anyone remember them im sure they where red and yellow with a picture on who looked a bit like reg varney

I remember seeing them about. I seem to remember they always had a driver and a van lad. I did hear stories that you were never short of cream buns to scoff. :)

Originally posted by Lickszz
I remember seeing them about. I seem to remember they always had a driver and a van lad. I did hear stories that you were never short of cream buns to scoff. :)

Lickszz, that's an awful thing to say about those fine upstanding chaps from Fletchers.....true but awful. We had a neighbour who always used to keep the van man "cough" talking for a long time! and she was never short of buns or bread either.

Fletchers were very handy and should still be around.

Elephants feet.:bigsmile:

I remember my pals and I hanging on to the steel pole for an uninvited ride as the van travelled up Standon Road, Wincobank. The driver [can't remember if the poor soul resembled Reg Varney] used to shout and tell us off. As for the buns, they were delicious, and the company definately did not deserve to be pilloried in the Wincobank playground song ;"Fletcher's bread tastes like lead, when you eat it you drop dead". Biting satire, eh?

Their coffee cake was the mutts nutts. When Fletchers decided not to run the vans as an integral part of their business I believe a lot of the drivers carried on in a self employed basis.

I saw one earlier this week filling up with fuel in Law bros service station, Hillsboro'. It wasn't sign written but was painted in the same red and cream livery (faded and tatty).

Originally posted by Modesty
Elephants feet.:bigsmile:

nowt finer:thumbsup:

Tha't reet theere, Kirky.

mmmm... we always had snowballs .. I assume because they were cheaper and Mum couldn't afford anything with fresh cream :)

Those green frogs were good as well, with fresh cream inside.

i use to like a guy that drove a fletchers van, name was Terry Cox, he had a lazy eye, i think he married a girl called Vallerie

dont eat Fletchers bread
it makes you S**t like lead
no bloody wonder
you fart like thunder
dont eat Fletchers bread

bdum tisch

i am a Fletcher!! we Rule!!!

seen the bread and the frozen food vans about but not any others

"Fresh as tomorrow
Good for me, good for you,
Don't wait till tomorrow,
Better fetch a Fletcher's loaf."

As heard on Radio Hallam about 500 times a day around 1980.

Always loved the cunning rhyming of the word 'tomorrow' with the word 'tomorrow'. :P

Originally posted by Damon
"Fresh as tomorrow
Good for me, good for you,
Don't wait till tomorrow,
Better fetch a Fletcher's loaf."

As heard on Radio Hallam about 500 times a day around 1980.

Always loved the cunning rhyming of the word 'tomorrow' with the word 'tomorrow'. :P
lol i forgot about the ad on hallam:clap:
worse ad on hallam in the 80s has to be the DC COOK one
LOOK ONCE
LOOK TWICE
LOOK FOR THE DC COOK SIGN

was sang by a local person who sounded like the singer out of aussie wimp rockers AIR SUPPLY it also had a shakatak funky type backing
very scary:help: :help: :help:

yes i remember them they used to come to dronfield very nice buns if i remember :thumbsup:

yes timo i used to do the very same thing down vauxhall road.

cream slices were best.

Originally posted by Damon
"Fresh as tomorrow
Good for me, good for you,
Don't wait till tomorrow,
Better fetch a Fletcher's loaf."

As heard on Radio Hallam about 500 times a day around 1980.

Always loved the cunning rhyming of the word 'tomorrow' with the word 'tomorrow'. :P

What about.....

"Mr Hodgekiss, Mr Hodgekiss"
"What is it now lad?"

"P&A Jewellery, The Old Bank, Commonside, Walkley. Only a minute by bus from t'university, or catch a 95 bus...?"

I'll get me coat, then, shall I?

Tara, I find it somehow reassuring to think that I was carrying on a tradition of Fletchers Van- riding as a Standon Road lad, that you had engaged in a few years earlier. It must be part of low Wincobank culture! I remember the driver stopping the van, and getting out to shout at me,"You again, you're like summat not reet". We were, it has to be said, like a pack of demented ghouls. I used to take cheek to an extreme, and ask the drivers if they "had owt for a penny". This would invariably provoke a withering response such as, "What's tha think it is? Charity week at Butlins", followed by "Gerrrofff!". Salad days...

yeah we use to stand on the back ledge get on at top of vauxhall road and jump off before he turned the corner at the bottom of barrow road.



we also loved jumping across the great big sand tips on top of standon road.

