Heaton Street Shops in the 50's - I remember 2 sweet shops (they were called sweet shops but sold everything, like Ronnie Barker's Open all Hours), one just a few doors away from my house, the other towards The Flat end of the street, there was also an outdoor (off-lencense) where you could buy draft ale - you initially purchased a large brown bottle and then had it refilled thereafter (recycling is not such a new concept). This outdoor was only yards away from where I lived and from the age of 5 onwards (the licensing laws must have been far more liberal then) I remember being sent to get our bottle re-filled, the bottle had just a cork stopper and after filling a paper label was put over the cork to deter unauthorised sampling.
I don't remember what the ale was, chances are it was Ansell's mild; like the other shops the outdoor was a converted terraced house.
I watched fascinated as the licensee used a copper funnel with a really long tube which reached almost to bottom of the bottle, this was a cleaver design as filling from the bottom of the bottle produces less froth and so the filling time is minimised, important if there was a queue.
Peg.