop keepers face glance at you who would be seated in the back room with the tv on. She was very elderly and quite frail. You would have to wait until the adverts came on before she’d shuffle into the shop and serve you. The Shipstones horses used to deliver the beer on their horse drawn drays. A source of excitement and competition for the local allotment holders who would see if the horses had made a delivery of their own.

[Cliff Ton 10,470]

A photo from the early 1920s showing the absence of Home Ales.

 

 

St Paul's church at the top, and Daybrook Square with the Morley factory at the bottom.

 

The Home Ales building would be roughly in the two square fields (?) below the church and almshouses.

[Jill Sparrow 10,307]

Looked a lot better then than it does now! Mind you, most things did.

[Jill Sparrow 10,307]

5 hours ago, letsavagoo said:

I have for some reason got this Church in mind incorrectly as St Mary’s. I don’t know why that is, possibly as it’s in St Mary’s Parrish. I should know as my parents were married there in 1947. My dad would always raise his hat as we drove past.

My parents were married at the church of St Peter, Old Radford. I've heard my father joke about throwing a brick through the window. Well. I think he was joking....

[letsavagoo 963]

Me too. Married at St Peter’s that is. Ruined it when they cleared the graves to make the ‘garden of rest’ aka dogs toilet. I went to a relations wedding there and the bride got dog mess on her dress during the photographs. 

[Beekay 5,158]

My older brother got married there too. Buggered if I can remember what year though.

[notty ash 371]

4 hours ago, Cliff Ton said:

A photo from the early 1920s showing the absence of Home Ales.

 

 

St Paul's church at the top, and Daybrook Square with the Morley factory at the bottom.

 

The Home Ales building would be roughly in the two square fields (?) below the church and almshouses.

Home Ales is there - it's just the older brewery buildings, not the more modern one now along the main road. 

[notty ash 371]

Here's the architects drawing for the old Home Brewery buildings

 

[Cliff Ton 10,470]

Now you've pointed it out, I can see that on the photo. It all adds up with the map

 

[Willow wilson 894]

The 'new' building had a large neon sign on the north side of the tower. When it lit up it showed the legend HOME OF THE BEST ALES. After a couple of seconds this went out and then another second or two it lit up again with just the HOME ALES showing, then it repeated. In the 50s the family went regularly in dad's car to explore the trees in Sherwood forest up Edwinstow way. On the way back in the gathering dusk brother and I in the back of the car would look out for this flashing neon sign once we'd gone over Redhill. Last one to spot it was the loser, then we chanted what it said over and over until we got almost to Daybrook where we were encouraged to 'give it a rest now'.

[Jill Sparrow 10,307]

I've said that the Home Breweries Building isn't in very good condition. I've sweltered in there at times with the radiators belting out heat and been unable to open a window in case it fell into the room and landed on my head. Getting trapped on the stairwell or stuck for hours in the lift was also a pain.  I've probably made it sound like a deathtrap but...

 

Working at Lawn View House, Sutton in Ashfield, proved to be a damned sight more dangerous. Lawn View, in comparison, was a brand, spanking-new edifice. Built to eco standards, whatever they are. Mainly constructed of glass (it's the building behind Aldi, if you're interested).

 

There isn't a light switch in the entire place. Sensors detect movement in the rooms and turn the lights on or off.... in theory.  In practice, the light goes off in the middle of a meeting, plunging everyone into darkness. Fifteen or so people then stand up and walk around, waving their arms about in an attempt to trigger the sensors and turn the light on again. Fifteen people, falling over chairs, tables, fourteen other people and walking into the glass walls of the meeting room because in the darkness, you can't see them!  Dangerous.

 

In winter, I would often arrive just after 7am because much later than that and you'd never get a parking space.  I'd find a spot in the Touchdown area (for staff who were hot-desking) set up my laptop to start work and...all the lights would go out. No good waving your arms about like a demented windmill. It was a fault on the computer system that controlled the lighting and no one seemed to be able to fix it.

 

The kitchen area was open plan and right next to the Touchdown space. All day, you'd have to suffer the pong of microwaved chilli con carne, beans on toast or fish casserole.  The centre of the building sported a laminated floor space/dining area which was open to the roof. You could sit there, eat your lunch and gaze up at Nottinghamshire County Council employees beavering away behind the snazzy glass panelled balconies on the upper floors.

 

One fateful day when, thankfully, I wasn't working at Lawn View, one of those large, heavy, snazzy glass panels broke free of its moorings and crashed down from the top floor onto the laminated dining area. Thank heaven no one was in the vicinity at the time or they could easily have been killed. Instead of scoffing their beans on toast, they'd have been toast.

 

I often worked at Lawn View after that incident but I never went near that area again. If it can happen once, it can happen twice.  The old Home Breweries Building suddenly seemed a lot safer.

