From the Kinolibrary archive film collections. To order the clip clean and high res or to find out more visit www.kinolibrary.com. Clip ref AB195 1970s East End of London, people eating in Pie and Mash shop
Thats Mary Cooke, in Cookes Broadway Market!....I worked there in 1965 on a Saturday...This brings back many happy memories of those days.. I also see Phyllis , Mary's sister who worked there sometimes.. Can still remember Mary calling ' Pies up Please'.....
On Friday she work 10:00 am till 6:00 goes back at 8:00 till 11:00. Before that she work till midnight, all day till midnight. work back then. I’m not cutting my hair, I don’t feel like working till midnight either, I gotta go. I’m sure they’ll understand . I’ll work 10 am till 6. Things to do. You guys cover mess up, I’ll make up for it later,
I was trying to work out which shop and she mentioned Dalston at the end. Until recently it was the Shanghai chinese restaurant . The interior and frontage are listed and has great eel mosaics at the entrance and silver eel mirror holders. The shanghai has just left and waiting to see what will become of it next.
It's a reminder of what we used to be, our collective past. I'm a northerner and have never been in a pie'n' mash shop or tasted jellied eels but I recognise the sense of community, tradition, conviviality and downright Englishness of scenes like these.
Even in the early 90s and living in London I remember they had a lot of greasy cafes serving beans on toast, fried eggs, sausages, and big mugs of tea! good times!
I listened to a documentary on R4 a few months ago, where the journalist went in search of someone who still has that accent... I think there’s a particular name for it, and he managed to find one elderly lady who still spoke that way. It makes me feel sad to think of that. My ancestry is African but i was born and bred here and I miss hearing those voices.
I used to work in a polyester factory back in the 70's. Every Friday i would go a get pie and mash during lunch time. Something about it being Friday eating pie and mash was glorious.
@@stefkadank-derpjr1453 yes it was mashed potatoe and pies made on the premises. You could have liqor (parsley sauce). Jellied eels made there aswell. The eels where kept by the front window in the one i knew as a kid. It was called Manzes that we visited for pie, mash n liqor. My nan liked jellied eels for starters. Idk what it was called before Manzes.
@@MR-pm9ub I actually went to Google and typed in mash and pies what was in the pie? And Google answered it it was great and I was wondering what the green sauce was. Google answer that as well.
this was 50 years ago and even then they are referring to back in the old days. just goes to show every generation always refers back to the `glorious old days` it seems to be human nature
These establishments, atmosphere, and heritage have a deep, deep special place in a lot of people's hearts. This food, is the food of champions, grafters, the poor, and the rich. My dear Mother brought me up on this and I will enjoy it time and time again until I join her in Heaven. In my humble opinion, the best Pie and Mash left in this green and pleasant land that is England is White's Pie and Mash in Walton on the Naze. East end, east end. Long live Cockney pride! ;)
The rich didn’t eat pie and mash. They also drove out the poor with urban regeneration, knocking down council houses and replacing them with luxury apartments for investors to buy and keep empty.
Oh, it's the best thing; discovering old recordings, footage and physical collections of the everyday, the mundane. Intensely valuable and underrated part of cataloguing and documenting history, life...thank you ever so much for uploading this.
I lived in Hackney and often had pie and mash for my school dinner in the 60s. Still plenty of shops serving it in east London today and it tastes just the same, lovely.
1:17 onwards for a bit. That young mum and her kid sharing the plate. The pie is turned his way. Sitting on the table with his fork and spoon. That is humanity, What a beautiful moment. And that kid's smile. Real Londoners. We went through some stuff, blackouts and all. One skint mum, sharing her dinner with her kid, It is beautiful in a way that people cannot maybe understand nowadays.
@@philhammond3299 yes but there are food banks everywhere. I'm in Oz, with its huge govt surpluses running into billions of $$, billions in oil and gas money coming in. And yet there are thousands living in tents and cars, can't afford rent, if yr over 50 forget about being given a job. Over here thousands are lining up for food handouts. It shouldn't be like this in a country thats so rich but it is and always will be, sadly. Bottom line is there are poor everywhere and always will be.
