paul stacey
master brummie
OOHH, the nostalgia of youth.
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fish and chip shops
- Thread starter gingerjon
- Start date
mw0njm.
A Brummie Dude
naughty! not even a Guinness label?
PaulaArtist
proper brummie kid
Attachments
PaulaArtist
proper brummie kid
Thought you may like to see this photo of the chippy found on Birmingham Live.
Richard Dye
master brummie
Penns, we must have dated the same girl
michaelwicks54
Aston bred & proud.
I used to live next door to that chippy in potters hill Mick 710. They were a lovely family, from what I remember.
The three I remember were Winnines, on Streetly Road by the 65-bus terminus. It had this hand chipping machine for the potatoes. They sold it to a Greek family who did it up and called it the Blue Lagoon. I have a feeling it is still there.
There was a corner grocery shop known as Richards on Short Heath Road and Anderson Road. That became the Chickens Tears when a Greek chap bought it. Not a bad chippy that one.
Finally, there was one on Kyotts Lake Road, Sparkbrook. Had a very old-fashioned range on the back wall. Cooked his chips in beef dripping and am sure his wife had a blue rinse. He was quite loud and extrovert. Would count your change loudly into you hand in great detail.
There was a corner grocery shop known as Richards on Short Heath Road and Anderson Road. That became the Chickens Tears when a Greek chap bought it. Not a bad chippy that one.
Finally, there was one on Kyotts Lake Road, Sparkbrook. Had a very old-fashioned range on the back wall. Cooked his chips in beef dripping and am sure his wife had a blue rinse. He was quite loud and extrovert. Would count your change loudly into you hand in great detail.
Richard Dye
master brummie
Mort, it seems to me that cooking the chips in beef dripping was the silver bullet. There was a restaurant near where we used to live that served a lot of beef and cooked their chips in the dripping (as good as the beef), they were wonderful. Unfortunately they are 900 miles from where we are now!
I remember that one well it was in Potters Lane about halfway down between Park Lane and The Bartons Arms. I lived in Potters hill just above Park Lane. I can remember some people saving the newspapers for them. Think back to what they cost back then in the 50s to what they cost now. Eye watering.
Ken.
michaelwicks54
Aston bred & proud.
We lived next door, one up from the chippy. I can remember my dad throwing some plastic train track on the fire, & our chimney caught fire. Our Chimney pot was knocked of the top, right through the roof of the chippy & into the shop.Luckily, no-one was in there at the time. We got on so well with them, until we had to move, due to the redevolopment of the area. Loved the sweet shop that was between the bartons arm & the chippy. I seem to remember it being called John's.
I went into the fish and chip shop in kyotts lake road in the early 70s when my gran passed - my mom knew the family do you know if it was still in the same family and their name - mom has dementia and im trying to piece things together for her
To be honest, I don’t know. When I used this chippy, I was a student at an annex on Stratford Road of Birmingham Poly in 1972. I had the impression that the guy who owned it had been there forever, but thanks only an opinion.
That name rings a bell, I think it was called Carr's chip shop.
Thanks I will put in in my notes and talk to mom - I got her a book of sparbrook photos in the summer and it started a really good conversation and bought back many happy memories.
Thank you I will copy the photo and put it in a memory book I'm making mom for xmas.
Brumbird, did you or your mother live in Sparkbrook? If so, when & where?
Mum lived at 59 Kyotts lake road from the 40s and her mum lived there until 1974 - I'm not sure how long the Bowen family has lived here but may have been from the late 1930s.
I have strong memories of Weaver and Hollins chippy in the small clump of shops where Mansfield Rd met Witton Road in Aston. This would have been the very late 60s/early 70s. It was sandwiched between a Hungarian TV/electrical repairman who had a huge shock of greying hair like Jon Pertwee and was forever prolonging the life of our old B/W telly and a grocers right on the corner, which I remember had a noisy automatic potato peeler that worked like a washing machine; they would peel your spuds on request.
The chippy was probably the worst in the area, truth be told, but it was very cheap, so we went there when money was tight. It was run by two women. A shorter one with greying dark hair under a hairnet and glasses and a taller greying blonde. The chips were ok, no more than that but the fish was pretty poor. It was only skinned on one side and fried with all the bones, so you had to pick at it to eat it. The batter was thin and soggy, especially on the skin side of the fish. Purchases were wrapped in newspaper long after other chippies has moved onto plain catering paper for hygiene reasons. You would have to chuck a part of your meal that absorbed the newsprint. Fish batter went grey with smudged ink but chips would get a neat and legible imprint of that page's news.
