THE BULL
One Night in 28th June 2003
It was a balmy June night ... as my Canadian friend (John) and I strolled along Corporation Street on our way to a meeting with the "old farts" at The Bull in the Gun Quarter.
Our thoughts were on very different things ... John was extolling at the old buildings (his first view of the Victoria Law Courts) and he marvelled at the brickwork, something the rest of us probably pass by and never notice.
Though I was looking forward to our meeting I felt a little sad, it had been quite some time since we had all met up as
I don't think any of us had felt much like socialising since the death of our dear friend Monty and it would be so strange without the usual phone call from Oz something we would all be thinking about during the course of the evening.
But hey I could hear Monty saying "get on with it ya daft bugger" so I did and I am sure that he was with us.
When we arrived Yvonne, Tony, Jim and Brian were already there and Yvonne had a special guest with her whom I hope will now consider himself a member of our little soirees and come regularly.
Yes Laurie I am referring to you ... Laurie Hornsby writer of the "Hit" musical Wallop Mrs Cox, which incidentally and I'm sorry to bring this up again Laurie ... I auditioned for (grin) and didn't get a part ! ! !
Laurie is also the author of two wonderful books:-
"Brum Rocked" and the sequel "Brum Rocked On"
Both of which are worth a read if any of you (like me) was a Saturday night Stomper at the Plaza or the Ritz Ballroom, The Swan, or the Garry Owen.
They feature many of the groups that were abounding in Brum during the 60's and 70's with such wonderfully inspiring names as The Vikings, The Grasshoppers, Danny King and the Dukes, El Riot and the Rebels, Mike Sheridan (Yvonne's milkman) and the Nightriders to name but a few.
But my own particular favourites The Modernaires (psssst ... I went to school with Maurice "Moss" Groves and had a crush on him for years ... ahhhhhh)
Those were halcyon days, but I digress ... onward and upward.
Harry, Jackie and Bill arrived late ... how dare they ! ! ! (grin) along with Harry & Jackie's daughter Vicky... nice to meet you Vicky ... please come again if we weren't too boringly nostalgic.
We also had two new arrivals namely "Trish" and her husband "Keith" ... a word of advice Trish ... never ask a Canadian for his views on anything ... not unless you have at least 3 hours to spare ! ! !
I hope you and Keith enjoyed yourselves it certainly seemed that way.
I overheard you and Yvonne discussing the history of Billesley and Tomb Stones ... there's always a diversity of conversations going on during our meet ups.
It was great to hear that Jim's reunions with the Waverly Grammar bunch had been good and Brian's hanging baskets are once again a success ... pfffffffttttttttt to Yvonne.
Both Brian and Jim had been to Australia since our last meet and thoroughly enjoyed themselves from the tales they were sharing with us.
I myself was making a mental note that should I ever be invited to Laurie Hornsby's house I must be sure to wipe the top of the HP Sauce bottle before using it just in case it had been licked previously. (grin)
Sorry Laurie couldn't resist it ... oooops ! ! !
Now I definitely wont be getting a part in his next production ... but seriously ... Laurie if you do need any help you know where I am, I'm always going round in ever decreasing circles ... nudge nudge ... wink wink
All too soon Rose the landlady was calling "Time" and thanks to Yvonne and Tony, John and I made New Street in record time ... its amazing how many people you can cram into a Rover 25 ! ! !
Unfortunately British Rail had triumphed again ... there was no train due to Engineering Works so they laid on coaches which left at midnight and what mayhem ensued.
The guy in charge of the coaches hadn't a clue where any of them were going.
Eventually John and I got on a mini coach which was supposed to be going 'all stations to Coventry' Tony bless him thought we were on the wrong coach and leapt on to get us off at which point I said there was a coach going straight to Coventry and at least half of the people jumped off, but not before one man chastised Tony for not giving him the right information before he got on the coach (what a cheek) I'm afraid I had to put him right about that "Hey my friend does not work for BR" how dare you talk to him like that".
We set off and the coach driver said to me "Bab do you happen to know the way to Adderley Park".
Well I got him to Adderley Park and between there and Stechford Station we were stopped by the police... geez it was just like a scene out of "Grease" about 30 cars all lined up ready to race up this street and the policeman who stopped us said "Its ok folks we have to arrest the boy racers and spoil their Saturday night fun".
We missed out Lea Hall as I couldn't find it, but I knew we would find Marston Green ok because it's a posh area and the railway station was signposted.
You would think British Rail would have all the stations signposted but not so.
Next stop International ... fine … we missed the slip road to Hampton due to roadwork's and cones and by this time the driver didn't even want to know about Berkswell as we had a bunch of drunken partygoers in the back who kept yelling.
At this point I was trying to understand two Chinese ladies who were desperately trying to convey to me which station they wanted.
It was mayhem ... we drove past my house (unfortunately my car was at the station) and eventually at 1.30 we got to Tile Hill ... at this point after pointing the driver in the right direction to drop off the Chinese I couldn't have given a toss if the other bunch ever reached Coventry ! ! !
All in all a great night out and so typical of the nights whenever us lot get together they're always eventful ! ! !
