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Sunday 5 August 2012

Nettle beer, anyone?


Some of the cottages on the opposite side of the track from Royds Hall Farm are also very old. The white rendered house (which I understand is Heaton Royds Farm) has a datestone above the door saying 1632.  The cottages further back are a bit more recent I believe, or at least were altered and added to in the 18th and 19th centuries.  
The hamlet, on the edge of Heaton Woods, is known locally as 'Six Days Only'.  I understand that this is because at one time (within living memory) they served refreshments here, notably homemade dandelion and burdock pop and nettle beer - but never on Sundays!  I have spoken to several local people who remember quite clearly coming here as children and drinking the pop - they say it was wonderful.  
I have always had a liking for dandelion and burdock, ever since I was a child watching my uncles play cricket in the village team. My dad used to give me sixpence to buy a bottle from the pavilion. The taste of the pop and the smell of old wood and sweat in the pavilion will stay with me forever.

9 comments:

  1. I love all those houses you're showing those days! To me, they 're "real England".
    And the fact that you have memories linked to them is a pleasure more..

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  2. Three beverages I've never tasted, or even been aware of. Is nettle beer alcoholic or is it like root beer and just another pop?

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    1. Only two drinks Jim, 'dandelion & burdock' pop is one drink with two ingredients. I think nettle beer is alcoholic but I'm not sure that it's very strong.

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  3. Charming. So nice to hear of long ago memories of a place you still visit.

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  4. We have root beer over here, as well as birch beer and ginger beer. Those are new to me. It looks like a quiet and charming neighborhood.

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  5. We always knew it as "6 days only" and I recently read that there once was a market garden out the back of the cottages that was owned by a chap who wouldn't open it on the Sabbath hence the name. The origin is probably one of those things lost in time now but you certainly could buy the nettle beer on Sundays. In the 1960's dad and I used to walk there on a Sunday afternoon, dad would get a pint and I was allowed a half pint that we'd drink sitting outside the cottages on a wooden bench.I can still remember it so well, it was a golden slightly fizzy liquid - I suspect that it probably was alcoholic but not sure what percentage! The lady at the cottage used to make dandelion and burdock too but it was the nettle beer she was noted for. Such happy memories for me of days out with my dad.

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    1. Sounds like you have some wonderful memories. You may well be right about how the name came about. I wasn't living round here in the 60s so I've only gleaned information from what others have said. Or maybe the '6 days only' rule got relaxed as time went on!

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  6. It was green and delicious and cost only 3 old pennies (= 1p +) a glass. Never tried the dandelion and burdock.

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  7. I lived on Avondale Road until 1969 (when I was five) and remember walking through the woods to Six Days Only for the lovely nettle beer (I never saw dandelion & burdock but that may have been because they sold that at the chippy in Saltaire so we wanted the unique nettle beer!) We were *told* it was non-alcoholic pop... We assumed the name came from the nettle beer lady, but that was just what we heard; I've also seen the article that the previous commenter mentions, about the nursery, which sounds convincing. Do you know what the inscription on the date stone means? Lovely pictures, happy memories; thanks!

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