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The Five Ways Bucket Brigade c. 1923
(scroll to bottom for 'cogger' update)
Many thanks to Arthur Hale for this photograph of his father, uncle, and a group of drinking buddies known - for
reasons hidden by the mists of time - as the Bucket Brigade.
They are pictured outside the Five Ways pub on the corner of the Himley Road and Cinder Road (leading to Stallings Lane), probably around 1923 or 1924, but certainly after the First World War because Arthur's dad Teddy Hale (bottom row second left) is wearing campaign insignia on his lapel. Teddy lost a leg early in the War and was invalided home, although one would not know it from the photo. His brother Ike is on his right. Also pictured is local character 'Cogger' Stevens and, on the extreme right of the bottom row, George Marsh, who was the son of the original 'Widow' from which the Five Ways gets its nickname. The ubiquitous Flavells and Hickmans are also featured. The full line-up, left to right is: Top row: 'Happy' Tom Hickman, Joe Cox, Billy Flavell, Bill Harvey, Tom Moss Bottom: Ike Hale, Teddy Hale, Bertie Jones, 'Cogger' Stevens, and George Marsh. As always, please contact us with any further memories or observations, particularly if you can shed light on the obscure role of the bucket, and if you know what a 'cogger' might be. Also, what is the significance of the spray on the lapel of some of those pictured? Email us at admin@yampy.co.uk Update: We are grateful to Gornal Wood Aussie ex-pat Donald Southall for informing us that 'cogger' was the gornal expression for a 'sponger', and for reminding us that Stallings Lane doesn't begin at the Himley Road junction (it's Cinder Road first). Dennis Flavell has also been in touch to say: "As children in a South Yorkshire mining village we referred to our best mates as 'Cogger' , whether this was just our corruption of the Aussie word 'cobber' I don't know". |