Tara, I think those big sand tips became Standon Drive and Standon Crescent! Sorry to Panda if we are going off the thread a bit with Wincobank nostalgia...

havent i seen an old fletchers van with sids pantry wrote on or something. who took over the vans after fletchers.

About a million years ago when I was a lad I was sacked off the vans for sucking the cream out of some chocolate eclairs.

Not proud of it npow but that's life.

Happy Days!

Sorry folks I didn't finish the posting off before sending.

I must have suffered a 'Senior Moment' so please forgive me.

I used a straw carefully injected into the end of the eclairs.

I thought no one would notice.

How wrong I was.

OY YOU:rant: I bought one of them...lol. I bet you will sleep easier tonight pop, now you've got that off your concience.

Originally posted by panda79
anyone remember them im sure they where red and yellow with a picture on who looked a bit like reg varney

We used to sing:

Fletchers Bread
Made of Lead
if you eat it
You'll drop dead.

Actually the The trifles in the white paper cups were yummy.

Our breadman said he was called Fred Fanackapan, but i I think he may have been having us on :)

Originally posted by PopT
About a million years ago when I was a lad I was sacked off the vans for sucking the cream out of some chocolate eclairs.

Not proud of it npow but that's life.

Happy Days!

Hey Pop, you ain't the one who sucked the chocolate off Payne's Poppitts and sold them as 'fresh' peanuts are you?:gag:

No, Markham.

You're getting me mixed up with my brother Johnny!

He could tell you how milk got into coconuts!


Happy Days!

Oh I remember the Fletchers van. We as sisters used to get sent out to get a plain white loaf and if we were lucky got to have a yummy jam donut or elephants foot. Dya remember the buns with rice paper on top with a picture you could eat? I thought they were great. I got a white loaf once and it dropped out of the paper bag and bounced down the hill, I gathered it up and dusted it off and haven't dared tell Mum yet!

The staff who drove the Fletchers vans were given the chance to buy them, and work them as a franchise, just the produce being supplied by Fletchers, I think it all stopped when, price wise, they could not compete with the likes of Morrisons etc.
The van which came round our local area at Sheffield Lane Top was driven by a local guy called Ian, And as for Chezzlyn dusting dropped buns, I'm going to tell her mum!!! Ha! Ha!

The custards were top notch!

The custards definately were "top notch". Does anyone remember those buns in the shape of snowmen? I can taste them still. I wonder if my fellow, ex-Wincobanker, Tara can recall chomping and munching these lovely delicasies on Vauxhall Road? My sister [Wendy] and I remember chasing the van up Standon Road for them, near Xmas. Bring them back, and while we're at it, bring back Rington's Tea vans as well!

Interesting the coment about Rington's tea vans, since we moved to Scarborough to live, we have noticed Ringtons vans doing the rounds, have they stopped in Sheffield?

My mum used to get 4 vinilla slices a DAY from the fletchers man when she was pregnant with me... lol... I'm surprised I didnt turn out looking like a big vinilla slice :D

apperently the fletchers man gave my dad 4 free slices after I'd been born as a gift to my mum for buying so many... lol

I've not seen one round our end for a good while, when did they stop anyways? I remember nagging my mum a lot when he came round for sweets and buns :D

Originally posted by timo
I remember my pals and I hanging on to the steel pole for an uninvited ride as the van travelled up Standon Road, Wincobank. The driver [can't remember if the poor soul resembled Reg Varney] used to shout and tell us off. As for the buns, they were delicious, and the company definately did not deserve to be pilloried in the Wincobank playground song ;"Fletcher's bread tastes like lead, when you eat it you drop dead". Biting satire, eh?

I think Steven Sanderson's (lived on Standon Crescent) dad worked on the Standon Estate Fletchers van for a while in the early 70's.

Originally posted by panda79
anyone remember them im sure they where red and yellow with a picture on who looked a bit like reg varney yes i remember them well ,the drivers were on some sort of bonus for the number of deliverys,so they used to drive like mad ,one came down our road one afternoon and knocked one of our 10 year old mates off is bike into a steelpost .he was in a coma for aweek then died.if that drivers still alive i hope he has nightmares.

