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I was employed as a journalist on
the Express and Star during the late 1960s and early 1970s, when ‘The
Halfway’ was run, expertly I may add, by Mr and Mrs Freddie Mann.
I lived
nearby on St Judes Road, and the
pub was, therefore, a conveniently situated local. A number of my newsroom
colleagues also used the place, and many an enjoyable evening was had within
its walls. During cold winter nights, I remember the welcoming open fire
which was set into a dividing wall.
Being young
and single, a favourite chat up line directed towards the female clientele
involved the assistance of one of my Express and Star workmates,
photographer Ken Wood. The paper at that time ran a weekly feature called
Star Girl, which included a tasteful photograph of the ‘girl of the week’
(no bums and boobs allowed). Many a time a bonnie girl was approached and
photographed, along with the half promise of being included in the paper as
that particular week’s Star Girl. Some actually made it into print!
Incredibly,
when in 1999 I visited The Halfway after an absence of 28 years, I
recognised the barmaid, Anne, who herself had only recently returned to the
pub herself after a long spell elsewhere. The other barmaids I remember c
1970 were Yvonne and her bubbly little sister, Sandra. Happy days indeed.
Naturally, I
was dismayed to discover that this wonderful pub was closed down in 2008,
apparently because of excess noise – something that was never allowed under
Freddie’s stewardship. It was, in fact, a perfect example of a dignified and
well managed English pub. I understand
there are plans to turn the building into a drop-in health centre.
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Fifty years ago from 1970 to 1971 I
taught as a young German assistant at the Regis School in Wolverhampton,
Tettenhall.
This well known comprehensive school, incidentally one of the first four in
England, had a hand-picked staff and an outstanding headmaster, Sir Godfrey
Cretney who was ennobled by the Queen in 1966 for his great educational
merits.
During my time in Wolverhampton I lived in a just recently renovated
Georgian house at 249 Tettenhall Road where I had a very nice large and well
furnished bedsitter which unfortunately could only be warmed in winter by a
relatively small electric heater. And this heater had an extremely voracious
and insatiable meter that had to be fed with shillings, which was really
expensive if you wanted to get the room even reasonable warm so that your
teeth didn't chatter.
Unfortunately my monthly salary was not at all generous at that time and was
just enough to cover the monthly cost of living, and so I often thought in
the evening, do you throw the shillings into the meter now or do you go to
the Halfway House instead, get half a pint of bitter and a bag of cheese and
onion crisps for two and a half pence from the counter and then stand by the
crackling and comfortably warm open fireplace.
A glance into my poorly filled wallet was enough to decide on the Halfway
House at 151 Tettenhall Road. In the evennings this traditional pub in a
building from the early 19th century was always packed with friendly people
from the area and the conversation with these locals of course also served
to improve my English skills.
Despite only having lived in Wolverhampton for a relatively short period I
have retained strong memories of this town in the West Midlands and the
frequent evening visits to the Halfway House. Too bad that this beautiful
pub no longer exists. It was probably closed in 2008 and as far as I know it
now houses a dental practice and a pharmacy.
By the way on Saturdays I never had a drink at the Halfway House but at the
Golden Eagle instead, a
typical working class pub at 80 Hordern Road where there was live music at
the weekends and quite a few guests felt called to belt out a song lustily
on the small stage. This created a very special atmosphere and was always a
real spectacle for the pleasant locals who stood crowded together with their
pint glasses. But this is quite a different story and not the place to write
about. Unfortunately the Golden Eagle had closed too and in 2010 the Express
& Star reported that it probably had been converted to a mosque, and that
without any proper planning permission. What an incredible change! |
