When nostalgia is nothing more complicated than a sausage sandwich …….. Bert’s café ...... 1971

Now, we all have our own cherished memories which seem with the passage of time to encapsulate a chunk of our growing up.

Whitworth Street, 1969

For me it is nothing more complicated than a sausage sandwich at Bert’s café on Whitworth Street.

We discovered the place sometime in early 1970 and it remained our collective place to go for the next two years.

Usually it meant missing a lecture at the College of Knowledge, which was just round the corner, and more often than not would be where I fell across Mike, John and Lois, who had also put Bert’s sausage sandwich above lectures in British Social History, the poems of John Donne or French grammar.

Bert's Cafe painted white, 1969

Looking back I suspect the sandwiches were not special, but after the bus ride down the Oxford Corridor from Withington having had no breakfast, and with the knowledge that someone would take the notes, we chose Bert’s over Gladstone.

To some this may seem a trivial piece of personal history, but I think not.

Back then places like Bert’s could be found all over the city centre, although usually down a side street, which you found by luck or by word of mouth.

The food was simple, cheap and catered for everyone.  And because this predated the Café Society, most dishes were a variation on egg sausage, bacon and chips. The coffee was more brown milk and everything also came with promise of baked beans.

And it was just perfect.

Bert’s consisted on one room, with perhaps half a dozen tables, and to the rear a serving hatch.

Whitworth Street, from London Road, 1969

On cold wet days in winter, the heat and smell drew you in, not that you could see anything through the windows which seemed permanently steamed up.

We always seemed to be the only ones there, but the presence of the Police Station and Fire Station across the road must have guaranteed a steady stream of customers until both closed down.

The rest of the stretch from Aytoun Street down London Road consisted of a newsagents, a barber, a warehouse and the pub on the corner.

There was of course also the Twisted Wheel, but I can’t now remember when it relocated to the warehouse, or for that matter when it became Placemate.

But I do remember Bert’s.

Location; Whitworth Street, 1969,

Picture; Whitworth Street, 1969, Courtesy of Manchester Archives+ Town Hall Photographers' Collection,
https://www.flickr.com/photos/manchesterarchiveplus/albums/72157684413651581?fbclid=IwAR35NR9v6lzJfkiSsHgHdQyL2CCuQUHuCuVr8xnd403q534MNgY5g1nAZfY,

The Last Chance .......... Whitworth Street ....1969

Now, what do you do with the basements of those tall impressive Victorian and Edwardian buildings that still dominate much of the city?

Some like the bustling Fred Aldous on the corner of Lever Street and Stevenson Square were long ago converted a centre for their craft business.

And many more became perfect for clubs, restaurants and casinos.

I have to admit that while I must have passed the Last Chance Casino which inhabited part of the downstairs of on Whitworth Street, I never went in.  But back in 1969 I was a student and even with a full grant a casino was way off my radar.

It occupied the large Africa House which fronted Whitworth Street and in between Atwood Street and Baever Street, with the canal and power station at its rear.

And along with the Last Chance Casino it shared the basement floor space with The Garden of Eden and Strand Casino, while opposite on the other corner of Beaver Street and Whitworth Street, there was another “dive” bar/ restaurant/night club.

Sadly Africa House has not made it into the 21st century and today the site is an NCP car park, but its neighbour whose “dive” bar/ restaurant/night club, I can’t remember has survived, and in more recent times was No.1 Oriental Buffet & Restaurant and is now home to The Foundation Coffee chain.

All of which leaves me to reflect on those Chinese and Asian restaurants which occupied many of the basement areas of the prestigious office and ware house blocks.

Back in the late 1960s and early 70s, the offered the three course mid day business meal.
For 3/- [30p] you had a choice from the set menu of a starter, main and pudding.

We tended to end up in the Chinese restaurants and in particular one on Cross Street which still trades today, and they still do the set meal, but now it is advertised as a  lunch deal, consists of “2 courses and side”, and comes in at £12.95 with an option of a “One course and side” at just £10.95.

Those three course meals were excellent, with a soup and bread roll, perhaps 4 mains, and two choices of pudding.  And of the puddings the apple pie was a favourite, with its distinctive deep yellow Chinese custard which was sweet enough to strip the enamel of your teeth.

This was a time before the explosion of café society and when the choice to eat out at lunctime was still limited.  So, while there were the traditional cafes, some fast food outlets and restaurants in the big departmental stores, there was little else.  The choice came down to Bert’s café, the Milkmaid, or the UCP. There was of course the occasional exotic place, like the Ceylon Tea Centre or Danish Food Centre, other than these, the choice of exotic and cheap, led you to the three Couse Business Meal.

Leaving me just to reflect on that other place dear to many which was the Conti Club, which was sited first on Oxford Street and then on Harter Street.

I only knew it in its Harter Street days, and for many students, and especially doctors, and nurses it will always be a special place, which  you loved or hated.  Unfairly I think,  it was summed up by a friend from Ashton who visited the only the ones, and left remarking “really it’s just a bus shelter that sell beer”.   Maybe but it was my bus shelter and even now it seemed a perfect use of a basement space.

Location; Manchester

Picture; Whitworth Street, 1969, Courtesy of Manchester Archives+ Town Hall Photographers' Collection,
https://www.flickr.com/photos/manchesterarchiveplus/albums/72157684413651581?fbclid=IwAR35NR9v6lzJfkiSsHgHdQyL2CCuQUHuCuVr8xnd403q534MNgY5g1nAZfY,