Deadgobby [what a delightful name],
Was it definately the driver's fault? I ask this question, because a work colleague drove into and killed a young boy in Liverpool, and it was definately not her fault. She has nightmares, I can assure you. Are you positive that the driver was totally to blame? Even if he was, is there no possibility of forgiveness here?

Ah, the Fletchers Vans.

I remember them calling at Chamberlain Court, Chapeltown, circa 1987, and dashing out onto the cul-de-sac as the van sounded the familiar wail.

I'd jump up the two extended steps at the rear and smell the various bakery products as I waited patiently for the driver to strut down the central aisle to serve me.

I always used to buy a sausage roll and a "blue drink" (a carton with a red straw), plus a bun if my mum had given me enough change. I'd thank the Fletcher's Man, who, in my distorted memory resembled Peter Falk of Columbo fame, but in reality probably just had bushy hair and a moustache.

I used to run home and devour my meal as I sat comfortably upon "My Step", the edge of a paving slab at the bottom of my old back garden. Ah, to be young again...

By the by, my mate's dad worked for Fletchers. I seem to recall him occasionally bringing the massive lorries home and parking them outside his house. All the kids used to gather around and stare.

Originally posted by timo
Deadgobby [what a delightful name],
Was it definately the driver's fault? I ask this question, because a work colleague drove into and killed a young boy in Liverpool, and it was definately not her fault. She has nightmares, I can assure you. Are you positive that the driver was totally to blame? Even if he was, is there no possibility of forgiveness here? yes it definately was is fault[ speeding !!!i ]don't know what age the driver was proberly
young.as for your friend ask her if her nightmares are the same quality as that boys mother!!!!.[forgiveness] unless your some halfwitted christian or whatever thats just another term for accetptance of the frustration and hatered u feel in side your self.

In the 80's I used to live on the Wisewood estate and the fletchers van used to come down Studfirld Road evry afternoon. They used to sell lovely jam and cream doughnuts, the apple pies were gorgeous too. The van was like an ambulance and you had to step into the back of it to be served at the counter. The van always smelt of sugar and bread.

Originally posted by little malc
Interesting the coment about Rington's tea vans, since we moved to Scarborough to live, we have noticed Ringtons vans doing the rounds, have they stopped in Sheffield?
Yes, they're still around, but you don't see as many as you used to.

Fletchers Bakeries are still going strong from their premises on Claywheels Lane at Wadsley Bridge in Sheffield.

Since 1999 they have been wholly owned by ***Northern Foods and employ over 700 people on the site, producing a wide range of fresh and frozen bread, rolls and speciality bakery products, including burger buns, muffins, doughnuts and scones.

Many products are produced under various Supermarket's own labels, so you could well be still enjoying Fletchers produce without realising it.

Although the small door to door vans have long since gone, Fletchers now operate a large fleet of articulated trucks, making bulk deliveries to Regional Distribution Centres all over the country, for onward dispatch to the supermarkets.

***Northern Foods also owned Barchelors from 1986 to 2003.

the "old" Fletchers van still runs round Lower Shiregreen he sells more than just bread and cakes now though, you know when he`s here when he sounds his non standard horn !!!! must be half my family works at fletchers :headbang:

Yeah I remember the bread van. It used to scare me to death as a kid cos our bread man looked just like the child catcher in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. I was convinced that the sides of the van would fall away and leave me caged! .

We lived at Hallam Head - Hallam Grange Rise, on the way to Lodge Moor. I remember our mum hanging a teatowel in the window (over the net curtains) to signal to the Fletchers Man. Can't remember now if it was to tell him she wanted something, or didn't, but whatever it was, they had an arrangement that worked. Either way, we never had free buns in our house! ;o)

Originally posted by craigmason


yes i remember them they used to come to dronfield very nice buns if i remember :thumbsup:


What did Gunstones at Dronfield do back then ?


Fletchers / Northern Foods now own them too. Nowadays they do a lot of ready made sandwiches.

I live in Bolton Lancashire and we have Ringtons tea delivered every 2 weeks Maureen

Fletchers Bread vans did a service just like the postman. My wife was expecting our first when she fell over whilst going out to get something and he helped her to her feet and back home.

My dad always said that old man Fletcher was a true communist
and shared his profits with his workers. Don't know whether he meant in shares or in their pay packets.
If true quite idealistic in those days.
hazel

Fletchers are always looking for casual workers.

G.H.Fletcher founded the bakery, originally in Kirk St., back at the turn of the century, and it stayed in the family until recently.