[LizzieM 9,511]

My friend’s mum lived for several years in one of the Almshouses, in fact the end one at Redhill end, next to St Paul’s Church.  My friend’s dad worked at Home Brewery for many years during which time they lived in a little terraced house on Mansfield Road at Redhill, in between The Ram and the Waggon and Horses. When that house was demolished they moved up to a council house in Oxengate in Bestwood Estate.  When the dad passed away the mum was given one of the Home Ales Almshouses at a very reasonable rent.  It was a lovely little house, ideal for a single person, with a super garden.  

[mary1947 2,083]

13 hours ago, Beekay said:

My older brother got married there too. Buggered if I can remember what year though.

It's an age thing Big Ears.

[mary1947 2,083]

ME

I was a brides maid at St Pauls many many moons ago.   in fact I must have done some thing right They say 3 times a brides maid never a bride Well I've proved that saying wrong.   7 years old Brides maid Carlton Church 13 years old St Pauls  15 years old St Judes

Married at St Stephens Sneinton, 1965.

 

Still trying to find out though if I was chosen to be a brides maid for my cousion /friend  Was it because they realy like me and wanted me for their brides maid, ? or was it because my mum was a stremstrees and was trained to make Wedding dress'ers ?  All of the dresses including Brides dress and head dresses were made by my mum.

[MargieH 7,601]

@mary1947 Your mum must have been very talented - was that her full time job or just a hobby?

[DJ360 6,730]

12 hours ago, LizzieM said:

moved up to a council house in Oxengate in Bestwood Estate.

 

Interesting Lizzie. I had never heard of Oxengate, so had to look it up, even though it was only a mile or so from my 'stomping ground' in my 'Yoof'.

 

To be a bit 'nit picking'... ( Col?.. nitpicking?.. surely not!! ), I think it's within the boundaries of the original 'Bestwood Estate', as in the pre 1939 seat of the Dukes of St Albans, but the designation 'Bestwood Estate' in terms of Council properties applies to the original and best Council Estate, origin of Benjamin, Trogg and yours truly,. which is further west. I'd class Oxengate as Bestwood Park Estate...

Just sayin'

[trogg 2,017]

I am glad you asked about Oxengate as I had never heard of it, I thought it might be my brain failing again, so to save embarrassment ,in old Bestwood talk I kept me g*b shut.

[DJ360 6,730]

As for 'Beer Offs'  I'm getting confused myself now...  I'm getting better at it by the day..

 

In my memory, the term Beer Off, was definitely applied to shops, not connected to pubs, which sold  draught and bottled Beer. Whether they were 'tied' to specific breweries, I don't recall.  What I do remember is locals popping in with quart beer bottles, jugs etc.. which were filled from the shop's pump, often using a copper funnel.

My nearest would be the one in the 'bottom shops' on Andover Road, Bestwood Estate. Ben and Trogg may recall better than me.

 

Where I get less clear is regarding the pubs which sold booze, sweets, tobacco, pop, crisps etc., from a special entrance, or sometimes a hatch. It was legal for 'under age' kids to enter and make purchases, though not of booze. I can't recall if the appellation 'Beer Off' was also applied to those, but I think the official term was 'Off Sales'.

My nearest of those was front and centre in the Deerstalker at the bottom of Southglade Road.  We often dropped in there on the way back to school after going home for lunch. We'd buy peanuts, or sweets, and for a time a seemingly long forgotten spun sugar confection called 'Pom Poms'.

In other parts of the country I've seen the term 'Out Sales'.  In Liverpool and surrounding areas, the terms 'Offy', or 'Outdoor' are often used.

[benjamin1945 16,163]

Andover road 'Beer Off' yes Col.........remember it well....they used to serve me with Beer in Grandma's jug......when i was only about 8.............had my first taste of Beer from Grandma's Jug ..walking up Hove road.....A middle aged couple ran it in the 50s...his name was Archie Gallamore........who i later worked with at Marsden's..........The shop is still there...the last one to be trading....premises still standing of what was Marlow's fruit and Veg and Marsden's......

[Jill Sparrow 10,307]

In the 1930s, my father was often despatched by an elderly neighbour, Mrs Kiddier, of Chapel Street in Beeston, to The Star Inn. She would give him a bag full of empty pint bottles which he took into The Star via the back entrance. They were filled with Shipstone's ale and then sealed. Had he taken a jug, as many did, he would not have been permitted to have the beer since he was only a child.  Once he reached Mrs Kiddier's cottage with his heavy bag, she gave him a glass of beer...and a few pennies to compensate him for running the errand.  She could not walk well enough to go herself!  He'd be called upon to make this trip three or four times per week.