´óÏó´«Ã½

This story is by S. McCann, and has been added to the site with their permission. The author fully understands the site's terms and conditions. The story was collected by Joyce Gibson, transcribed by Elizabeth Lamont and added to the site by Bruce Logan.
====

During the war the government opened restaurants in many towns. Some were in church hall, others in restaurants taken over for the duration of the war. The aim was to supply workers with cheap nourishing meals without the need for them to use up precious rations. I do not remember if they were run by volunteers.

I lived in Liverpool during the war and in the school holidays my mother and her friends frequently took us children for days out at the seaside, there being a number of places nearby to visit. When we went to Hoylake we arrived at about 11.45 a.m in plenty of time for our cheap lunch at the British Restaurant. Of course we were not the people they were supposed to be catering for — however I think about 50% of the customers were day trippers like ourselves!

We also tried the restaurant in nearby West Kirby, but it was not nearly as good as the one in Hoylake.

© Copyright of content contributed to this Archive rests with the author. Find out how you can use this.