@@Shane-Flanagan sadly I don't think that's possible with today's different breed, examples for respect parents specially dads having the time to keep there kids in line specially boys, but as we know these days both parents are usually that busy trying to work and pay bills, due to the way the government have gone on last few years, with no pay rises but many bill rises, example two is the loss of corporal punishment at school, i used to get it most days never made me violent, but with the amount of time kids are in school environment, that corporal punishment was very important.
@@mickharrison9004 Technology has a lot to answer for too. Automatic operators, ATMs, Self service checkouts, online shopping and streaming etc. Yes they have their good points but they take away the personal touch from a service or transaction. There is nothing like stopping a while and making conversation and building up a trust and relationship between employee and customer. Generations going forward are under threat of becoming very anti social. Everything will be done online. People spend too much time stuck on phones, tablets etc and not connecting naturally with one another. It's sad. I know I'm using technology to communicate with you but there should be a limit. Everything in moderation.
@@Shane-Flanagan The dude at 1:07 was pretty rude gesturing for the change woman to hurry up lmao. There have always been rude people just as there have always been polite people.
My dad (from Ireland) moved to work in London through the late 60's and 70's. He has very fond memories of the place, and absolutely loves jellied eels.
In '68 I came over from Canada and worked on Bethnel Green Road at what was called a bacon shop (all pork). There was an eel and pie shop a short distance away. Not sure if this was the one. For a young kid from Manitoba it was all very strange to me. I preferred the steak and kidney pies from the Bagel Shop on Valence Rd, right across the road from the Kray twins' mom.
The good old days. Still love my Pie n mash and liquor but sadly so many of these traditional east end shops are and have rapidly disappeared. Such lovely EastEnders and efficient and welcoming staff. They worked so hard and such long hours but were so cheerful as you can see from this wonderful video.
@a Absolute toss. Blame the removal of rent controls, blame the huge increase in commercial rents, blame the absurdly greedy property developers and their political enablers for the erosion of communities. The working people of London, including immigrants who have always been the life of the city are the victims of these factors. There are housing estates in London with separate entrances and play areas for the rich and the poor.
they were likely sharing because she didn't have a pot to piss in. The benefits system was not very generous and pie and mash is a working class food because its cheap. They were not "good old days" I lived them and i can tell you that you would hate it. The deprivation that was even worse than today..if that can seem possible!
@@insertnamehere5146 I lived them too, I was born in 1963 and I have lovely childhood memories, it was all about family, we didn’t really know how poor we were financially, we were all in the same boat , I do get nostalgic for those days. Even though things are bad now, some children growing up in the pandemic in families where the anxiety doesn’t take over and things are kept pretty normal will take away happy memories of when they got to spend more time with their parents / family and as a result became closer .
@@andalltheangelssay212 i was also born in 63 and know from speaking to my mother and father that this period of their lives were not happy ones. They used to feed me and my sister and wait until we finished so they could eat what we left. Both my mother and father worked but we lived in a upstairs rented flat. I didnt have the responsibilities but i know how hard things were if you were working class. My mother used to have to go to her mother for food hand outs towards the end of the month. she would come back with tins of soup and beans. These were working people! I suppose if you were middle class growing up in the suburbs then it might have been very nostalgic and twee, but for a lot of working people it was miserable
Wow its wonderful to see this film of the 1970s, when I left school in 1971, so I'm Sixty four now and still remember my mum and her family lived in bermondsey, south London, mum was the eldest of twelve kids living in a tiny two bedroom no inside toilet flat and she loved her pie and mash, we went every Saturday and sat there in Tower bridge Road at manceys, there was a shop in East Lane and one in the elephant and Castle, best food in the world....... Rip Dotty b paula xxx
Ho ho! You mean Manzes! and guess what, it's still there! Goddards in Greenwich is going strong as well after a gap when they moved out of their old premises.
Hard as nails! She so casually mentioned the war and I realized she’s experienced London getting bombed by Germany and could have been killed at any point,
It breaks my heart to see this country fall apart ,, London was a amazing place with real people and characters and now it's gone no more of what we love !
