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The Burger Van

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The Burger Van

Postby Pepper Pig » Tue Jul 28, 2020 1:32 pm

Another nostalgic piece of writing.

https://www.pelliclemag.com/home/hand-held-rebellion

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Re: The Burger Van

Postby Suelle » Tue Jul 28, 2020 1:45 pm

My sister and I used to help a neighbour on his burger van occasionally, in the late 60s. It was mainly a various village fetes on summer weekends, not a regular job for him.

It was a very simple affair in those days - thin beef burgers or hot dogs in a soft bun, with or without fried onions, and a choice of tomato ketchup or mustard. Nothing else.
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Re: The Burger Van

Postby Busybee » Tue Jul 28, 2020 2:01 pm

I know the burger van she writes about on Devil’s Bridge well, maybe a little too well :oops:

BB

Lovely piece of writing again PP. something about food writing recently, it’s really catching the mood.

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Re: The Burger Van

Postby smitch » Tue Jul 28, 2020 2:25 pm

I love Katie’s writing, she’s heavily involved in the beer scene. Pellicle is a great magazine, I follow a lot of the people involved in Twitter.

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Re: The Burger Van

Postby Pampy » Tue Jul 28, 2020 2:37 pm

Gosh - that brings back some lovely memories!

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Re: The Burger Van

Postby Stokey Sue » Tue Jul 28, 2020 3:04 pm

Hmm - living as I did by the seaside in the 60s where there were many vans and stalls, in central London in the 70s where we had mainly handcarts it’s not something I could ever get nostalgic about

The vile stench was bad enough and the risk of food poisoning quite real, the only reason I could see for patronising them was if desperate for a hot drink, and I did sometimes stop at one in a lay-by on the A3 for coffee. Some were used for distribution and selling of street drugs and more for the laundering of the profits

Not my thing

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Re: The Burger Van

Postby Pampy » Tue Jul 28, 2020 3:11 pm

The thing about the burger van is about far more than the food it sold. Devil's Bridge is a HUGE biker meeting place and has a terrific atmosphere.
Last edited by Pampy on Wed Jul 29, 2020 11:05 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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Re: The Burger Van

Postby jeral » Tue Jul 28, 2020 4:23 pm

Burger vans are more suited to some places than others maybe. At a fairground or seaside or along with other street food it's part and parcel, although one parked in a B&Q carpark daily was a peg-on-the-nose jobby for me when I went (which at the time was often).

I was thinking that with a burst of sunshine it'd be only five minutes before the chimes on an icecream van were heard, but not this year. New normal I suppose.

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Re: The Burger Van

Postby Pepper Pig » Tue Jul 28, 2020 4:30 pm

Oddly enough we’ve had the ice cream van throughout lockdown!

And no. I haven’t.

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Re: The Burger Van

Postby jeral » Tue Jul 28, 2020 4:40 pm

I probably would now if I could get there quick enough, just to relive the delight of a Flake, sprinkles and raspberry sauce on a giant cone, much the better because your mum said you could have one :D

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Re: The Burger Van

Postby Stokey Sue » Tue Jul 28, 2020 4:57 pm

In the hot days in May the ice cream van turned up by the park gates. No gloves, mask or sanitiser.

I went without

The gelateria up the road had good hygiene and he was very careful to handle the cone only by the paper covering

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Re: The Burger Van

Postby Earthmaiden » Tue Jul 28, 2020 5:39 pm

I don't think I've lived anywhere where an ice cream van came round since I was about 4. I can still remember the anticipation though.

As for burger vans, they certainly are part of certain scenarios but have never really excited me. I have usually chosen hot dogs over burgers but there used to be a late night van in Moreton in Marsh which we frequented after an evening in the pub with friends which did delicious cheeseburgers.

My trip down memory lane is always the chip stalls in Gt Yarmouth market place - nothing beats them! The smell and sound of the scoop picking up the chips .... Magic1

When I used to visit the USA, my guy's idea of a perfect outing was a trip to Home Depot (like B&Q) :roll: followed by corn dogs from a van in the car park. They were very good.

