Caffs & Greasy spoons

[roundhegian]

[quotenick="Trojan"][quotenick="wiggy"] Reginal Perrin wrote: wiggy wrote: rikj wrote: Yes, eap. i am angry with labour as a matter of course,look at the state of this once green and pleasant land...they are running the country...and they sold out the labour dream. All probably true and justified - but they are better than the alternative. If they'd stayed in there'd be no health service left today for starters. It was they who destroyed British manufacturing industry, it was they who brainwashed the majority of the electorate into thinking that taxes should only go one way, it was they who sold off the council house stock at a discount and didnt' replace them, it was they who privatised hospital cleaning giving us the dirty hospitals they had the cheek to complain about at the last election. I've been a Labour supporter all my working life. New Labour are not all they ought to be but when I think back to the Thatcher era, and I see Cameron smirking his oily smile, I shiver and opt for voting for them again. An interesting piece of fictional propaganda from " Trojan " .The Labour governments of the 1960s and 1970s led by Wilson and Callaghan caused inflation , stagflation and a general economic instability which led ultimately to the death of many manufacturing industries .Those of us working at the time recollect vividly the farce of the devaluation of sterling and the botched decimalisation which caused even more inflation . I well remember in the early 1970s receiving a 25 per cent salary increase to compensate for the increased cost of living during the previous twelve months . By the time the increase was received of course further inflation had taken its toll .Inflation and interest rates reached their peaks during the years of the Callaghan government a fact present-day Labour politicians very conveniently forget when talking about inflation in the 1980s . Industrial strikes also reached their peak levels in the 1970s . They culminated in " the winter of discontent " in 1979 . Frequently they were created and led by politically motivated local shop stewards and ineffective national union leaders did not intervene . Nor did the government intervene . It looked the other way .It was the combination of ineffective governments and industrial unrest that caused the death of much of British manufacturing , not the successor Conservative governments which had to deal with the chaos left by Labour ." If they'd stayed in there'd be no health service left " Tripe ! No political party would abolish the NHS in the sense of a free service at the point of delivery . It would be political suicide . Personally I'd abolish 80 per cent of the bureaucrats of The Department of Health , all the local health authorities and the primary care trusts and devote the money saved to the provision of services ." .... taxes should only go one way " . Increasing taxes and spending huge amounts of public money has not brought about a corresponding improvement in public services but has succeeded in bringing about a massive increase in desk-bound unproductive bureaucrats at both national and local government level .Local government in particular costs very substantially more and has increased massively in size since the Wilson-era without any real improvement in services . Selling council house was extremely popular and the overwhelming majority of people who bought are glad they did .It has been shown many times that privatising hospital-cleaning did not cause an increase in dirty hospitals . Cleaners particularly in the wards were not properly supervised by the nurse -in-charge regardless of whether they were in-house or employees of a private company .    None of these facts of course will alter the myths propogated by " Trojan " and his fellow Labour propagandists and apologists .    

[patter]

If I can get back on topic, there's a good greasy spoon in the Market arcade, an almost abandoned 60s arcade near the bottom end of Briggate precinct.

[Trojan]

[ .    What can I say Roundhegian. You and I obviously lived through different eras. I was working at the time of devaluation - caused intially I recall by the £600m (£12 billion at today's vaules) trade defecit left by the Home government. Maudling begged Home to devalue - but in an election year Home couldn't. Callaghan (Chancellor in 1964) wanted to devalue, but Wilson didn't want Labour branded as the "party of devaluation" but eventually he succumbed. (btw if you read Callaghans' memoirs, after the 1964 Election Maudling apologised to Callaghan personally saying "sorry to have left such a mess old cock") Since Black Wednesday of course the Tories reputation on economic management has also taken a knock. (unfairly IMO) As for the inflation of the seventies, well of course the increase in the price of oil in 1973 was what started it, plus of course Mr Anthony Barber's "dash for growth" made matters much worse. I believe it takes about two years for what a government does to effect the economy, and Barber was out of office when the sh!t hit the fan. The minority 1974 government spent most of it's time in office battling with the consequences of Mr Barber (called the "Demon Printer" Norman Tebbitt I think)As for Thatcher and manufacturing industry - what can one say, she called those who wanted to save it "moaning minnies" The health service was extremely unhealthy when the Tories finally left office in 1997. The money poured into it by this government has been largely used to repair damage done by Thatcher and her successor.As for hospital cleaning, the fact remains that before two people were made to do four people's work the hospitals were clean and since they are not. I know that there are several former Tory cabinet ministers with interests in companies that profited from the privatsiation of hospital cleaning, perhaps it would be enlightening to ask them about hospital cleanliness. This is really off topic and I won't post again.