@@rachelw821 that's what I meant Rachel I wasn't trying to say people are not the right colour ! But London should have Londoners in it and be the majority it's what made London special having the interesting characters , London has lost that feeling and nobody speaks to eachother anymore !
Great upload.....Like listening to my Nan's and her 6 sisters every Friday when they took me for Pie n Mash after school when we lived in the East End.Happy Days.
Lord! Why am I so obsessed with the 70’s. I reminisce of this era quite often, and cries sometimes. I wonder where the good times went? Why is it nothing stays the same? Unfortunately, things have changed for the worse, and isn’t getting better anytime soon. Well, I suppose I will just have to carryon as such, and accept things for what they are. Oh dear! So, so sad!!!!!!! 🥂🍺Cheers and beers mates!
@Sagaris Starlight Couldn't agree more. All this social engineering by the left has made things worse.. and to think they're supposed to be the ones' to help poverty. Can't see it myself. My old dad always said that lefties think they know what's best for us. Bunch of arrogant patronizing bastards, if you ask me
It's because it was your hayday. You were youthful and have fond memories. It definitely does not mean those times were better. To me, this time is way better. The next generation will feel the same way about their times. And so on and so forth. If you keep demonising today's times, you'll just keep embracing feeling miserable.
Judging by most of the comments on this video it seems that insulting people who have a different opinion to yourself has become quite common. I think that's the most disturbing trend I've noticed in the last decade. Tolerance is fast disappearing it seems :( Great video though!
@@tonygibson8086 Ha ha, you might know that but plenty don't. The expression was actually "Every one alive, with a bright eye and silver belly". A shout fortunately now relegated to dismal history.
@@ushoys I'm going to repeat this phrase in my local fishmongers ( yes we have a fishmongers the supermarkets failed to kill off ), maybe it will catch on.
I love London and fondly remember the old pie shops. But people prosper and move on, then new people move in. It’s the same in every city in the states too, it’s sad to see the old schools, churches and shops close but it’s because our parents and grandparents worked so hard to give us more choices than they had.
I assumed the portions were large and they didn’t offer kids portions. Kids plates came in the 80s and got widespread in the 90s. My mom fed me off her plate in the mid eighties because I’d waste food
I remember as a kid being taken by my parents for Pie n Mash in Manzies Chapel St Market Islington. Marble slab tables with wrought iron legs and saw dust on the floor for the old dears who spat out the bones of hot or jellied eels. Great times ;-)
A wonderful memory..my family home was very near Cookes pie shop ...you could smell the pies being cooked! I grew up knowing the Cookes family..serving our family and many generations...great Spurs supporters!!! One of the Customers I recognized as a lifetime friend's dear Mum...❤❤❤. Thank you for a very special film.. Heartfelt memories of my home.. so missed...❤❤❤
Double pie and double mash and liquer.......couldn't beat it! I remember rhe wooden benches, marble-topped tables and the white tiles on the wall. And the eels splashing in the shop window in Kingsland Road. Happy days!
SilverCharmbracelet it is and also it is good to reminisce. Had pie n mash and liquor the other day and thoroughly enjoyed it. Something magical about the green liquor (parsley sauce) with some vinegar, salt and pepper added to the mix!😁😁😁
I remember having eels & mash with liquor in F.Cooke's Eel & Pie Shop in Kingsland High Street several times in the 1980s. The live eels were on display in a tray in the window. This film may well be of that same shop. It was a great place, full of character and characters and delicious real food. Beats McDonalds or Pizza Hut any day by a country mile.
My great aunt was a Londoner, she was ancient when I was about 6 (back in the mid 80's). She used to give me and my brother snuff as a "treat" from a little snuff box, she kept on the shelf over her gas fire.. We'd be sneezing up black stuff for an hour after. How times have changed...
@SkankHunt 420 All you have to do is look into the mirror. Because you're a skank for calling poor people names. You're disgusting and I hope one day you're relegated to eating nothing but eels, maybe you'll learn a little humility. I feel so sorry for your mom.