George was a leading member of the Communist Party in Sheffield from its foundation. He was also a member of the CP Central Committee. He went to Moscow several times, the first in 1922. He was interchangebaly described as 'a capitalist with a conscience' (his preference) or lots of other demeaning things by his critics - who criticised what they perceived to be hypocrisy.

George was also a leading trade unionist, an official for the trades council and sat on the local Board of Guardians. He went to jail several times (before and after WW1), was instrumental in the general strike and went to London with the unemployed hunger marchers. Unsurprisingly, he was something of a local celebrity.

I don't think he shared his profits, but apparantly gave out free bread during the blitz, and was probably the only bakery owner to staff the picket lines when the Bakers' union went on strike!

His son was an activist, but to a lesser extent and his grandson not at all - and was ultimately responsible for the place being sold to Northern Foods a few years ago.

Check out Leaven of Life by Nellie Connole (1961 - should be in library if anyone is interested).

A sanitised and official history of the bakery was also published a couple of years ago.

Originally posted by Modesty
Elephants feet.:bigsmile:


I love these.but we lucky to still have these vans up our area.and aslo parks outside at my daughters school when the days over.and she never belive me about these buns till she started school and tried one,and they still taste the same when i was a kid.

didn't have Fletcher's vans round our way .... but did have something similar called "Wonderloaf" ... or was it "Wunderloaf"?
...whatever.... elephant's feet are good!

i use to like a guy that drove a fletchers van, name was Terry Cox, he had a lazy eye, i think he married a girl called Vallerie

I worked as a van lad at Fletchers and remember Terry Cox. a great guy.
My drivers were Ray Williams, Johnny Motley and Eric Adligton. All wonderful chartacters. I know Johnny passed away and supect that Ray may have too, but hope not. I would love to get in touch with Ray (if living) and Eric again if anyone knows of their whereabouts.

As well as the wholesale vans there were of course the retail vans that toured the housing estates.

I spent many happy tears at the firm working later in both the bread and confectioary plants

the "old" Fletchers van still runs round Lower Shiregreen he sells more than just bread and cakes now though, you know when he`s here when he sounds his non standard horn !!!! must be half my family works at fletchers :headbang:

That would be my old drinking pal Brian Lowson

When I lived on the Arbourthorne (mid 70's) a Fletchers van reversed into the lampost outside our house - buns everywhere! The driver was dazed and by the time the ambulance arrived the van had been cleared out by the locals! Great day - not much happened around there as you can tell

mmmm... we always had snowballs .. I assume because they were cheaper and Mum couldn't afford anything with fresh cream :)

Ahhh.... so sad, can you run to elephants feet now, or shall we have a whip round?

My dad worked for many years at Fletchers, unlike most of the employees at the ‘bread factory’ he was a fully qualified master baker.

The loaves were cooked in tins that ran on a conveyer belt through the ovens, picture the scene: it’s the end of a nightshift and the foreman is counting off the last loaves out of the oven, hundreds of them, all identical, then the last loaf trundles out and it is an exquisitely crafted ‘french horn plait’

The conversation (through gritted teeth) usually went “Look…I know its you….stoppit!”

Sometimes i wished they would bring fletchers vans back, as these were very handy especially for the odd item one forgot from the shops.
i remember living on the white estate at Aston that the local shope were an hour way and when the fletchers vans came round it was usually with a sigh of relief. but i found there bread really fresh and their sticky buns lovely.
Mostley living out there people would rely on these vans even though the items would cost a little more than normally, but there again to have the items delivered to your door was worth it.
We was on the shirecliffe estate visiting friends and guess what came round the bend, a fletchers van.

They used to come on our street in Rawmarsh in the 70s. The van played a little tune like the ice cream van. My auntie used this as a cover: when the real ice cream van came and my cousin asked for one she would be told "its only the bread man!".

Remember it well on Standon Rd,used to help th guy deliver in 60s,did Wincobank then on to Chap,used to give me a vanilla slice or custard for helping him,can't remember his name but he wasn't very old then.

[I used to work at Flechers delivering around West Melton and Wath not one of the better routes wages were very poor £9-10shillings a week including sales bonus this was about 1970 i had a bedford fleet number 13 and when i wrote it of at Thorpe Hesley they replaced it with a ford transit but kept same fleet number they were a good firm to work for them days.