Brubecks

[Old Morecambe Archive]

Jim Brock
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Member # 57

   posted 30 October 2001 01:58 PM     Profile for Jim Brock     Send New Private Message   Edit/Delete Post   Reply With Quote


Hello Pauline,

After thinking about your last note where you said we were the right age group, I thought I'd run a few more names past you. How about Jean Tobias, Margaret Small, Joan Massey, Pauline Robinson, Colin Udall, Alex Bell, Ian Clamp, Joan Huddleston, Liz Altham, sisters Alison and Heather(forget last name), Wendy Crook, Barbara and Kathy Moore, Christine Anderton, Marilyn Monker, Judy Sutcliffe, Tony Norbrick, Ann and Christine Law? I remember many more faces but can't manage to put names to them yet. Do these ring any bells?

Regards from Connecticut(under enhanced terrorist alert)....... jim

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

[Old Morecambe Archive]

Jim Brock
Member
Member # 57

   posted 30 October 2001 01:35 PM     Profile for Jim Brock     Send New Private Message   Edit/Delete Post   Reply With Quote


Hello Elaine,

I think that the "boring" coffee shop you mentioned was indeed Brubecks. There was a juke box in it which was tucked away in the back under the stairs up to the loo. I remember that every time I went in there, there was always someone I knew to chat with. I guess it was a bit cliquey so if you weren't one of the regulars, it must indeed have seemed a bit boring. I remember also going to a coffee house in Lancaster, perhaps only 3 or 4 times. It was on a street which ran behind the museum in the town, and quite close to the bus station.

The remark I made about the age range was not intended to be a slight. I think Brubecks closed around 1963. So lets see, a girl of 15 at that time, would be 52 to 53 today. That would likely be the youngest of my aquaintances from that era since after all I have now reached the decrepit old age of 60. I confess to feeling much much younger, still haviing all my blonde hair, and am active and fit as a fiddle despite the fact that some 7 years ago I had a silent heart attack followed by a 6-way coronary by-pass operation(open up your chest like a rack of lamb you know). You are right about girls being more mature than boys in those days. That applies even more to me who was brought up in the little village of Hest Bank and attended an all boys(LRGS) school.

I have still not heard from any of my friends of that time. Maybe that means there is only limited use of this bulletin board. However I am still hoping and take note of your comments regarding the Friends United site, which Pauline also mentioned to me.

I see from your profile that we have some interests in common. These are gardening, dogs, and cats. I have three beagles, namely Beagily, Harry, and 5 month old Bonnie(my retirement present)and two cats Fang and Emmy. I would like to say that I also have an interest in parrots but my wife Gail(Sheffield) has been adamant that if I bring a parrot into the house she will leave. I'm sure she is not serious but do not want to push my luck. The area I live in is fairly rural and so there are some great walks for my dogs and myself. Right now the New England states are absolutely ablaze with reds, oranges and golds of the fall foliage. It is magnificent.

Am rambling again but good to have correspondence with someone from my home area.

Regards from Connecticut...........jim
Posts: 17 | From: Cheshire, Connecticut, USA | Registered: Oct 2001  |  IP: Logged

[Old Morecambe Archive]

Elaine
Administrator
Member # 5

   posted 30 October 2001 01:54 AM     Profile for Elaine     Send New Private Message   Edit/Delete Post   Reply With Quote


Hello Jim, I will be replying to your last email, but I just wanted to ask about a certain coffee bar in Morecambe. I and my friends in Lancaster used to hang out at Ed's on New street, Lancaster, but when out with my Morecambe friends, we used to meet up in a coffee bar which I think was on Euston Road. It was quite near to the old fairground behind the Winter Gardens, and it was just one room on the ground floor, with a juke-box. Rather a boring place, I always thought, but as far as I can remember, the only one in Morecambe that allowed us teenagers to congregate. Calypso? The name doesn't ring bells. Incidently, that remark about us all being in the 55-60 age bracket! That just probably refers to the men, as we girls matured earlier than the boys, and we were allowed out by our mummies at an earlier age. I'm not yet in that age bracket, although I feel much older these days. I was going to suggest you try Friends Reunited website, it's really taking off now, and you will probably see many names from the past.
Best wishes, Elaine.

