Coffee Bars we have known and loved

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Mike Mayor
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Member # 66

   posted 27 February 2002 06:02 PM     Profile for Mike Mayor   Author's Homepage     Send New Private Message   Edit/Delete Post   Reply With Quote


Jim: Do you remember Frank Taylor went to school with us at LRGS. He was in my class. He fought out of the Lancaster Boys club. I went with my father once to see him fight. I will always remember him, as once when we were lined up to go into woodworking he pushed into the line in front of me, and I got mad. Well stupid me got into a fight with him, which didn't last long, and before you knew it I was on the ground with a large purple bruise on my face. A lesson I will never forget.

Mike
Posts: 12 | From: Ottawa, Canada | Registered: Jan 2002  |  IP: Logged

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Jim Brock
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   posted 27 February 2002 03:10 AM     Profile for Jim Brock     Send New Private Message   Edit/Delete Post   Reply With Quote



Hello Coffee Bar Lovers,

Back in October on the Brubecks pages I mentioned a coffee bar which was upstairs on a street close to Queen Street. I could not remember its name or the name of the street it was on. However Lanky's note, all the way from Australia fired up some old neurons, and now I remember the Sportsmans on Euston Road really well. It became a regular haunt for my friends and myself and seemed to take over from Brubecks in the mid 1960s. It certainly inherited the Brubeck's crowd. I remember you went upstairs to it, and there was a full counter at the opposite end of the room. The atmosphere was real old time coffee bar, subdued, and the decor was just right. At the other end of the room there was a small area of wooden floor with a piano. I never saw anyone play it except myself, and that was when only two people were there, so that doesn't count. I think there was a juke box in that area too.

The owner, who sometimes worked behind the counter was an older fellow, I should think in his mid 40's.(don't think thats old now). I need help remembering his name but think it began with an R, possibly Rollo or Roland. He was an aquaintenace of my father and at one time he dated a famous Hollywood movie star. I think that was Jean Harlow. One of the staff there was a beautiful tall dark-haired lady, again a bit older than the clientele, and during the university vacation times, an occasional student worked there. One of those was Pat Kellet, a girl from Bare. Does any of this ring bells, Lanky or Pauline? I remember once talking to Frankie the "Tiger" Taylor" there, a boxer from Lancaster shortly after he had demolished Lenny the Lion(forget last name) in a whirlwind of punches during a nationally televised fight.

I also remember the Caprice at the end of Regent Road, which Pauline mentioned. It also was upstairs. I did not frequent that place much but remember it had a slanted ceiling. Sitting next to the window overlooking the promenade, I got up quickly and cracked my head on a beam.

Warmest regards from Connecticut

jim

Posts: 17 | From: Cheshire, Connecticut, USA | Registered: Oct 2001  |  IP: Logged

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Pauline
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   posted 26 February 2002 07:56 PM     Profile for Pauline     Send New Private Message   Edit/Delete Post   Reply With Quote



The coffee bar I remember the best from the early 60's was called the Caprice. It was at the top of Regent Road opposite what used to be the West End Pier. One cup of espresso could be made to last for at least a couple of hours - we needed our money to feed the juke box and buy 10 Senior Service! How I wish I had resisted the cigarettes. It took a lot of really hard work to kick the habit later. Coffee was good though and the socialising even better.
Bye for now,
Pauline. Posts: 14 | From: Wellington, Somerset, UK. | Registered: May 2001  |  IP: Logged

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Elaine
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   posted 26 February 2002 12:01 AM     Profile for Elaine     Send New Private Message   Edit/Delete Post   Reply With Quote



Hello Lanky,

Lately, everyone here has been giving me names of coffee bars, so that I could recall the name of one that I used to visit. None of them really rang bells, but now this one does! Definitely the Sportsman. Thanks.

Best wishes, Elaine.

--------------------

Elaine
Posts: 66 | From: Ballachulish, Scotland. | Registered: May 2001  |  IP: Logged

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Lanky
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   posted 25 February 2002 03:46 AM     Profile for Lanky     Send New Private Message   Edit/Delete Post   Reply With Quote



In the mid 60's the coffee bar to be seen in was The Sportsmans in Euston Rd towards the promenade end, near Marks & Spencer. I met my husband there 35 years ago. Posts: 8 | From: Perth, Western Australia | Registered: Feb 2002  |  IP: Logged

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Dave
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   posted 11 February 2002 12:16 PM     Profile for Dave     Send New Private Message   Edit/Delete Post   Reply With Quote



No, the Odd Spot was never part of the Dukes Theatre...different part of town altogether!!
Yes, I do remember the Broadway in the late sixties, especially the "alternative" disco Posts: 44 | From: Lancs/Yorks border | Registered: May 2001  |  IP: Logged

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mpprh
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   posted 08 February 2002 08:26 PM     Profile for mpprh     Send New Private Message   Edit/Delete Post   Reply With Quote



Hi
The "Odd Spot" was much later.It came with the Dukes theatre.

Between times, the "Trap Door" coffee bar was the place to be !

I think coffee bars fell out of fashion when pubs started playing music.

The Broadway in late 60's (who remembers "The Kismet" and "The Appollo", formerly the "Palm Court Lounge" ) was packed, even in winter.

The place to be seen, particularly if you were underage !

Peter
Posts: 34 | From: France | Registered: May 2001  |  IP: Logged

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Dave
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   posted 07 February 2002 01:39 PM     Profile for Dave     Send New Private Message   Edit/Delete Post   Reply With Quote



All this talk of Brubeck's (too young to remember it), got me thinking about other places we used to hang out at - particularly Coffee Bars. There used to be one on Euston Road (maybe someone remembers the name) a bit higher up than the cycle shop which was located next to Sparrow Park. Many a happy hour was spent in there making one coffee last hours. I remember complaining once that someone had spilt coffee in the sugar bowl, only to be told that it was BROWN sugar! Another decidedly odd Coffee Bar was situated in Lancaster, down one of those alleys, and was called: The Odd Spot! I liked this establishment because the coffee was good and everyone was very friendly, but I did notice the lack of female customers. The reason why became clear to me some months later when I was asked by the owner if I would like to help out at one of the monthly late night get-togethers he held for various friends. I was glad to oblige, after all it was a few extra quid in my pocket and every pound helped being a struggling art student (at Lancaster Art College). The monthly get togethers were, as it transpired, for gay men, who would travel the length and breadth of the country to be there. The Odd Spot...now it became clear!! Posts: 44 | From: Lancs/Yorks border | Registered: May 2001  |  IP: Logged