In tribute to Athel Carr

I was the very first apprentice chef to be indentured and employed by Athel at the Brecon Hotel way back in 1965 and as such have some fond memories of the hotel and Athel, Jean his wife and their children Liz, Janet and Duncan.

At that time The Brecon Hotel was Rotherham’s premiere restaurant and hotel where customers could enjoy fine food and wine in comfortable surroundings. There was no shortage of customers lining up to enjoy this new experience of fine dining that the Brecon had to offer. Needless to say the work was hard but rewarding to me as I was learning a trade.

I can recall the chefs I worked under were Duncan Gray, John Bingley, Tony Harvey and Peter Rawlins. 

It was truly a family business with Athel, Jean and Duncan often waiting at table and Mrs Stewart, Jean’s mother, serving behind the bar. Mrs Stewart may have been one of the oldest ‘employees’ but she was a sharp as a pin and didn’t miss a trick.  

Athel was a good all rounder in the restaurant and was confident doing silver service and even used to do lamp work and do flambé dishes such as teak Dianne and crepes Suzettes

Duncan also did silver service but Jean was never comfortable with Silver Service but would serve soups and starters and clear tables after each course. Liz and Janet were only school girls at the time and did not take much of a part in the family business but this was to change in the future. 

Athel could be seen regularly at Greasbrough Social Club speaking to the secretary Mr Les Booth. At this time Greasbrough Social Club was dubbed the ‘Palladium of the North’ as many of the top entertainers of the day performed at this famous club.  Many of these top entertainers stayed at the Brecon Hotel and a few names that spring to mind include Dickie Valentine, Sandie Shaw, Cathy Kirby, Frankie Howard, The Shadows, Frankie Vaughan, Vince Hill, Freddie ‘Parrot Face’ Davies, Freddie and the Dreamers, Joe Brown and when professional wrestling enjoyed a popular Saturday afternoon televised slot it was Kent Walton who did the TV commentary, and he stayed too. Athel became very good friends with Frankie Vaughan and Vince Hill and whenever they appeared anywhere near to Rotherham they would always stop at the Brecon Hotel. To accommodate the enhanced demands these celebrities required Athel had a couple of rooms refurbished to provide ensuite, telephone and television facilities and room service was also provided to these two rooms.

Athel also ran a lucrative outside catering business from the Brecon Hotel and one of his best customers was Stan Fenton who ran the Carlton Ballroom at the bottom of Ship Hill.  The Carlton held many company dinner dances and this was a very busy part of Athel’s business run by a lady called Mira and a band of silver service waitresses who he hired as and when needed.

This pattern was also followed at the Brecon Hotel.  It was quite common for us to have two wedding receptions to cater for at the hotel and outside catering to have two or three weddings on the same day. When Christmas was coming and companies had their parties everything went into overdrive and the roasting of turkeys, the making of bacon rolls and carving of turkeys was an almost 24 hours operation. Eventually we had ovens installed that gave us the capacity to roast anything up to 64 turkeys a day.

I must say the time I spent at the Brecon was a happy time but like all apprenticeships of the day the pay could have been better.  I have not kept in touch with any of the family over the years but as your picture shows apart from Athel’s illness both Athel and Jean have not changed a great deal and the years seem to have been kind to them. The girls Janet and Liz look wonderful with their children and I wish them good luck for the future with their restaurant venture Athel’s.  Something struck me as odd in the picture and that is where is Duncan?

Graham Hobson, Greasbrough