THE CONTINENTAL CAFE, ARDROSSAN

Discuss all aspects of the three towns in the Threetowners' Lounge.
Penny Tray
Mega Heid Poster
Mega Heid Poster
Posts: 19110
Joined: Thu Jan 08, 2009 2:46 pm

THE CONTINENTAL CAFE, ARDROSSAN

Post by Penny Tray »

(1) Does anyone remember the Continental Cafe in Glasgow Street, Ardrossan?

(2) Who was the proprietor?

(3) Was anybody ever in it?
Nothing is ever really lost to us as long as we remember it.
maggie
leading Poster
leading Poster
Posts: 548
Joined: Thu Jan 06, 2005 5:42 am
Location: formerly Ardrossan now Sandringham Australia

Re: THE CONTINENTAL CAFE, ARDROSSAN

Post by maggie »

yes i remember the cafe was in it a few
times. I can see the owner's face
can't recall his name. was it Eugene?
oilers
Frequent Poster
Frequent Poster
Posts: 221
Joined: Wed Jan 02, 2008 1:43 am

Re: THE CONTINENTAL CAFE, ARDROSSAN

Post by oilers »

The Continental was also nicknamed Auld Ezzies I think. Eugenes cafe was in Princes St.
maggie
leading Poster
leading Poster
Posts: 548
Joined: Thu Jan 06, 2005 5:42 am
Location: formerly Ardrossan now Sandringham Australia

Re: THE CONTINENTAL CAFE, ARDROSSAN

Post by maggie »

Auld Ezzies was further down the road
you could be right eugenes was near the Lyric
I think the cafe owner was more like morronies
Penny Tray
Mega Heid Poster
Mega Heid Poster
Posts: 19110
Joined: Thu Jan 08, 2009 2:46 pm

Re: THE CONTINENTAL CAFE, ARDROSSAN

Post by Penny Tray »

Thanks for these contributions. OILERS is right. Going down Glasgow Street towards the harbour it was on the right hand side (between the bottom Maroni's and Princes Street where Eugene's was located. In my mind the owner, an elderly woman, was called "Old Izzie", maybe "Ezzie" as Oilers suggests, and whilst I would be a frequent visitor to most cafes in the town at one time or other I only ever recall being in the CONTINENTAL once. I bought a Mars Bar as a boy that must have been 50 years past its sell by date and which I spat out after the first bite, throwing the rest away - which was unheard of with such a treasure. Something wasn't right.

I had done a word search on THREETOWNERS for "CONTINENTAL" and came up with nothing and began to doubt my own recollection. It was in my mind too that the shop was boycotted by many because of some fondness Izzie had expressed for the enemy during the war but this was probably local mischief making.
Nothing is ever really lost to us as long as we remember it.
User avatar
Meg
Administrator
Administrator
Posts: 6131
Joined: Sat Jan 01, 2005 10:18 am
Location: Formerly Ardrossan, now Ayr

Re: THE CONTINENTAL CAFE, ARDROSSAN

Post by Meg »

Penny Tray wrote: It was in my mind too that the shop was boycotted by many because of some fondness Izzie had expressed for the enemy during the war but this was probably local mischief making.
Only faintly remembering this, but wasn't there a Turkish connection rather than Italian? - Come on Jimbo - I am sure you will remember - you being a year or two older than me :D

Meg
User avatar
Hughie
Administrator
Administrator
Posts: 11138
Joined: Thu Dec 09, 2004 12:42 am
Location: Australia Formerly Ardrossan
Contact:

Re: THE CONTINENTAL CAFE, ARDROSSAN

Post by Hughie »

Hi Penny,

I would think most of us who grew up in Ardrossan wouldn't have known it as "The Continental Cafe". We just knew it as "Auld Ezzie's". My Dad and mum when first married lived in the attic through the Buff Close above Ezzie's, beneath them was my mother's Cunningham relatives - Auld Paddy. Ezzie sent for the police when my elder brother Jim peed from the staircase out the back on top of her. The only locals who frequented it were the good time girls, linking up with foreign sailors.

