Thursday 6th June sees the 80th anniversary of D-Day being marked around the country, and a civic wreath will be placed on the altar at Ashton Parish Church (St Michael and All Angels) on Sunday, before the regular service of Holy Communion begins at 11am. After the service, we're being invited to place tributes in memory of all those who took part in Operation Overlord.
National Fish and Chip Day has also been moved to coincide with the D-Day commemorations. It's the ninth year of our great national dish being celebrated with its own special day. Winston Churchill ensured they were not rationed during the war, as he felt it would be detrimental to the morale of the nation. He even referred to fish and chips as "good companions".
During the D-Day landings, soldiers who found themselves trapped behind enemy lines at night and needed a way of telling whether someone nearby was a friend or foe even devised a special two-word code. One would call "fish" and the other replied "chips".
Fish and chips appeared in Charles Dickens' 'A Tale Of Two Cities', and were first served together as a dish way back in around 1860...that's even longer ago than we travel back on Tameside Radio's The Show That Time Forgot!
The Observer newspaper recently published a list of the top 20 chippies in Britain, and the closest to us is Chips @ Number 8, located in Prestwich. The review noted: "until recently, this well-regarded shop was a corner site, known for a giant mural of Mark E Smith, and frying in dripping (veg oil on request). Now, they've reopened next door to serve more people more efficiently, though the name's the same2. It's a mere 20 minute drive from Tameside Radio, so I'll have to take a road trip one of these days.
I'd love to know from you where the best chippy is located in Tameside and Glossop. There have been huge pressures on pricing in recent years, not helped by the war in Ukraine, soaring inflation and the cost of haddock and cod going through the roof. David Miller, a chip shop owner from Haxby near York, said back in 2022 that fish and chips had been underpriced for a long time.
It's surreal to think that our village chippy used to serve them in old copies of the York Press growing up. I'm probably looking back through rose-tinted glasses, but am sure the news print added something to the taste of the chips! This practice largely faded away in the 1980s.
Brits are said to eat 382 million portions of fish and chips every year, which works out at six servings per person. I'm pleased to be above average in this regard, as it's definitely a dish I enjoy at least once a month.
There are some great chip shop names around the UK too, including one of my favourites, Frying Nemo, located near Selby in North Yorkshire.
In a 2016 survey, Manchester was found to be number one for adding mushy peas to a chippy tea. Frankly, why wouldn't you want a splash of the green goodness on your dish? They also have zero slimming world syns. Sadly, the same can't be said for the other items on the plate.
Hull likes to add chip spice, which I can highly recommend, and another pro tip is a splash of Hendo's sauce, a Sheffield staple. There are also regional variations in the name of the bread used to make a chip butty, and some strange folk even like to add gravy, which for me ruins a perfect dish.
Let me know your hidden chippy gems in our part of the world, and perhaps you can save me a 20 minute drive to Prestwich! Having written this column, I'm definitely now thinking a visit to my local frier is in order this weekend. I might even wrap a few chips in the Reporter or Chronicle, and see if the print really does add anything to the taste of the chips.
If you're taking part in any of next week's Tour events, you can definitely enjoy a portion guilt-free. I'll be helping to cover it on the radio, if that counts. Joking aside, the calories for a chippy tea are actually not as shocking as some other takeaways, so I definitely think in the spirit of National Fish and Chip Day, you ought to treat yourself. I'd like scraps with mine, please. And a can of dandelion and burdock.
Alex B Cann Column - February 6th 2025
