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It's
said that everybody knows where they were
when England won the World Cup in 1966.
Well I know exactly where I was, 'washing
up in the kitchen of J.Lyons teashop SB in
Western Road, Brighton', ringing on the
lift bell to the teashop floor upstairs to
get the latest score from my school
friends who got the information from
customers with portable radios, or Fred
the newspaper salesman who had his stall
in the shop entrance. What excitement in
the kitchen when Geoff Hurst scored at the
end, and England had won it!!!!
I first
went to work for Lyons as a Saturday boy,
when I was 16, and then, during my summer
holidays from school worked full time at
the same shop. From then on I worked every
holiday period at Christmas, Easter and
Summer, and this pattern continued as I
went through the 6th form at
School, and then on to university. During
this time, I moved shops, working at SH in
Old Steine Brighton, and occasionally at
SA and SZ as a relief. Brighton had 4
teashops in those days, and they were not
much more than a few hundred yards
apart!
I
then took a year out during my university
time, and became an assistant manager,
working at C7 Croydon and D8 Sutton, with
odd spells at Westminster (can't remember
the shop number). Finally, during my last
2 years at university, I gained a roving
role, going round shops in Southern
England relieving the manageress' holiday
periods. As far as I can recall, I worked
in Southampton, Guildford, Kingston,
Richmond, Eastbourne, Worthing and, of
course, Brighton, and even in my last days
at university, I was still relieving the
manager's holidays in the shop in
Oxford.
Well
that's my Lyons history. However, I
thought readers might like my
recollections of a typical day in the life
of a junior porter. First, though, a bit
of shop geography. SB shop was arranged
over 4 floors. The kitchen and boiler room
were in the basement with respect to the
front of the shop in Western Road, but
were at ground level at the back of the
shop in Stone Street.
The
ground floor had the front shop, at the
front in Western Road (surprise, surprise)
and a narrow self-service counter, with
stairs leading down to the kitchen, whilst
the first floor had another counter, but a
much larger floor area spreading out over
the top of the shop next door. Finally, at
the top of the shop were the staff
changing rooms and the roof.
Whilst
I worked there, I recall three permanent
manageresses. There was Miss Plummer
(Peggy), an elderly lady, with a terrific
figure, quite prim and polite, but heard
to say, when questioned about her spinster
status, that 'I've had my moments you
know'. Then there was Mrs Gander who was
second in command to Miss Plummer, and
whose catch phrase, was always 'come along
you boys'. Finally, there was Miss
Batchelor, who was not a lot older than
me, and who all the boys fancied like mad.
We were all devastated when she got
married and became Linda Carne.
Then
there was the area manager Gordon Jack,
who appeared from time to time and went
into cloistered discussions with the
manageresses and carried out spot
inspections of the premises. We always
knew when Mr Jack was in town, because he
usually went to one of the other shops
first, and we were tipped off as to when
he was likely to arrive! Finally, there
was the mysterious Mr Webber at Cadby
Hall, who was spoken of in hushed tones by
the manageress but, like Captain
Mainwaring's wife, was never seen.
However, he occasionally rang the shop for
Mr Jack, and when asked who wanted him,
the answer was always 'my name is Webber,
get him to call me when he
arrives'.
And
then there were the staff - too many to
recall them all. Rose and Joyce ran the
kitchen, assisted by a girl called
Jeannette, who did the washing up. Tommy
(Mrs Tomlinson) looked after the till,
usually downstairs. Then there was Lou on
grill, Violet on steam upstairs, Chris and
Francis who worked downstairs. Also, Mary,
who was a permanent feature of the front
shop. There are several others whose faces
I can recall perfectly, but not their
names, so apologies if I have left them
out.
Finally,
there were the younger members of staff.
Funny, I can recall many of the girls who
worked there, but virtually none of the
boys. Liz Harris was always in trouble for
some reason or other, but stayed working
there for a number of years, on and off.
Then there was Vivienne Banda who worked
the front shop and floor, and there was
great excitement among the boys, when an
exotic Spanish girl named Maria, appeared
on the front shop - she had the longest
black eye lashes I had ever seen! Finally,
there was Janet a small dark haired thin
girl, who mostly worked upstairs, but
managed to come down to the kitchen to see
the boys as often as she could. Sadly, the
only boys I recall were Steve Jones and
Ron Leaver both of whom were at the same
school as me. All the rest are a blur of
names and faces.
I
guess the one other person I should
mention was the visiting engineer, Bill
Hammond, whose job was to service the
plant in the shop and keep it working. I
might be wrong, but I seem to recall Bill
having a bit of a soft spot for Miss
Plummer! She could certainly wrap him
round her little finger.
And
so to a typical day in the life of a
junior porter. Shift patterns at SB
consisted of one of three options:
a)
7.00 am - 12.00
b)
7.00 am - 3.00 pm
c)
10.30 am - 7.00 pm.
A
porter's duties didn't vary too much
depending on the shift, although obviously
the early shifts were about opening the
shop, whilst the later were about
closing.
