Coffee Houses & cafes, we all used them when we were kids. I spent most of my earlier teenage years in Balsall Heath it seemed that there was at least two coffee bars on each street there. The main function of these coffee bars in that area being bases for ladies of the evening, working girls or just plain scrubbers whatever the name you used for them.
Putting all that to one side, for us as kids they were exiting places. No adults to tell us what we could or couldn’t do, plenty of loud up to date music and discounting the aforementioned ladies a good mix of the sexes. Now I know most of the young girls I knew in these places were not supposed to have been there at all, they had more than likely told their parents they were going somewhere else.
I know that these places were frowned upon by our parents, but I think they did a good job of keeping us off the streets at night, even if they didn’t keep us out of bad company.
So what was your favourite cafe or coffee bar. There were all sorts, from the El Sombrero on Bristol St to the El Greco in Nechells and the Medina in Balsall Heath. What did you think of your favourite one and what did you get up to there.
Phil