Sid Kelleway did the slaughtering and the game, and he made the brawn in a big copper just inside. He had a cousin called Alf Kelleway, who drove the British Road Service lorry, In those days of course, there wasn’t Health and Safety, and stuff like barley came in 160 lb sacks, huge great sacks. Alf used to bring these round and of course he couldn’t get his lorry up that little lane, so he had to get them off his lorry down in the Square, put them on his truck, trundle them up.
He went in Mills one day and Sid was doing something, and Alf said ‘You going to give me a hand with this then?’ and Sid said, ‘ No, bugger off.’
They argued a bit – the brawn was cooking away, and as he went out, Alf picked up another handful of spices and chucked it into the brawn. When he came back with the next sack, same thing. He finished up putting about four lots more of spices, herbs or whatever. Sid went on and made the brawn. It was all sold and people came back and said, Oh that was wonderful, that brawn, it was so tasty.
Alec Cokes b 1945
Tag Archives: Sid Kelleway
Brian Pomroy, Alec Cokes: Shops, Mills, 1940s
Mills yard where slaughterhouse and bakehouse were located Photo. M. Scott
Sid Kelleway had his slaughterhouse up the back of Mills. I went once to watch him cut the pigs’ throats but it was a bit too much. He kept chickens in his garden there too. One day one of his chickens had flown over the wall. He was chasing it up the High Street and when he caught it, he said ‘That bloody thing wont go nowhere’, and got it and wrung its neck.
Brian Pomroy b 1937
Sid was a real old rascal. My granddad and him were old contemporaries. Grandad used to be out with his poaching a bit, so he used to take stuff in and of course Sid used to filter them into the main stream. Sid used to say, there you are Jim.
When he was preparing pigeons for people he used to take one breast out. Of course selling them to the visitors, I don’t suppose they knew anyway. They had one breast and wrapped it up that way round. Alec Cokes b 1945