REFRESH YOUR MEMORIES Archive

Saturday 22 October 2011

I was born in Gidea Park, Essex and in the fifties the lorry came around each week delivering the bottles of 'pop' or going to the shop at top of the road and returning the bottles for the deposit money. An even greater memory is the beaker of lemonade at the victory party in 1945 and a bowl of ice cream which had been kept cold in an old butler sink filled with water.

Beryl Beal, Leigh-on-Sea, Essex

Saturday 16 July 2011

I am 60years old and evry week (holdays apart) for the last 40years my brother and I have played squash for the same bet. The bet has always been a bolttle of Ben Shaw's yellow lemonade..nothing else will do! It has to be yellow and it MUST be Ben Shaw's. The reason for such a strange yet specific bet is that going back 50years our parents bought us one bottle of Ben Shaw's yellow lemonade every Friday to last the week...if you drank it in one day or made it last all week it did not matter...but you didn't get another bottle until the following Friday! How things have changed but the weekly bet relives the memory!

Rob Fletcher, Skelmanthorpe, Nr. Huddersfield

Saturday 16 July 2011

I have blogged my Ben Shaws memories.... http://tfgrobfletcher.blogspot.com/2011/07/ben-shaws-soft-drinks-my-memories.html

Matt P, Lincolnshire

Tuesday 21 June 2011

SPACE SPECIAL!!!!!! The ultimate kids drink, and it was green!! Simply stated 'mixed fruit flavour soft drink' on the little 130ml bottle. I used to work at Suncharm and was sad to see this childhood taste of the 70's phased out. The 'SUPERSPACE' range were good too, a plastic can with an aluminium top.... very spaceage at the time!!!!!!!!!

Martin Sykes, Holmes Chapel

Thursday 28 April 2011

When I was little we went from Fife in Scotland every year to stay with my Grandma and Grandad in a little village called Burniston outside Scarborough for two weeks during summer school break. My fondest memory was when Grandad took us to the local pub for a Dandelion and Burdock and a packet of cheese and onion crisps,those were the happiest summers ever. Pity things have changed so much.

Susan, Buckhaven

Thursday 24 February 2011

Ahhhh, the ubiquitous Ben Shaws from a few decades ago! My memories are from the mid-to-late 70s and early 80s, a time when those lovely labels with the diamond pattern and oh-so-contemporary colours were usually found in chippies all over Bradford. I guess they could have been found further afield but our 'sophistication' back then meant we rarely went to Leeds!! Every 3rd Sunday meant a trip to Gran's in Queensbury where meat & 'tata pie and mushy peas were on the go. When the men went to the pub, my sister and I would wait for the moment we were told we could bring a bottle of Ben Shaws' Yellow Lemonade out of the cold cellar, up into the hot and steamy kitchen. The bright colours of the label, the golden liquid inside and condensation forming on the outside of the freezing bottle in the hot kitchen was essentially like a mini-Christmas morning sensation as the anticipation was almost too much to bear! It wasn't just a drink of 'pop' - it was a ritual and a treat. I've attached a picture taken a few years ago of exactly the location where those bottles were to be found & funnily enough, there were a couple of bottles of veg oil put there by my grandad - who's still alive at 95! What I'd give to just see the labels again from those heady days!!! Anybody??

Richard Alexander, Doncaster

Thursday 9 December 2010

Never mind Green Cream Soda I loved the Strawberry Cream Soda, It was lovely and bright red and it tasted much better than the American stuff, I also used to by 1d(one old penny) drinks at the local shop (called Shanleys on Featherstall Road), which were basically a small sherry glass full to the brim. If you were well off you could by a 3d (Thrupence!) drink which was a plastic cup full. I never had enough for one of those...!

Ian Coverley, Oldham

Sunday 5 December 2010

I remember well the schoolyard bell, that started off the day, my mothers face, the teachers case and all the kids at play. The fizzy pops, the corner shops and all the cowboy games, my school gray shirts and all my hurts, all those childish names. The local station, sweets on ration and even fry's five boys, my comic papers and my capers all my wonderous toys. The populer fads, local lads and all the cinemas, my one eyed cat, signed cricket bat and the trolley cars. That pal named bill and the thrill of games in the local park. My childish tears and the fears of shadows in the dark. I remember well the schoolyard bell and many things beside, my memories all they rise and fall with every passing tide. I must have writen this 40yrs ago and your pop brought it all back. Thanks.

