MORE FROM PAUL WINDER...AND A FACE IN NEED OF NAMING.

Hello again, and I hope this finds you all well. Here's another snippet of Hartley's history from Paul Winder. 

These  great little stories about Paul and his Dad  conjure up another time entirely,  and for me they're an example of what can make reading and hearing personal histories so rewarding.

Remember, if you have a connection with the Brewery,  we want to hear from you.

The photo at the top of the page is  from Nigel Saul and shows one of one his workmates cleaning the copperwork. 

Nigel isn't sure of the feller's name. 

Can anyone tell us who this is?

The Barrel-end photo comes from Jo Clayton Brown at The Hope And Anchor.  Thanks Jo. By the way, this is now the longest Ive ever had to wait to get served at the Hope...

And now, over to Paul....

"..Dad used to start work at 4.30 in the morning on brewing days and would be responsible for starting off the brewing process. It was one such morning that he slipped and a heavy drum fell onto his leg giving him a compound fracture. He had to lie there until around 7.00am before someone else arrived. Quite often he would be walking back home for his breakfast, as I was setting off to work. He would be whistling and singing as he walked along. 

Once or twice a year, it would be necessary to clean out the boiler flue. Dad would physically climb into the boiler to clean out the flue and would emerge black from head to foot with the soot. No PPE in those days. When I was little, and not at school, mum and I would take his dinner round at 12.00 noon between two plates to keep it warm. 

While the new boiler house had an edison screw to feed the fire, the old boiler was fed by hand. Outside the boiler house was a huge pile of coal. Dad had to fill a barrow with coal and run it up a ramp into the boiler house. When I was little, I would sometimes go round and fill a barrow for him with the enormous shovel he used. He would then pretend it was too heavy for him to pick up and would "struggle" up the ramp to the boiler...

Sometimes dad would take me up to the malt room and it amused me to see the cockroaches scurry for cover as we switched the light on. Some claimed it was the cockroaches that gave Hartley's its distinctive flavour! Sometimes he would accidently bring a cockroach home in the turn up of his trousers. 

Not popular with Mum." 

Thanks very much for that Paul, hopefully we'll meet up soon and record your stories for our audio archive.

All the best, everyone.

John