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Re: The Burger Van

Postby Linnet » Wed Jul 29, 2020 11:29 am

I went to school in Kirkby Lonsdale, long, long before there were biker meets at Devil's Bridge, had a good view of it every day from the bus as we went over the 'new' Stanley Bridge. During the summer, on warm evenings, the boarders were allowed to go down to the Lune and swim in the pools below Devil's Bridge.

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Re: The Burger Van

Postby Badger's Mate » Wed Jul 29, 2020 3:34 pm

One of my guilty pleasure is Walkers snacks on the A1065 near Barton Mills. It's a permanent structure, but essentially a burger van. Not that I have a burger when there, but more or less a full English in a baguette. Plus a mug of tea :mug:

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Re: The Burger Van

Postby KeenCook2 » Wed Jul 29, 2020 4:26 pm

An ice cream van comes round the local streets every afternoon at about 5. I've never actually seen it but hear it every day!

There used to be a burger van in the B & Q car park at Chiswick Roundabout that did the most delicious bacon rolls!

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Re: The Burger Van

Postby Seatallan » Wed Jul 29, 2020 6:01 pm

I sometimes get nostalgic for kebab vans. You hardly ever seem to see them these days (I suppose because most towns have kebab takeaway houses now).

We have two regular ice-cream vans including our local Jersey Ice Cream farm shop van. Their ice cream is to die for.... :yum

We also have a fish & chip van once per week (from the marvellous Shap Chippy :thumbsup ).
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Re: The Burger Van

Postby PatsyMFagan » Wed Jul 29, 2020 6:19 pm

KeenCook2 wrote:An ice cream van comes round the local streets every afternoon at about 5. I've never actually seen it but hear it every day!

There used to be a burger van in the B & Q car park at Chiswick Roundabout that did the most delicious bacon rolls!


There's a burger bar at the B&Q in Watford (Bushey end) ... Aero and Sakkarin will both know of it.

We get an ice cream van round here too . I understand they sell more than ice cream though .. cigarettes and other 'stuff' :roll:

When I was younger we had 2 different ice cream vans .. The original one was Icey Jack's who sold his ice cream in large containers from which he scooped into a cornet, or made his own wafers using a little hand held machine .. he would lay one oblong wafer in it, top up with ice cream, then pop another wafer on top. I recall he also sold bottles of pop; lemonade, cream soda etc. The other van sold soft ice cream that came out of a machine straight onto the cone. Plain, or converted to '99' :thumbsup

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Re: The Burger Van

Postby Pampy » Wed Jul 29, 2020 11:16 pm

When I was very young, the ice cream "van" was pulled by a horse!
Where I now live, there's been ice-cream turf wars for the last couple of years. There's a local chap who has got himself very upset because someone from another town has been encroaching on his "patch". It came to a head last year when the local chap took a baseball bat to his rival's van - par for the course, someone recorded it and it did the rounds on the internet for quite a while. The aggressor was fined quite a substantial amount and had to do community service. They've both started trading again in the last month but I don't know what the current state of play is.

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Re: The Burger Van

Postby Lusciouslush » Thu Jul 30, 2020 10:41 am

Pampy - that so reminds me of ' His name was Earnie - & he drove the fastest milk cart in the west ' !! :D

No burger/icecream vans round here - I did think one had started up during lockdown - heard the music at 1 o'clock every wednesday lunchtime, turns out it was a local bakers selling bread.

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Re: The Burger Van

Postby Stokey Sue » Thu Jul 30, 2020 10:49 am

There were several ice cream vans when I was a kid, but we all considered Verrechia’s superior, they had the cafeteria next to the Guildhall

Of course all the ice cream came as pre-mix run through a soft serve machine after a while so once they stopped making their own it was probably all Mr Whippy or Mr Softee though V’s was likely more hygienic and the service friendlier

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