Forums Forums Wirral History : Chasing the Past Wirral History Favorite Sweet Shops/Sweets

In a recent exchange with a fellow contibutor the subject of favorite sweets of the past arose and it got me thinking about those wonderful corner-shops that were all over Birkenhead. Full to the brim with an endlesss variety of sweets and drinks, they were an essential part of the day, either to/from school or stocking-up for a day's play in the park.

So thought it may be fun to recall our favorite sweet shops of yesteryear and the preferred sweets you could just not resist. I'll start proceedings by nominating a shop known as 'Jacks', which was at the top of Park Road East, junction with Park Road South opposite Cole Street School. Choosing my best sweet is really toughwith so many contenders: McGowan's Highland Toffee, coconut mushrooms, american hard gums, the list could go on, possible finalists maybe either Aztec(exotic choccie bar) or Golden Nuggets (came in a small canvas 'cash-bag, cowboy style). Nor after a three hour game of footie could I resist either a bottle of cream-soda, or if it was really hot, a Jubilee...

I've said on here before, Uncle Joe's mint balls, but not this modern day prepacked rubbish, the ones that were stuck together in the jar and had to be eaten with most of the paper bag stuck to them.

You may be interested in this site, sweets from the past!

http://www.aquarterof.co.uk/

We used to go in that corner shop by Cole st after playing football in the park.I can remember frozen jubblys (jubilees?)
always wanted one like the slush you can get now not the really frozen solid ones you had bang against something hard to try to loosen up.Also Refreshers and Love hearts.

Bah, humbug!!

...I deffo think these Wikiwirral posts are turning into 'Carry On' comedy scripts.

You keep your Uncle Joe's sticky mint balls to yourself bert!

Reading this thread has flickered a brain cell or two into life, and with regard to the corner shop's as far as i know there are exactly none left from my youth.

All the ones i can think of are now either private houses or have gone alltogether, thinking about it now i can see that most of the owners where heading for retirement and when they decided to call it a day the shop closed !.

Like most kids I loved all the regular sweet varieties but also found myself buying things like cough drops etc., just to get the tins.

Anyone remember 'Zubes', or those tiny, tiny little tins called 'Tics'? Always very useful for keeping pet insects in ...like your favourite wood louse.

Bert's Uncle Joe used to keep his mint balls in tins also , but they were generally out of my price range.

The shop I remember best is still there, but very different now from the mid-70s. It was on Poulton Rd, between Lindeth Ave and Ilford Ave, and I used to go in there on the way out of Somerville Middle School. Was it called Brews? It was the penny tray that I liked - white mice, flying saucers, etc. Anyone remember a chewy sweet in a ?blue and white wrapper which was sweet egg-and-milk flavour? (Sounds disgusting as I write it here, but I used to love them.) There was another shop opposite and further along (corner of Clifford Road?) that had less stock but did ice pops (long plastic tubes) as well as the cupped ice drinks. Remember having terrible diarrhoea after one of those! Other memories - fizz bombs; a chocolate coated bar with a texture like Crunchie bars but different flavours (can't remember what they were called); coconut shreds like tobacco; and my favourite - cinnamon flavoured tictacs! They were only available for a short while.

Pineapple chunks, coca cola cubes, drumsticks, bon bons, treacle toffee, highland toffeE bars 5p small, 10p large

It was some shop for sure

4 shops for sweets I remember as a kid were
1 the one by Cole st when leaving the park after footie
2 the one at the bottom of Wilson st over the road from St Andrews Square
3 top end of Exmouth St when going to the 5d rush at the Astor saturday afternoons
4 Going the Ritz 6d on a saturday morning in Oliver st just on the corner of the side st(now Stairway block) opposite the Firemans' pub where you got a packet of broken crisps for 1d instead of smiths with the little blue bag of salt 4d?

ahhh yes the sweet tobacco

Used to love the little shop by my nan's - at the junction of Ingleby Road/New Ferry Road in New Ferry - Mrs Burnhams. Amazing rainbow coloured sherbert in jars! (Mrs Burnham herself amazed me - didn't matter how much she aged, she always looked the same, with her black beehive!)

...and Olde English Spangles and Texan bars! Yum!

The Sweet Box in Liscard (opposite the Tesco Express) has a few "yesteryear" favourites too: fruit mushrooms, japs, Pontefract cakes, spogs, bon bons, chewing nuts...

Probably cheaper to buy in bulk from aquaterof et al, but not everyone wants 250g (just over ½lb).