Peter Little, Northumberland

Monday 8 November 2010

I remember space special and it was indeed my most favourite drink to go with chips, sausage roll and gravy. Bring it back.

Russell Ellingworth, Austria

Saturday 9 October 2010

The pop man in Siddal that used to deliver to my Grandma, or as a young child taking the big empty bottles back to the local greengrocers and spending the deposit on another bottle of Ben Shaws. I loved the green American Cream Soda. My favourite drink from my youth, I never cease to be disappointed whenever I buy cream soda hoping for that Ben Shaws taste. Please Bring it back.

Michael Spencer, Preston

Wednesday 15 September 2010

Getting a bottle of Dandelion and Burdock from the village chippy. Fish and Chips don't taste the same without it...

John Smith, Darlington

Monday 13 September 2010

There used to be a shop in milnsbridge where the owner would sell you 1 penny glasses of ben shaws drinks.We would walk home and save our bus fares to spend there.Yellow lemonade was awesome.

Frank, London

Thursday 22 July 2010

Green cream soda it was so good i still search for it now.

Thomas Rance, UK

Thursday 22 July 2010

I always remember being at my aunty's in siddal, halifax. in the 50's when the chap used to come round with all the "pop" on his horse and cart.It was the yellow lemonade that was my favourite-where is it now ?

Angela Whitworth, Llandudno

Thursday 1 July 2010

Drinking bottles of green Cream Soda on the beach and seafront of Whitby during what seemed like an endless summer probably around 1974-5. I was probaly about 9 or 10 years old and have never forgotten the colour or the tatste!

M. Kinrade, Isle of Man

Wednesday 16 June 2010

My parents every October used to take us to visit some friends of theirs who lived on the coast in Filey. As a child, I was particularly annoyed that it was always bitterly cold and yet I was forced to walk along the lifeless promenade regardless. Why can't we come in summertime?, I used to sulk. To keep me quiet my mum would always treat me to a can of Ben Shaw's Dandelion & Burdock - my absolute favourite. A seemingly odd choice for a cold day, but it never failed to cheer me up! Now when I take my children to Filey (in the summertime!) I always treat them to the same. They love it as much as I do!

Laura Everitt, Huddersfield

Sunday 13 June 2010

I remember when I was at school I loved my dandelion and burdock and still do I think it is the best drink going and my mom likes it to. Its great. Thank you. I do come from Halifax West Yorkshire but came down here in 1976.

Margaret Linda Jones, West Midlands

Monday 31 May 2010

Fish and chips (with bits), lots of salt and vinegar, a little wooden fork and a Ben Shaws shandy! Can't go wrong with that!

Neil Trotter, Cheshire

Thursday 27 May 2010

I remember fish and chips on Cromer beach with a can of cream soda to wash it down with!! I've never found another brand that tastes as good as Ben Shaws!

Baz, Leicester

Wednesday 3 February 2010

Every trip to my grandparents in the 1950s and 1960s was guaranteed to result in a glass of Ben Shaws lemonade. How come there is now no mention of its origins in Huddersfield.

John G Benson, Huddersfield

Thursday 21 January 2010

Space special! It was a green drink sold in small glass bottles and i am struggling to find people that remember it. Also i can't find a picture anywhere online.

Antony, Honley

Thursday 24 December 2009

The Ben Shaws man used to round on the milk float selling big bottles of Ben Shaws drinks. You put your order in and the following week he would collect your empties and deliver your fresh Cloudy Lemondade, D&B, Iron Brew etc

Mark Outram, Rochdale

Saturday 21 November 2009

BenShaw`s Dandelion & Burdock and Seabrook Crisps take me back to my childhood in the 50`s , living in Bradford and later on, Huddersfield. Both have a unique taste and I`m so happy to hear that I can retrace my memories of childhood again; of haymaking lunches, picnics in the Dales and seaside trips to Blackpool and Scarbrorough. Thank you for bringing back a bit of my past .

Sue Davids, Surrey

Wednesday 18 November 2009

My memory is sasperella from being a child to working in your cash and carry and wondered if it was still available for purchase?

Steve Dickinson, Dewsbury

Friday 24 July 2009

I use to work at the willow lane site as an electrician,yes they certainly were happy days for me. My favorite drink was rhubarb flavored spring water couldn't get enough of it. Everyone helped each other right up to the Shaws themselves. I started with them in 1993 until sadly the factory was sold. Now at the end of this month i retire at the age of 66years.

Stuart Jones, Skelmanthorpe