Ged Jones

The Talbot cat has switched on my memory and much more than that deceased puss has came flooding back, here are few more morsels. Commis-Chef Dave and I decided to explore the Talbot attic and found evidence that part of this vast area, had at some time been a living space, complete with old decorated…

Before I started work at Derann, Derek invited me along to watch one of the film shows Derann Film Services regularly put on at various local workingmen’s clubs, and this is where I met John(ny) Thompson. John worked as a TV engineer for one of the big TV rental companies, a first rate electrician and…

As you may recall, I had two stints at the Talbot, one lasting 8-9 months and the second around 6 years. There was a large friendly cat at the Talbot during my first period there, in truth it wasn’t exactly the Talbots’ cat, it belonged to a long serving member of staff in her 90’s,…

The Talbot was a just a minutes walk from the Town Hall, so it wasn’t surprising that I should have my first taste of live theatre there. I saw the Stourbridge Amateur Operatic Societies annual productions for a number of years including, Oliver!, Showboat and Half A Sixpence, as well as several Gilbert and Sullivan…

I didn’t have long to wait for a new position as Les, a former student pal, quickly got me a job at Birminghams’ New Street Station, working as one of four second chefs in their very busy Taurus Restaurant & Bar. Hours were of the shift type, 7am-2.30pm and 2.30pm-10pm, and during that winter, the…

It was 1967, I was 19 and my days at University had come to an end, so with my City & Guilds qualifications in hand, I found a temporary position as second chef, while ‘Mad Jimmy’ took a months leave to tour Northern Europe. The Talbot Hotel, was a 17th century coaching inn, complete with…

With my days at Secondary Modern School at an end, I decided on a career in  catering, which meant three years training; one year on a pre-catering course at the Wulfrun  College, followed by two years at Wolverhampton Polytechnic, now niftily renamed the Wolverhampton University. The final two years were filled with lessons on housekeeping,…

I’ve always enjoyed the pleasure of reading, with my earliest memories being that of Nevil Shutes’ ‘A Town Like Alice’, however once I’d read ‘The Time Machine’ and ‘War of the Worlds’ I was primarily interested in Science Fiction for the remainder of my erly teen years, reading nearly all of Wells’ fantasy output as…

By now my brother could be found regularly strumming a guitar, but I don’t think that any of us really thought that we had a budding Hank Marvin or Bert Weedon in the house. In a few years he would soon be walking around in a Kaftan, with a brass medal or bell on a…