You know it, Sonia..I mentioned it ,earlier..it was in Vanston Place, opposite the church...christ, I could murder 4 and 4, now..that's 4 pie and 4 mash, if you remember...it used to take 2 plates, of course...luvvly..x
What a totaly different country it was back then. Such great memories of growing up around the East End. Could go out as a kid play all day long without a care in the world. Now days our poor kids go out with the fear of being stabbed in London. What have we become. Its heart breaking. When the time machine is invented I'm heading straight back there.
Pie, Mash & Liquor best meal I ever had, use to go there and have a fast meal then do the Eastend for the night. Rolled home late and very happy indeed! Many happy memories of a good way of life then! Thank you!
I was born in 1970. I remember going to watch Luton Town with my Grandad in the early 80s, after one game I brought large chips for 50p and walked out with, what looked like a carrier bag load.. my Grandad went mad 😆
I loved when we'd visit England and go to the pie and mash shops, there's never been pies like them since, all the fancy pies aren't a patch on them....
Get on a bus from monday to friday in North/West/East or South London away from Central London and The City and you will be one of less than 5% Whites and most of them are over 60...
@TC G But it's NOT the working areas like Central London and The City where it is noticeable. It's blatantly apparent in the rest of Inner London and now many parts of Outer London, as well....
@@samyandkitty8399 what is ''Liquor''..I knew someone that spoke of it, as in a pie and mash shop, I think he said it was green??... but what is it? like a type of gravy? {I lived in London before moving out...but family still live there. I dislike the tall buildings there now...like a mock Manhattan. I loved it when St Pauls and the Post office tower were the tallest things..[as a kid]...too gentrified now.
@@samyandkitty8399 Sorry but pie n mash / liquor is english through and through not from poland or jewish origin. Its from the east end and docklands. Just out of interest what info do you have to support it being from other parts of europe?
@@Oakleaf700 Liquor is either water or left over water from stewed eels and mixed with parsley. Its a working class/ poor mans food so nothing went to waste. If you ever cross a shop in London do go in, as you can imagine the food is very basic and bot great to taste, but its a great expereince and they tell you the history of pie and mash from the area. All interesting insight about our history.
I remember the one in Dalston, it used to have a large tray at the front of the shop with the live eels sliding around in there! At a young age it was both frightening and fascinating at the same time!
I think the shop was called cookes? But might be wrong, I went there twenty years later and it had turned into a Chinese karaoke restaurant, but all the old silver chrome and green tiles were still there!
That was brill it looked like it might have been Cooke's on Broadway market..I was born in 1958 and lived and grew up around goldsmith row.. and was brought up on proper pie mash... thanks for sharing..kind regards Dave 😁👍👍👍👍👍
Growing up in Fulham, I used to spend most of Saturdays, in the pie and mash shop in Vanston Place..that would be the late sixties, onwards...I miss it..
Yamabushi is telling you fibs! The only thing you will recognise is? That leaving the country was the best thing you did! England is ok I suppose if you have a lot of money and live in a gated community on a private estate in Hampstead!
@@mattysykes2121 Aye. Rainbow coloured police cars, Muslim call to high prayer echoing through the streets, people getting stabbed by mud savages in the streets, decent folks being arrested for "misgendering" someone. Not exactly the beefeater & bowler hat image we used to have, is it.
@@starryeyes2810 yes i know, but all i am saying is lets not be dewey eyed and nostalgic over a period that was horrible for working people and the poor
Just reminds me of castles all the faces and bet your life the lady in Cooke’s knew each and everyone sitting in the pie shop,god bring back that Great Britain
@@Sonnyblack100 That remark is typical of the kind of modern day attitude we don't need. If you are young then I understand - that is how you have been dragged up while watching The Apprentice and Love Island. If you're older then I'm afraid to say that you are a complete and utter twat.
My word what gr8 footage .I lived in vic park at that time .I used to go in there .Might even be in this film Sadly shop closed down , but was one of the best.Pies were bigger aswell and no one today can recreate that pastry , not Maureens , Manzies , kellys or even cookes in hoxton.
