MORE THAN 100 ex-Shipstone's brewery employees flocked to John Pye & Sons' Head Office on Wednesday June 2nd for a special reunion to see the old brewery site and catch up with past colleagues.
People travelled as far as Devon & Essex to attend the reunion and with nearly 60 years of the brewery's workforce represented, the site was once again filled with draymen, drivers, clerks and estate managers, rekindling bygone days.
Many attendees brought along memorabilia including photographs, staff lists and original Shipstone bottle labels. Two descendants of the founder James Shipstone attended independently of one another, with a wealth of documentation relating to the Shipstone family.
John Pye & Sons MD, Adam Pye, conducted a tour of the site allowing the guests to explore the main offices, busy salerooms, courtyards, as well as parts of the building's cavernous and legendary cellars.
Adam Pye said: "There have been so many fond recollections, it's been quite an emotional community day for a lot of people. Everyone has cherished memories of Shipstone's, recalling a very family friendly company.
"Today has also cast a lot of detail for us, as site owners also, on the history and former workings of the premises and it has really underlined the important heritage of the site and its place in Nottigham's history, which we are proud to uphold."
After working up a good appetite investigating the preserved heritage as well as operations of today's fully functioning and thriving auction house, it was back to the main offices for further refreshments, a buffet lunch and a good old fashioned 'catch up' for old time's sake.
A number of guests have since contacted John Pye & Sons to express their enjoyment of a great day. Guest Margaret Glover said 'A very big thank you for a really wonderful day at your memorable premises...what a good day it was!'
The event was enjoyed by all and many exchanged contact details to reform friendships, some of which had started over half a century ago.
John Pye & Sons are aware many former employees of the brewery have many memories and old photos to share and quite a few ex-employees were not able to attend on the day. Therefore the company has decided to set up an online community forum for ex-Shippo staff to get in touch with one another. Details to follow shortly.
John Pye & Sons would like to thank members of the local media, notably Andy Smart, Bygones Feature Writer at the Nottingham Evening Post, for first following up interest in the suggestion, as well as the BBC and Nottingham Evening Post news reporter Bryan Henesey for covering the event. A detailed feature of the reunion by Jeremy Lewis (Editor) will also feature in an upcoming edition of Nottinghamshire Today, the county's monthly lifestyle magazine and Spyke Golding, Editor of CAMRA's Nottingham Drinker (and one time Brewery Liason Officer for Shipstones) will also be writing a feature.
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