[arry_awk]

Wot's a parliamentary debate got to dowith Greasy Spoons,I want to know?! Please, Open a new thread or summat!Joe fer King!Back to Betty's! Must apologise for my gafferegarding the location of Betty's in Leeds.(see pic)That corner of Land's lane is a Mobile phoneoutlet NOT a card shop! (that's on the other corner!)Arry

[iansmithofotley]

Si wrote: Dunny's by the river in Otley always seems very popular. Apparently Sir Jimmy is often seen in there. Hi Si,Dunny's (or is it's posh name 'The River/Wharfe View Cafe'?) is a popular place for cyclists and motorcyclists, besides everyone else. Sir Jimmy is occasionally seen there along with his old mate Dennis Peace. When Sir Jimmy managed the Old Mecca, Dennis was his assistant manager and then became manager after Sir Jimmy left. Dennis is in, or outside, Dunny's nearly every day talking to the cyclists. Anybody who used to go to the Old Mecca would still recognise him.In the 50's and 60's, the main cafe in Otley for cyclists and motorcyclists was Tommy's Cafe on Boroughgate near to the Maypole. All of the cycling clubs, particularly from Leeds, visited there and many of the cyclists married Otley girls. Many of us ended up in Tommy's after training or racing, nearly every night of the week. Tommy's closed down years ago and is now a Pizza Take Away place called Cuccina.Sometimes we would go for a 'proper' meal at Peter Hartley's Restaurant on Boroughgate, nearer to the town centre. Peter ran the place with his elderly mother. He spent alot of time in the gay pubs and cafes in Leeds, I think that the Del Rio was his favourite cafe/coffee bar. Eventually the restaurant closed down and became a Chinese Take Away and Peter went to work at High Royds Hospital.Ian    

[iansmithofotley]

Hi everyone,There are a couple more places that I can remember, which I don't think have been mentioned. They are The Bridge End Cafe, which was open 24 hours. They used to do a massive breakfast, anytime, called a 'Full House'. Obviously, it was located at Bridge End.The other place was 'Lil's Cafe'. This was situated up some steps in a side street between the Corn Exchange and Kirkgate. It used to be run by Clive Hird who did very cheap breakfasts and lunches for the 'not so well off' clientele. Ian

[Trojan]

arry awk wrote: Wot's a parliamentary debate got to dowith Greasy Spoons,I want to know?! Please, Open a new thread or summat!Joe fer King!Back to Betty's! Must apologise for my gafferegarding the location of Betty's in Leeds.(see pic)That corner of Land's lane is a Mobile phoneoutlet NOT a card shop! (that's on the other corner!)Arry Yes sorry, my fault for rising to the bait.

[arry_awk]

s'OK Trojan, Roundy and T'others who joined inthe 'off thread' debate. Just gets a bit cheesingto have to scroll down yards of ripostes over an entirelydifferent subject!Having said that, I'm well aware I can be Just as guilty!I try and keep my rantings as short as poss,tho!Still pals? Ta!Going to attempt, once more,to attach a cafe meufrom Youngman's Fish Resaurant,New Briggate,1930.This is also taken from Donald Tate's book,previouslyreferred to.I think the prices quoted are correct forthat period in a town centre eaterie.If the att. doesn't appear,I'll get Simonm to oblige!

[arry_awk]

s'OK Trojan, Roundy and T'others who joined inthe 'off thread' debate. Just gets a bit cheesingto have to scroll down yards of ripostes over an entirelydifferent subject!Having said that, I'm well aware I can be Just as guilty!I try and keep my rantings as short as poss,tho!Still pals? Ta!Going to attempt, once more,to attach a cafe meufrom Youngman's Fish Resaurant,New Briggate,1930.This is also taken from Donald Tate's book,previouslyreferred to.I think the prices quoted are correct forthat period in a town centre eaterie.If the att. doesn't appear,I'll get Simonm to oblige!

[arry_awk]

'Ows abaht that then guys n'gals?Don't ax me how cos I went all round the owsis twiceso can't remember which bit went where now!!It's me age I tell yis!Good prices though. Although my Dad earned less than£2 a week including overtime, as a postman,so he couldn'thave afforded Youngman's (up or down) in 1930!F&C from the corner shop 'take out' were 2d/3d for fish and a pennorth of chips. Scollops (scallops) cost 1d (a roundslice of potato in batter) and a fishcake,(2 round slices with scraps of fish offcuts between and dipped in batter were 2d.) Quite substantialas they used large potato slices as big as your palm. Funny thing,we never got fat even tho' the F&C were fried in Beef drippingThe (30's)Leeds Medical Officer of health was quoted as saying," If I could ensure every schoolchild in Leeds had a plate of fish and chips each day,I'd be a happy man!" Sure he was right!Arry