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

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

[Old Morecambe Archive]

Jim Brock
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Member # 57

   posted 29 October 2001 06:13 PM     Profile for Jim Brock     Send New Private Message   Edit/Delete Post   Reply With Quote


Hello Pauline,

Thanks for taking the time to send a comment. I remember Bruciani's very well, and that is not the coffee shop(super ice cream?) which I refer to in my note. To get to Brubecks, you would go along the promenade in the Heyham Direction. Go past Queen Street opposite the Central Pier(has it gone?), keep going and then take the second(I think) left after Queens St., a road just before the Winter Gardens. Go down there and Brubecks was about 100 yards on the left on the corner with another street, the names of which I have forgotten. On the right was the back entrance to the fair ground which was behind the Winter Gardens and in which I remember a Ghost Train and Dodgems. Possibly this has all gone too. Another haunt for us was an espresso bar called the Calypso which was down on Queen Street. And then later on there was another one off the street after Queen's Street(I think(Clarendon St.??)). I forget the name of it but it was upstairs and had an upright piano which nobody played. During the vacations one of the staff there was a girl from Bare called Pat Kelly who went to Manchester University. Am I ringing any bells??

The 1960 time frame is certainly right. I did not go to school in Morecambe but went to LRGS. I thank you for the advice regarding the school friend search and will look into that. I bet we crossed paths, however briefly, at some time during the early 60s.

Bye for now............jim
Posts: 17 | From: Cheshire, Connecticut, USA | Registered: Oct 2001  |  IP: Logged

[Old Morecambe Archive]

Pauline
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Member # 7

   posted 29 October 2001 04:10 PM     Profile for Pauline     Send New Private Message   Edit/Delete Post   Reply With Quote


Hi Jim,
I wonder if the espresso coffee shop you are thinking of is Bruciani's? It was (and as far as I know, still is) quite close to the Winter Gardens, next door to Taylor's fancy goods shop. There used to be other Bruciani cafes in Morecambe as well - one near the Clarendon Hotel and I think there was one near Euston Road on the prom. I'm in the same age group as yourself, but I don't recognise any of the names you mention. We must have moved in different circles! Did you go to school in Morecambe? Try going to the www.friendsreunited.co.uk website and putting in the details of your old school. I did this and now I'm in contact with an old classmate from 1960.
Bye for now,
Pauline Posts: 14 | From: Wellington, Somerset, UK. | Registered: May 2001  |  IP: Logged

[Old Morecambe Archive]

Jim Brock
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Member # 57

   posted 29 October 2001 02:30 PM     Profile for Jim Brock     Send New Private Message   Edit/Delete Post   Reply With Quote


Although originally from Hest Bank, and now living in Connecticut, USA, I have always considered myself an ex-Morecambrian. Now having retired I have time to surf around on the internet and was so pleased to find the Morecambe Page which, for its kind, is excellent. It brought back many great memories to me of my youth and particularly of the people who I called my friends. I have not seen many of them for well over 30 years. There used to be an espresso coffee shop, close to and behind the Winter Gardens where we used to "hang out" in the mid 1950's to 1960's. There was always a great crowd of regulars there. If anyone remembers this place, I would sure like to hear from them and learn what has transpired in their lives. They will all be around the 55 to 60 year old, as compared to the teens when we associated in Brubecks. Despite having lived in the USA for 34 years, there are still things I miss about England, not the least of these being Morecambe and its glorious view across the Bay.

Some names that come to mind are Carol and Wendy(nee) Stirland, Diana and Derek Robinson, Colin and David Wilson, Pat (nee) Sharples, Pauline(nee)Abbey, David and Hazel Rickaby, Susan(nee)Butterworth, Pauline(nee) Priestley and her two Linda friends, Maurice Spence, Alan(Bart) Barton, among many. Perhaps their children may be more conversant with PCs and so if they read this, I hope they would mention it to their Mums and Dads. Would love to hear from them.

Warmest regards from Cheshire, Connecticut,

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