Author Topic: Meng and Ecker  (Read 15931 times)

allan

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Re: Meng and Ecker
« Reply #15 on: 03:46:17, 13/11/17 »
If Meng and Ecker is now an opticians has it become a site for sore eyes? ;D

celeste

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Re: Meng and Ecker
« Reply #16 on: 08:15:35, 13/11/17 »
 :D ;)
All that's necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing

Didsburyman

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Re: Meng and Ecker
« Reply #17 on: 11:27:46, 01/02/18 »

Does anyone remember Meng and Ecker a lovely old tea room that was situated between King Street and St. Anne's Square?   I used to go in there quite often when I worked in Manchester in the 1980s.  It had so much more character than the chains of coffee shops and pizza restaurants that make most towns seem the same these days.   Does anyone know why it closed and whether it relocated to different premises somewhere else?   If anyone has any knowledge of its history I would be really interested to know about it.   I think someone started a comic strip with characters called Meng and Ecker.   I don't know what that was about but were the names taken from the tearoom? (if so, WHY?)


I loved that café. Used to pop in most Saturdays and they had coffee and scones to travel for - Wonderful place until costa fortune came along

Didsburyman

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Re: Meng and Ecker
« Reply #18 on: 10:40:16, 08/02/18 »

I have created a face book page for Meng and Ecker - Please do come and join it


It is an open group


https://www.facebook.com/groups/142427956428812/

Didsburyman

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Re: Meng and Ecker
« Reply #19 on: 11:09:46, 08/10/18 »
I have just become a member of this forum and came across this thread. I have some information about Meng & Ecker’s.                                                                             
Three young men arrived in England in the 1890s from Switzerland.  At least one of them                             was a master confectioner.  They set up catering businesses in Newcastle and Sunderland.  After some time two of these three men formed a partnership and opened the tearooms in Manchester. Their names were Fleury Meng and Joseph Buchegger. The latter was my great uncle and he was a master confectioner. He changed his name to Joseph Ecker in 1915. Hence, Meng & Ecker.  My earliest memories of the cafe were during WW2. My mother worked in the cafe and she took me with her. The partnership was dissolved in 1915 on the death of Fleury Meng and Joseph Ecker took over the business. He ran the cafe until the late 40s and then retired back to Switzerland, where he resumed his original name Buchegger.
Obviously I have a lot of family information, but it would be of no interest to the readers of this forum.
I am aware of the comic book characters and feel very sad that there will be people who only know the names Meng & Ecker from them.
As this is my first posting on any forum, I hope I haven’t broken any rules. If I have, perhaps the moderator would let me know.
Jack



Gosh that was very interesting. I usedto go in the shop when in Manchester and would purposely ignore other coffee shops to go in there. The coffee and scones were to travel miles for -


The costa fortunes that are around today are not a patch on the traditional coffee shops




Starfly29

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Re: Meng and Ecker
« Reply #20 on: 14:14:15, 16/10/18 »
i used to work next door in a clothes shop called Brooklands in the early 90s and was madly in love with a irish girl called donna but was petrified of her lol
they used to do the best cakes ever
kieran


 :)  I worked in the holidays and Saturdays as a student at Meng and Eckers. It was the early 90's. I loved it, the staff use to get on very well and had a great laugh. Cakes were amazing. We had famous people amongst the customers. I left to live in Dublin for a short time. I'm not Irish but my name is Donna  :)


PinningtonJack

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Re: Meng and Ecker
« Reply #21 on: 18:16:42, 04/12/18 »
With reference to my earlier post regarding the three young men from Switzerland,two of whom were Meng and Ecker, I have found an old photograph of them just after they arrived in Sunderland. I hope it might be of interest. The man in the centre is my great uncle Joe Ecker. I don't know which of the other two is Mr Meng.My great uncle lived in one of the large houses on Palatine Rd Didsbury, before they were converted into flats. He used to walk to work every day, which probably helped him to live into his mid nineties.One final thing. His son Basil was a pilot in the battle of Britain and sadly he lost his life.Best wishes to all.Jack

celeste

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Re: Meng and Ecker
« Reply #22 on: 18:20:58, 04/12/18 »
By Eck they don't make them like that any more  :smitten:

My father used to walk from near Victoria station to Meng and Ecker every day :)
All that's necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing

Sarah McW

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Re: Meng and Ecker
« Reply #23 on: 10:23:21, 30/01/19 »
When I was a little girl in the 1960s my Mother used to take me to Meng and Ecker for a treat after going to the Dentist in King St. I loved it - the smell of real coffee and the atmosphere.  She told me that LS Lowry was a regular, but that he always sat on his own upstairs - was this true? I don’t know, but I have never forgotten those visits to the cafe with the amazing curved glass window.

dbj100

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Re: Meng and Ecker
« Reply #24 on: 08:46:52, 07/06/19 »
As sixth formers in the mid sixties we would occasionally eat upstairs at Meng and Ecker after school and were served by uniformed waitresses dressed in black with white aprons, and invariably of middle age. They eventually disappeared when a new tax law came in which triggered the new era of self-service. 

Artconnections

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Re: Meng and Ecker
« Reply #25 on: 20:24:45, 30/08/19 »
My friends and I also used to visit Meng and Eckers in the late sixties and early seventies when we were sixth formers - along with the City Art Gallery and boutiques like Bus Stop, it was part of our ritual for a day in the city.  There was a story that LS Lowry was a regular customer, so we always looked for him, but he never appeared.

LioCl

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Re: Meng and Ecker
« Reply #26 on: 12:58:31, 09/11/20 »
My Mum used to take me to Meng and Eckers as a special treat.  I remember glass cups in stainless steel holders and I'm pretty sure a Meng and Ecker golden egg.  It's one of the precious memories I hold of Manchester as we left when I was 10.