BRIGG MEMORIES OF SUNDAY NIGHTS SPENT IN SUPPERS' CORNER

 

Suppers' Corner remains a fondly remembered Brigg drinking and discussion group we were invited to join in the mid-1980s.
It became a Brigg institution on Sunday nights at the Servicemen's Club, on Coney Court, taking its name from the location on corner seats and tables at the far end of the lounge.
There was a core up to a dozen regular members, the majority of whom were connected with local sports clubs, particularly football.
The Suppers were delegated, in turn, to visit the bar for another round of drinks - usually bitters like Scotch, Smiths or Newcastle Brown.
Following a few pints apiece, the cry would go up: "Crisp round!" And someone would head off to ask the steward or bar staff to cover a circular metal tray with bags of crisps (assorted flavours), nuts and pork scratchings.
As members discussed that weekend's Brigg sporting performances and other local topics, the only breaks came when representatives of Servicemen's Club sections (football, pigeons and angling) arrived to sell a range of fundraising raffle and scratch-off tickets.
Once closing time arrived, some members headed off for 'one of each' - fish & chips still being available then in Brigg that late in the evening, even at weekends.
Sometimes a Sunday night visit to Suppers' Corner alerted us to potential articles for the Scunthorpe Telegraph. The best example was Prince Charles being aboard the Royal Train parked at Brigg railway station, which became a 'front page lead' story. Among many others was someone who kept a pet chicken in their kitchen!
Some veterans of Suppers' Corner still live locally; sadly, a number of other regulars from that period are no longer with us.
In the latter category was a well-known ex-footballer who, having finished another pint, would rattle his glass on the wooden table to indicate that another round was due.
This practice still continues on Brigg licensed premises at weekends, but we'll leave you to guess who employs it...