The reason you never found it using the search facility was that we never really knew "Auld Ezzie's" as "The Continental". See : http://threetowners.net/forum/viewtopic ... 172#p23172"
Penny Tray
Mega Heid Poster
Mega Heid Poster
Posts: 19110
Joined: Thu Jan 08, 2009 2:46 pm

Re: THE CONTINENTAL CAFE, ARDROSSAN

Post by Penny Tray »

Hughie,

Thanks for that cross-reference. It's spot on and exactly how I remember my one visit there. It was a dark, sinister, scary place and whatever she did to my Mars Bar ensured I never went back back. She was scary too. You're maybe right, it was probably an establishment only intended for sailors and a certain type of adult women. However, whilst everyone seems to be referring to it as "Old Ezzie's" I think I'm correct in stating that it's proper name was the CONTINENTAL CAFE.

As an aside, because you mention 'JOCK'S LODGE', I recall circa 1966 seeing the hugh frontage (in gold letters) from above that pub, in the garden of Constable John Shearer (fondly mentioned elsewhere on THREETOWNERS) at the bottom of St. Andrew's Road. The pub was being demolished and I understand his nightshift polis colleagues loaded it somehow into the back of a police van and propped it up in his front garden. He, of course, was known throughout the town as Big JOCK Shearer.
Nothing is ever really lost to us as long as we remember it.
maggie
leading Poster
leading Poster
Posts: 548
Joined: Thu Jan 06, 2005 5:42 am
Location: formerly Ardrossan now Sandringham Australia

Re: THE CONTINENTAL CAFE, ARDROSSAN

Post by maggie »

I did not realise it was not the central cafe
Ezzies was a weird place had i the window
large cigaarettes and it was not a place you
would go in
Penny Tray
Mega Heid Poster
Mega Heid Poster
Posts: 19110
Joined: Thu Jan 08, 2009 2:46 pm

Re: THE CONTINENTAL CAFE, ARDROSSAN

Post by Penny Tray »

I always believed that "IZZIE", as I always called her as opposed to "EZZIE", was Italian. Now I don't know why. Meg and Hughie have got me thinking however, that she may have been of Turkish origin. There is at least one, possibly two Turkish/Cypriots football players in the UK called "IZZET". The natural short-form for them if you were shouting for the ba' would be "IZZIE". If this is the case I wonder what brought her to Ardrossan pre-war?

Hughie, was the "BUFF CLOSE" commonly known as that in the town? I hadn't heard of it.

CLOSE, I don't think was an often used expression in the town? When I was about Irvine they referred to the Jile Close and the Chapel Close, which were narrow lanes as opposed to what I would understand to be a close.

Hughie, I saw you mention in one of your posts having a pint in Irvine and then going down the lane to the Ritz. That would be the Chapel Close. If you didnae behave yourself when you were at the dancing you would also be familiar with the Jile Close which led from the High Street up to the polis office.
Nothing is ever really lost to us as long as we remember it.
meekan
Mega Heid Poster
Mega Heid Poster
Posts: 1965
Joined: Sat Mar 21, 2009 5:29 pm
Location: Saltcoats

Re: THE CONTINENTAL CAFE, ARDROSSAN

Post by meekan »

I remember delivering milk there as a milk boy izzie would open the door in her semit ( not a pretty sight) we always tried to avoid the continental cafe. Because we wiz feart she wid dae somthin tae us!
She was heavy built with darkish coloured skin so she could have been Turkish. I never ever saw anybody else in there. You could always buy a cigarette in there pasha if i remember correctly
meekan
Mac
Mega Heid Poster
Mega Heid Poster
Posts: 1370
Joined: Wed Sep 13, 2006 11:21 am
Location: Englandshire

Re: THE CONTINENTAL CAFE, ARDROSSAN

Post by Mac »

meekan wrote:.... You could always buy a cigarette in there pasha if i remember correctly
meekan
Those Pasha's don't have stink! Reminded me of a story.

Two guys, Bill and Ben, accompanied by wives visiting Istanbul. Wives go off on their own for a shopping spree. The men wander and find the red light district (ahem!). Anyway! On the way back to meet wives they notice that they reek of perfume.

"No problem" says Bill "we'll tell them we've been smoking Pasha's".

When they meet the wives the smell of perfume is noted! Quick as a flash, Ben, who's a wee bit flustered, blurts out "Och Mary, we've only been poking smashers"

.... and then the fight started :wink:
Post Reply