When I was small, my mum would go somewhere on Victoria Rd or Potters Hill and I wish I could remember where. Later on, after half of Aston was demolished, the chippy of choice was the Ocean Queen on Birchfield Rd between 6 Ways and Mansfield Rd, which was run by a smiley Cypriot woman. All gone now.
Not to derail this thread but one thing on the subject of chippies that has always bugged me about Birmingham now that I have lived and worked all over the UK is that nobody understands the concept of "open" here. If you ask for a portion of chips open, so you can eat them immediately, you get a blank stare and your chips are wrapped tightly. God forbid you should ever dare ask to season your food yourselves. Salt and vinegar is left out for everyone elsewhere but here it is guarded like the crown jewels. There may be the odd exception here or there but I have yet to find one.
The chippy was probably the worst in the area, truth be told, but it was very cheap, so we went there when money was tight. It was run by two women. A shorter one with greying dark hair under a hairnet and glasses and a taller greying blonde. The chips were ok, no more than that but the fish was pretty poor. It was only skinned on one side and fried with all the bones, so you had to pick at it to eat it. The batter was thin and soggy, especially on the skin side of the fish. Purchases were wrapped in newspaper long after other chippies has moved onto plain catering paper for hygiene reasons. You would have to chuck a part of your meal that absorbed the newsprint. Fish batter went grey with smudged ink but chips would get a neat and legible imprint of that page's news.
When I was small, my mum would go somewhere on Victoria Rd or Potters Hill and I wish I could remember where. Later on, after half of Aston was demolished, the chippy of choice was the Ocean Queen on Birchfield Rd between 6 Ways and Mansfield Rd, which was run by a smiley Cypriot woman. All gone now.
Not to derail this thread but one thing on the subject of chippies that has always bugged me about Birmingham now that I have lived and worked all over the UK is that nobody understands the concept of "open" here. If you ask for a portion of chips open, so you can eat them immediately, you get a blank stare and your chips are wrapped tightly. God forbid you should ever dare ask to season your food yourselves. Salt and vinegar is left out for everyone elsewhere but here it is guarded like the crown jewels. There may be the odd exception here or there but I have yet to find one.
Banjo
master brummie
The chip shop in Potters Lane has been widely discussed but, there was one on the corner of Potters Hill & Victoria Road. It was run by a middle aged couple and around 1962 they changed it from a normal grocery shop into a chippie. All I remember of the lady was her enormous beehive hairstyle. My most abiding memory is that their fish was absolutely delicious. Crispy batter and great big flakes of white cod. mmmmmmmmmm
mw0njm.
A Brummie Dude
i we used that one and the one in park lane aston cross in the 60s
Bob Davis
Bob Davis
No in Barnstaple and Braunton, they like to salt and vinegar it for you
Bob
That sounds about right. I remember batter as being crispy with bubbles and fish being solid and flaky when I was very little. That soon switched to soggy, flat batter and mushy fish for a while.
Not sure whether this will find you as 7 years on. have only just seen your reply!! My gt grandparents were Fred ILES and his wife Florrie Annie (nee Baldwyn) who ran the chippie
Brummie a long time ago
master brummie
When I was at Saltley in the 60's, a few of us would sometimes go to a local chippy in the lunch break. Not sure of the location, but we would come out of the school, and turn left on Belchers Lane and wander down. Not too far, we could get there, and walk back with chips, finishing by the time we were back at school. Can't speak for the fish, but the chips were bostin. Open wrapped too.
Worst invention to me was 'the cone'. Maximum appearance, minimum chips.
Best chips for us were in Street in Somerset, people would come a long way for eat in or take away. Worst were in N. Devon (sorry). Carefully cooked for minimum crispness and zero taste.
If I had a list of what I miss from UK, fish and chips would be on it. Chips can be tolerable, but over done. Battered fish is not on the menu, but can be bought frozen in supermarkets. We do our own sometimes, but it just ain't the same. (Needs English newspaper for wrapping perhaps).
Andrew.
Worst invention to me was 'the cone'. Maximum appearance, minimum chips.
Best chips for us were in Street in Somerset, people would come a long way for eat in or take away. Worst were in N. Devon (sorry). Carefully cooked for minimum crispness and zero taste.
If I had a list of what I miss from UK, fish and chips would be on it. Chips can be tolerable, but over done. Battered fish is not on the menu, but can be bought frozen in supermarkets. We do our own sometimes, but it just ain't the same. (Needs English newspaper for wrapping perhaps).
Andrew.
Bob Davis
Bob Davis
What town/village in North Devon
Bo b
