I wonder if the fish and chip shop you are talking about was the one that my best friend's parents ran in the early 1950s. I am pretty sure the number was about 325 Soho Road. The name was the Blackpool Fish & Chip Shop and it was just down from the Regal Cinema on the same side. My friend was called Jean Thomas. Don't know her parents' names though I'm afraid.
Judy
Thank you, Jayell, Phil and Astonian.
'Open 'Till Midnight was - I am told - owned and run by a gentleman called Bert Coleman and his wife Gwen. I guess they had probably sold it on to Kenneth Stevens by 1956, then, Phil.
Umm, apparently the name 'Blackpool Fish and Chip shop' rings no bells as a previous or later incarnation, nor does the family name Thomas.
I guess Soho Rd had loads of chippies - but this was the only one at the time that literally stayed open until midnight!
Do you have access to a trade directory from any earlier in the 50s by any chance please, Phil?
Desperate to help someone track down more information about the shop, hopefully some pictures with the original signage, and maybe stories.
You're all doing really well here, people. I have faith in the Forum solving this for me!
Cheers!