Early
morning my job depended on which task I
was allocated to, the manageress had a
book showing the allocation of staff to
specific duties. If kitchen duties, then
the washing machine had to be started up,
the wire racks put in place, and all
remaining china and cutlery from the
previous day sent upstairs in the rickety
wooden lifts. Sometimes the boiler would
be out, and, because it was fuelled with
anthracite this meant a dirty job to be
done, clearing out the ashes, lighting up
and nursing it into life. Also, the
anthracite was delivered down a chute in
Stone Street, into the coal cellar, under
the building at the rear, and had to be
brought up in buckets and taken along the
length of the kitchen to the boiler house
which was underneath the front of the shop
in Western Road. The anthracite was stored
in large galvanised bins, and during the
course of the day was poured into the
boiler through a hopper on top. Another
early job was filling the water softener,
which was located in the boiler room, with
salt.
If
I was upstairs on the ground floor
counter, then it could be the steam, the
grill or just clearing tables. I often had
the job of lighting up the steam and bain
marie on the grill, and taking cakes from
the front shop to the counter for the bar.
If Mrs Gander was feeling particularly
inclined, then the chore of the day could
be filling the sugar jars or worse still,
the salt and pepper pots. Mostly, on early
morning duties the shop was fairly quiet,
and so duties were doubled up. I often
looked after the steam, and at the same
time cleared tables. Sometimes I was
allocated to looking after the front shop,
and later in my time with Lyons, I worked
the till, particularly early morning when
no cashier was available. Breakfast was
often taken on the job, in between serving
customers. I particularly liked the
poached eggs done in the round poachers
above the grill.
Lunch
came at round 10.30, or if I was lucky at
11.15 (I had never heard of lunch at
10.30!!). Usually, this was taken in the
staff area on the first floor, in the area
over the shop next door. From memory, the
staff menus were pretty monotonous: Steak
pie, braised steak or fish and chips. In
fact, I don't remember the customer's menu
being much better!
Over
the lunch period from 11.15 till about
2.30 or 3.00 pm (tea), both counters were
usually open, and on Saturdays in
particular, were generally very busy.
Table clearing duties were usually the
most tedious - the metal trays we used
were very heavy, particularly when piled
high with china. Trays were filled, then
taken to one of the lifts where they were
sent to the kitchen for clearing and
washing. Counter work was regarded as
further up the pecking order by the
student workers, but had the disadvantage
of being hot and sticky in the summer. The
steam wasn't too bad, but could become
pressured as the demand for tea and coffee
increased. In slightly slack times, it was
necessary to milk the cups, using a milk
ladle and the milk measure which ensured
the same amount of milk was put into each
of four cups. With 16 cups to a tray, this
meant four ladles to be measured out. The
advantage of this was that the milk
covered the tea stain rings from previous
users, where they had been badly washed in
the kitchen. Tea was measured into the
pots from a drawer using a brass measure
and around 3 or 4 pots would be on the go
at any one time. During busy times there
was constant demand on the kitchen for
cups, coffee, milk and even tea.
The
first floor counter usually closed after
the lunch period, at around 3.00 pm, when
staff usually went to tea. My job in the
closed area of the first floor depended on
which role I had. If on the floor, tables
had to be cleared, wiped clean, sugar pots
filled, and chairs stacked. Finally, the
floor was swept in readiness for the
cleaners.
On
the counter, on the steam, all tea pots
had to be cleaned with teepol, and the
coffee and hot milk reservoirs cleaned out
at the end of the day. Tea cups were got
up from the kitchen in readiness for the
following day. On the bar, all remaining
cakes or fruit pies were sent down stairs
to the other counter for the afternoon
period. On the grill, the bain marie was
drained out and all containers and
surfaces cleaned. On the downstairs
counter pretty much the same routine
occurred throughout the rest of the day,
leading to shop closure at 6.00 pm.
Kitchen
duties throughout the day didn't vary
much, only the pace at which china and
cutlery had to be washed. Trays were
unloaded from the lifts, placed on the
washing machine and the china placed in
the appropriate racks (plates or cups),
with cutlery in its own wire tray. Cups
were individually given a wash on the cup
brush machine, but this regularly failed
to remove tea rings. Cups were also
supposed to be checked for lip stick, but
plenty found their way upstairs anyway. I
have to say that my experiences in Lyons
kitchen, speed drying cutlery etc. has
served me well throughout my life!
Waste
materials went into the rubbish bins, but
food waste went into the pig bin. I seem
to remember the 'pig man' came every day
to take away the waste. In the general
haste of a busy day, there was often a mad
rush to get the trays from the lift to the
washing machine, and as a result plenty of
china hit the floor rather than the
machine - it's a good job the cost didn't
come out of our wages.
At
the end of the day, when all the china was
clean, and had been sent upstairs the
machine was turned off, the filters
cleaned and the runners at the back washed
down, all ready for inspection by the
manageress before we were allowed to go
home.
And
there you have it. All this for about
£1-5/- a day, or about £8 per
week for full time work. Looking back now,
from the job I currently do, which is
demanding of my time and requires
extensive travelling on the congested
roads of the UK, I recall with some
fondness an age when work and life was
simple, a time when I enjoyed the thrill
of receiving a wage packet with actual
cash in it, and buying the latest records
at Boots across the road. Also memories of
the people, many probably long gone now,
and the time of my youth, also long gone,
but brought back fleetingly as I write
this piece.
©
Dave Groom 2005
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