HOMEBREW HERITAGE

 These 2 sheets laminated photos and  Evening Mail Cuttings were left for  us at The Hope And Anchor by an unknown source... The Mail clipping tells its own story. Are you amongst this group? If so, get in touch , we'd like to hear about you memories of working at the Brewery. And can anyone tell us what is happening in the three other photographs? Or put names to the faces in the bottom right? Many thanks to our anonymous source for these...and if you have anything similar, we'd like to see it.

These bottle labels belong to John Raisbeck, They are in  marvellous condition, having been preserved like stamps in a glassine envelope.  They look as fresh as the day they were printed, and John has kindly offered them to the project for our collection.  John worked at the Brewery for a short period in the 80's, and has agreed to sit down with us and record his experiences. The current situation has slowed this side of the project down a little, and while our Oral History recorders are waiting with microphones ready to begin work we need to keep people safe.   I'm going to look for some advice and then hopefully sit down with John in a safe space and record what he has to tell us.   All the best to you all.

This prototype Loyalty card comes from Paul Leviston...Members of the 55 club were rewarded  as they progressed through the card ..  25 got you a pint glass, 40  a tie and the first 5 to fill the card got a Brewery tour, an engraved yard of ale and a certificate.  Paul tells us he drove his pals around on a motorbike in order to fill their cards. Now that's a pal.

Good afternoon, here's a last image of the Brewery seen through the eyes of the young Paul Winder, visiting his mum in the office...and with it a couple of images of souveniers.  The Beer mats come from Rachel Smith whose Nanna worked in the Bottling shop, we hope to hear more from Rachels Nanna.. the pumphead and ashtray come from Peter Butler in Calgary while the bar towell is with  Peter Thompson in Massachusetts.   And now over to Paul Winder.. "..My Dad was very friendly with Eric Simpson who was, I understand, the head honcho in those days. One of dad's favourite days was when Eric took him to the cricket at Old Trafford and introduced him to Freddie Truman.  I used to go with mum when she cleaned the offices in the evening. It was all under the pretext of doing my homework though not much got done. I would sit in Eric Simpson's office and marvel at the section of "Bluebird" which had been retrieved from the bottom of Coniston...

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 ...

Paul Winder is an exiled Ulverston lad with a strong family connection to Hartley's. Over the next couple of weeks we'll hearing about his Mother and Father and  their work at the Brewery up to the 80's and the personal touches they brought to it.. And on the right is his Dad, George.. "My mother and father both worked in the brewery. Dad was the boilerman (George Winder) up until his retirement in around 1984. My mum used to clean the offices (Jenny Winder).  Dad was a well known character in the town and had a number of little sidelines going alongside his job. The used hops were very popular with local gardeners and they used to come and fill bags to use on their roses etc. The old oak barrels, when cut in half by the coopers made excellent planters. Dad also provided a "pet cremation" service on occasion.  In those days, the brewery workers were allowed 3 bottles of beer a day. Dad used to bring them home with him and save them up until...

Hello again and welcome to the other 'alf of Nigel Saul's working day at Hartley's back in the 80's. Nigel's photo on the left shows Buck  one of his workmates, adding finings in a celler in around 1980,  and below that we have Roy Snaith and Ken Pelter..if you're out there..get in touch! Last week we heard from Nigel he was  watching the cockroaches in the  Racker as it filled with beer... "..Once the cask was full the levers were flicked back up and the beer flow stopped. A bung was banged into the filler hole in the barrel then it was rolled away by the cellarman (me) to whichever cellar it was to be stored in. This could be risky as the wooden barrels were held together by metal hoops, which would rust and when a hops was only held together by a sliver of metal the could snap and spring apart and if you were unlucky it could stab you in the arm. I still have the scar. Health and safety? Tsk tsk. As beer was now seeping out it had to be repair...