Hope to see you all again soon and take care,
Pauline
The Bull 'Do' for Glad 7th Sep 2002
Guten Tag mein Leiblings... nooooo... don't delete… it's just me showing off my German accent acquired from my recent trip to Munich. It's a beautiful city and the beer is good too, boy does it make you sleep like a log... and ya know what... it doesn't give you a hangover... well at least it didn't me. Shaddup Monty. (Grin)
My trip was not without mishap however … I had purchased a long hair slide thingy made of metal the day prior to my departure thinking that it the weather was bad I could put my hair up in a French pleat and look all continental … pff … they confiscated it at the airport. Apparently it looked like an offensive weapon … and it cost me 4 quid … but it is good to know they were tight on security. The dipstick in front of me was only carrying a corkscrew, so much for our in-flight wine drinking session. (Grin)
My trip home was just as eventful ... firstly I 'pinged' when going through the barrier ... then a really tall German (woohooo) frisked me. When he eventually lifted up my blouse he was to discover it was the metal button on my jeans causing the trouble. Meantime the guy checking the handbags was yelling... "vos is dat ... vos is dat" and pointing to what looked like a jumble of knitting wool in my handbag. Don't these men know that women carry everything but the kitchen sink, and that we are always prepared for any emergency! (Wink) I told him I didn't know vos dat vos ... so he made me empty my handbag and … omg ... it was a small penknife … I had had it for years and it had slipped down the lining of my bag. It wasn't picked up on the way out ... but I don't think he believed me because it was in the lining. (Sigh)
I told that guy that if I ever come across Bin Laden that I would personally strangle him with my bare hands … I don't need an offensive weapon grr.
Well enough about that, just thought it might interest you to know that security is tight.... well… except for that guy who managed to get on with a gun at Heathrow… Birmingham and Munich are vigilant (Grin).
Now we come to the main reason I have put pen to paper… Glad's avoir night out. I say that because it wasn't a farewell party (I have that sneaking suspicion that our Glad will be coming back to pay us another visit… she has had such a great time on this one). I have to tell you she is one hell of a woman, the only problem she has is that she doesn't know when she's drunk. (Grin)
Quite a few of us met up at The Bull. Iris, Barbara and Bill (all from Ward End) were there when I arrived, unfortunately their brother Harryx couldn't make it, he had to work.
Brian came… but without his video camera.... smack! smack! for that Brian, something he regretted a little I think. (Smile)
Then Yvonne and Tony came in with Glad and her Nephew's wife Jean. Yvonne was bearing gifts.... a bag of freshly picked Victoria plums for each of us from the tree in their garden, they were absolutely mouth wateringly delicious... thanks Yvonne and Tony.
Oh, and for those of you who are used to the reviews of our nights out at The Bull... I just know your dying to ask.... did the taxi driver know the way? Well… the short answer to that is… NEIN he didn't. I cannot believe that every time I go out with this rowdy crowd I always get a driver who doesn't know where the pub is!
He took me to the Gunmakers Arms grr … He was a bit confused though.... he told me that the Beer Keller was closed. Now if you're wondering why that is I shall enlighten you... I was wearing the national costume of a Bavarian Lady (even down to the socks) this is because I had recently visited Salzburg where the Sound of Music was filmed and my outfit was just like the one Julie Andrews wore... hahaha much to everyone's surprise. Yvonne fell about laughing when she saw me, and I sang… "Once on a hill stood a lonely goatherd...yodell eddy yodell"... Glad asked me discreetly in the ladies if I was an entertainer, I have to tell you Glad 'IS' an entertainer.
We had a good old sing along as Rose the Landlady of the pub put on a CD that Iris had brought with her. I'm positive that Glad is a secret spoon player... she did all the actions… but without any spoons. (Grin)
During the evening Harry phoned from work to check on us... thanks for that Harry it was so nice to hear from you.
Dave phoned from the USA and I was trying to teach him how to say pfft with attitude.... He talked to each of us, but it was when he was talking to Tony that it was realised that they had mutual friends.
Postie also phoned from Devon.... I don't know what he said to Yvonne but she has a really dirty belly laugh.... thanks for phoning Postie and how come I never got to speak with you? Next time maybe huh???
Yvonne took some photographs and no doubt she will be putting them with this write up of the night.... I went to show Glad where the toilet was and got sidetracked with some blokes who thought I was German so I played along with them… omg too funny... they wanted to take me home to teach me English.... huh... a likely story!!!! But I said "Nein danke I haf to go wit my friends Yvonne and Tony, I am not allowed out without chaperone". They spent a long time trying to persuade me ...heheheheh… but I kept saying "Nein danke ... you nice englis boyz… but I cannot… I haf to be gut girl".
There was one of our party missing ... Jim... Hey Jim, vot happened? Better be a good excuse, ve haf vays of makin you talk... yes???
I'm sure I speak for everyone when I tell you that we had a really good night ... but then we usually do.... and Glad we love ya, come back soon and bring your Nephew's wife... nice to meet you too Jean.
All too soon the night was over and I went home with Tony and Yvonne to their house, the one that has the 'open plan' first floor. They would not let me go home alone on the train… they're such great people... I got to meet their dog Oliver, awwww he's soooo cute but licks ya to death.
Sunday morning I got a real bacon sarnie cooked by Tony... with HP sauce ... pssssst neener neener Monty!!!!!
I'm not too sure I should reveal this… but… they insisted on taking me home, and as I couldn't face getting back into my outfit I went home in Yvonne's nightie. (lmao) God knows what my neighbours thought... I went out the night before in my German outfit with the husband of my neighbour (who kindly gave me a lift to the station cos I was planning to go on the 900 bus) and then came home with a different couple next day in a nightie. (hahahaha) Well let em wonder ... pfffffffff.
We Brummies love to party... and we had a great time with our Glad... safe journey home Glad and come back soon... we miss ya already.
Pauline
08-06-02
05-04-02
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01-12-01
30-06-01
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