I would have given my eye teeth to have been there in that time. What lucky people. That place and those times are worth more than any holiday or fast car.
I was there. It was cold, dark, wet and dirty. TV had one channel and was on from 5pm til 10:30pm. No central heating. The coal fire had to be lit every morning by the first person out of bed and you took a bath about once a month because it took hours to warm enough water. Nobody had a car. You walked or took a bus, often needing to change buses along the journey. I had a one mile walk at each end of my journey to school, usually in the rain. Oh - and dentistry? They pulled out teeth that went rotten and that was it. Nobody even heard of fillings. It hurt like hell because the anesthetic was always administered badly. At the 'clinic', you could hear the other children screaming with pain during extraction and you knew that would soon be you. Yeah, the good old days...
@@qwadratix and you knew and trusted your neighbours , families would stay in the same locale for generations , building networks , communities of people who shared a culture and way of life . Modern London is full of alienated tribes with nothing to hold them together . The old days weren't a golden age of joy but no-one who was around then can deny that something very important has been lost .
@@Ashby81uk you're a moron. Hope everyone gets taught what lgbt is and relationships and maybe future adults won't be as narrow minded and bigoted as you.
Great watching this a time when people were more genuine and comfortable with themselves today there's to much drama and complexities it's hard to be yourself today without someone being offended or upset I grew up in Birmingham myself but love the warmth and genuine manner of these people real down to earth folk
It reminds me of my childhood. So sad the change is not for better but for the worst. I wish that time would come back. It's never gonna happen. It cannot be yesterday once more Sadly.
@Sienna Love. well said. Hopefully one day,we will get a bit of common sense and resort back to a lot of the older ways of living. Something has broken in today's society. I am sure it was far from perfect in the past,but people seemed to be happier with their lot. At 51 I have worked all of my adult life and never owned a car or a house. Yet all of my nieces and nephews had cars as soon as they turned 17. I love them all,but they have been ruined,and don't seem to realise the value of things at all.
Oh happy days. Used to spend summers with my Nan and Granddad and all my close relatives in and around East Ham. Loved going to the pie and mash shop, still love it to this day
I was brought up on pie n mash. That looks like broadway market one. I’m so happy we still have pie n mash shops scattered around London and around Essex etc
I'm a Mancunian born and bred. I remember trips to London when I was a kid in the late 70's, it seemed like a foreign country; the accent, the pie and mash, the quick wit, the famous tourist traps, the clever sense of humour, the hustle and bustle that made Manchester seem like a small town. But it was very English. Now when I visit London, it really does seem like a foreign country.
Sadly i am not from London but i've always wanted to try the very famous 'pie and mash'. I'm not sure about the jellied eels but is that because i wasn't brought up with them i wonder. It's so lovely to see the different traditions our country holds and its so important to pass them down through the generations to keep them alive !
@@stormytempest3907 dream on. you want "values" like that,go live in a 3rd world country which is what britain was back then unless you were well heeled. these people are eating this shitty food is because its cheap. its obvious you wernt around then or you would not be chatting so much shit
James notice the click picture for this video is of a woman sharing her food with her young son? that's what it was like back then. My parents also ate what me and my sister left...ah! the good ole days.......thank fuck they are gone! I never had fresh orange juice until I was in my teens.
lvnndr unfortunately not - it’ll be forever gone now. Modern Londonistan is nothing but a cesspool of Welfare claimers, stabbing each other and spitting on the Indigenous culture of Britain.
I grew up pretty middle class but my grandparents were of cockney stock so I grew up used to lots of the wonderful accents and expressions you can hear in the video. It's sad to see what we left behind. Is today's London an improvement on this? I wish it was but it just isn't.
If only we could bring those days back...my mum use to work in a pie mash shop , every night she came home she would bring home what was left at the end of the night.. So many good memories, I would always choose to go back in time..life just seemed so much better before Social Media mobile phones and without so many people on TV believing they are important.... Oh and without so much violence...
