Beer At Home meant Davenports

REMEMBER back in the 50s and 60s the regular visit to our street, Norman Avenue, of the Davenports beer lorry.

In those days the Davenports Brewery (of Birmingham) delivered beer to your door "Beer at Home" service. My dad and grandad would have brought to their door, wooden crates of ale, which were stored by the thrawl in the pantry. A nice cool spot. They thoroughly enjoyed their evening tipple of Davenport's finest.

In those days I was too young to share their drink, but do remember very well Davenports gleaming lorry drawing up and the ritual clinking interchange of crate and empty bottles for the new delivery.

In those days there was a veritable plethora of deliveries to our door. Milk, of course, Co-Op bread, A tea van from Leicester (whose name escapes me?), and beer.

As well as a chap who came round and sharpened our family's garden shears from time to time.

I am old enough to remember the Co-op using horse drawn bread vans, and the silly banter entered into by my mother with our regular milkman - Aubrey Barnes.

Aubrey (who lived in Riversley Road) was a wag, and used to shout out an amusing rhyme as he clanked through the gate every week for his milk money, which would alert my mother to his presence.

Needless to say he made my mother laugh at his daft witticisms and she used to say Aubrey was a "bit of a lad".

I used to have to go down the Co-Op in Queens Road and buy plastic bread checks, which we gave to the bread man in return for our delivery.

I remember the bread man too, but he was a quiet unassuming fellow, and although he was on that round for donkeys years, I never really got to know him.