Fratton Park's 50 fascinating facts

Here you are Dev - just right for your quizzes

GROWING up just down the road from Fratton Park, Kevin Smith was always going to have an affinity with Pompey’s famous home. Now, after years of checking through archives and copies of The News, he’s written an e-book called The (Secret) History of Fratton Park.

Full of fascinating nuggets of information - such as:

and (one of my favourites - SB3 woz there )

even our friends down the road get a mention;

 

Are the halcyon days of the hot summer of 1976........ You used to get a tie when you drank 6 pints of Horndean Special Brew in a lunch hour at that time!

 

Gales Ales? A shame I was far too young to partake, being at Padnell Infants school in '76!

 

I was barely old enough to drink, but had a local Gales pub that served me as I was tall for my real age! The Gales Brewery was at Horndean, they used to do a brewery tour there, not sure if they still do that now they are owned by Fullers or whatever they are now!

 

More interesting snippets:

another little bit of Pompey's place in history;

but this one really made me laugh;

 

I drank 6 pints of Gales Cider at lunchtime, on my last day at school. Had to catch a double decker bus to Fareham (via the backend of Portchester). Made the mistake of sitting upstairs(to smoke) and ended up throwing up, on my hands and knees, in Fareham bus station toilets. Ah, the glamour of drink!

 

These are great 3rd eye - keep 'em coming

 

How were you too young Dev? Fullers bought out Gales in 2005....and still continue to sell HSB (unfortunately now made with Thames Water and not the Horndean Spring).

You want to know anything about Gales/Fullers then just ask! Myself and the wife were heavily involved in the pub trade in 2005/2006.

 

So hands up anyone who knew about this then.......

 

Ah, HSB. That was a cracking pint, now sadly a pale shadow of its former glory.

HSB. RIP.

 

Gales produced lovelly beer, HSB being an especially fine pint, until Fullers got their hands on them. It's funny how perceptions change, back in the 70s Fullers were hailed by CAMRA as a shining light among the independents, fiercely resisting being taken over by one of the 'Big Six' of that era (Courage, Watney, Whitbread, Allied, Scottish & Newcastle and Bass-Charrington if memory serves) and now they are guilty of the very same crime.

 

Ah such memories of gales! The Hampshire Bowman, and HSB out of the barrel, and The Newport Inn at Braishfield light mild, and winter warmer! Nectar of the gods!!

 

At the danger of ending up in pseuds corner, the beer had a lovely caramel aftertaste. It went down like a velvet slipper, which was lethal as I seem to recall it was about 4.8%ABV?

 

I remember it being called "High Speed Bitter"...... HSB is good for me!

 

This thread is starting to make me thirsty

 

I can tell - all the interesting facts in this thread have been wasted.......... or not........ as many of you appear to have been in 1976

 

I found this selection of TV ads on youtube.

[video=youtube;zMFNh5wVLV8]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zMFNh5wVLV8[/video]

I think we need some more facts to take us of the scent of ale 3rd eye

 

Ah they don't make adverts like this anymore eh - although Skol was a bit disappointing...... imagine having to imagine what could be in an empty glass.