Memory Lane

Just when I was feeling a bit down, my best friend from school sent me these pictures.
They are of the place where I lived from 1955 - 1969.

In those days it was called Doug's Snack Bar, Doug was my Dad and it was run by my Mum and Dad selling cups of tea, coffee and soft drinks to the local's.
It was handily sited in the market place of Ilkeston in Derbyshire, where the local buses would terminate their runs, have a break and refreshment, before they were off again.
A cup of tea was 4d pence when we left and a bottle of coke a tanner, that's 6d pence and in today’s money, it’s about 2.5 pence.
Doug's became synonymous in Ilkeston and was a meeting place for everyone, especially when Dad installed a juke box and I made it my job to ensure that the right kind of music was installed. In fact, due to this my Dad probably owes everything to me for making him a success.

It was also handy for local schools and one day in assembly at one of the schools Hallcroft, the headmaster, a certain Austin Nash, banned everyone from using the snack bar at the end of the road in the market place. The kids were furious and were straight around to Dad to tell him what had happened. Dad immediately set off and marched into the school with the kids behind him like the piped piper and demanded to see Mr Nash. The following day in assembly Mr. Nash made the following announcement, “After due consideration, it has been decided that pupils are now free to use the respectable restaurant in the market place known as Doug’s.”

Above the snack bar was all snooker hall, which was Dad’s responsibility to run in conjunction with the café. Dad would open the café at 6am in the morning, ready to catch the early bus crew’s and Mum would close the café at 8pm in the evening, by which time Dad was now “stewarding” the snooker hall above until 11 pm at night.

It has not changed much over the years, except the prices and still looks quite a dump 40 years later, even with the addition of the bijous table and chairs outside, hardly a café on the Champs-Élysées.

Anyway, my friend Paul took these photo's only a few days ago and apparently the current owner of the Corner Cafe saw him through the window and chased after him, wanting to know why he was taking pictures of his pretty little tea palace. I assume Paul told him, is was for a long standing best mate who used to live there, as he obviously didn’t confiscate the camera.