lost chippies of leeds

stutterdog · Post by **stutterdog** » Sat 26 Oct, 2013 8:50 pm

ArmleyLass47 wrote: Our chip shop was on Armley Road at the end of I think Whitby Street. Think they called the guy Barry. He made great fish and chips with beef dripping. No vegetarians in those days. 1956ish.I remember he was killed down Holbeck in his Jaguar E Type. I don't know if anyone remembershim or the name of his shop? I know one of his sons went to Armley Park School called Keith.End of my brain cells after that lol. Never blonde but my excuse now is Senior Moments. Hello Armleylass, I lived just down Armley rd from Whitby St. from 1942 until 1966 but I can't remember Barry's fish shop. I can remember the Scarborough fish shop at the other side of the road,nr Cockers ! I also went to Armley Pk Sch. and my Christian name is Keith.But don't remember the guy in the accident. There was a fish shop on Winchester rd and also one called Flowers in the Elsworths and they were nice. There were loads of chippies in those days though!

ArmleyLass47 · Post by **ArmleyLass47** » Sat 26 Oct, 2013 9:16 pm

Hi Stutterdog,I said I thought his name was Barry but as you may remember in those days youdidn't call adults by their first names it was Mr or Mrs .......Cant remember the street but it was below Powells shop and before Picton Street. Gone out of my head now all the streets having lived away for 30 years. It was a fish shop for years and was on the same side as the Clock school.I remember the Scarboro' fish and chip shop but this one I am talking about wasnearer to where I lived in Pickering Street. My Mum wouldn't let us go faruntil the times she didn't know where we were then we went walking for miles lol. You are 5 years older than me so you probably wouldn't have known the peopleI knew at Armley Park although I know some of the Teachers were still there whenI went. Did you go cycling as my two Brothers were in the Leeds Clarion and got around. They were and still are a lot older than me though. They will be happy to see I am telling everyone that little nugget lol.

j.c.d. · Post by **j.c.d.** » Tue 28 Jan, 2014 6:49 pm

Does anyone remember the fish shop in Merrion St (Bottom Half) it was up two steps on the left hand side. can't remember the name of it but it was owned by a Jewish lad Mick Christie and you got a complimentary gherkin with your fish and chips. His son was Jeff Christie who wrote and sang the 60s. Hit "Yellow River" When i return to Leeds it is the Skyliner on the Roundabout, Selby Road or The Morley Fishshop Tingley Bar. I sit in the car eating 'em and i am in Heaven.

Jogon · Post by **Jogon** » Tue 28 Jan, 2014 10:32 pm

Gherkin, mushy peas, lea & perrins + ketchup = Bryans late 1960's

BLAKEY · Post by **BLAKEY** » Tue 28 Jan, 2014 11:44 pm

jd wrote: Does anyone remember the fish shop in Merrion St (Bottom Half) it was up two steps on the left hand side. can't remember the name of it I remember it well jd and it was excellent. It was called the Merrion Fish and ?????? Bar - there now, I can't recall the other food besides fish - might have been "steak" or "burger."

Stree · Post by **Stree** » Wed 29 Jan, 2014 8:43 pm

Thought it about time to put my two pennorth in.My family moved to Marshall St in 1964, in fact it was my Mum and Dad that had the Chippy in the middle. Keir`s Fisheries, for those that might remember. The other chippy at the bottom of the street was long gone by then. It used to be run by two elderly sisters and was I believe the last coal fired range in Leeds if not Yorkshire. - No knowledge of the fellow with the fag ash mentioned earlier.Liits spoke of my Mum and Dad`s chippie with a bit of a sneer.Commenting on "crinkle cut chips and small fish"By way of explanation, our customers preferred the chips crinkle cut although we also had straight cutters in the chipper as well if wanted. Plenty of places to go and get oversized undercooked chips or French Fries if these are your idea of chip perfection.As for the fish.. All portions were weighed. As were Coe`s and many others and believe it or not all the local chippy owners got on fine, any time anyone ran out of fish or spuds greaseproof or newspaper, the others would make sure you got supplied until you could make up the stock again.And we all did the same weight fish portions, apart from when we sold frozen.........which is coarser looser older fish. Cheaper by weight, but then tonic water is cheaper than beer by weight and volume.The smaller portions would be the fresh fish, brought straight from the docks that morning, Hull Aberdeen and Grimsby were the usual ones. Not Frozen unless the weather stopped the trawlers going out or getting back to port, or the fishermen were on strike. " Cod Wars did not help either.The fish purchase was negotiated the night before, when the merchants knew what was coming in, the size of the catch and the cost per stone. We never bought cod. Dogfish.Haddock came topped and tailed so all had to be skinned and filleted.Some late springs all the adult fish stocks were overfished, usually by foreign freezer trawlers sneaking in the 12 mile zone, so we had to resort to "counts". all that the boats could bring in. These were very young haddock, very tender fresh tasting and difficult to handle, often 2,3, sometimes 4 pieces laid together to make one fish portion.Everything was fried as it should be, at the right temperature and in beef dripping.Too often now you find a chippie, no fish ready so cooked to order, oil instead of fat and just hot side of warm, fish is battered and dropped in THEN gas is turned up......So the fish is boiled not fried and the batter is a mess.We got regular dinner orders phoned in from Barnbow, Charles H Roe, Treats Ice Cream, and others. I have to assume they were all happy enough with the portion sizes and crinkle cut chips when as we hear, oversized portions with soggy batter is so readily available locally as well.I suppose every eaterie has clientelle ranging from gourmet to glutton and whatever ours were I am proud my Mum and Dad`s reputation for good fish and chips.Oh, and to correct an earlier post, it was a Morris Oxford not a Standard Eight, His name was Ronnie, not BrianRIP Keir`s Fisheries, 1964 to 1994

Steve266 · Post by **Steve266** » Sat 01 Feb, 2014 3:00 pm

If you look back at page 4 Stevief put up a picture of what was the fishshop on Beechwood Crescent back in the 50's and 60's it was owned by the Dewhirst's 3d bag of chips 9d fish. 4d for a fish cake Robin their youngest son played rugby for Leeds but was prone to injury as I recall and his older brother can't remember his name but was a great cyclist so if still alive must be doing cartwheels over the up coming bike ride that starts in LeedsThese were great fish and chips and we used to go there after cubs on a Monday night for a bag of chipsOn that same stretch of the crescent to the left was the news agents Westwoods first job delivering papers 6/6 per week then Harry's the butchers, Closed mondays. Craven dairies bread shop and Mrs Lawsons corner shop selling groceries and sweetsBut for those of you who ask where's the pub? there isn't one as this is on the land once owned by the Cardigans and no pubs were allowed one Offy up from the chippy but the St Ann's was the nearest at the top and The Queens across Cardigan Road near the Hyde Park otherwise it was Headingley Oh nearly forgot before some bright spark jumps in the Haddon HallSorry went a bit off Chippy's there

BLAKEY · Post by **BLAKEY** » Sat 01 Feb, 2014 6:12 pm

Spot on there Steve - Dewhirst's fish and chips were superb.. I lived at one time in Cardigan Road and later Stanmore Hill so I knew them well. Haddon Hall now a convenience store, Queens a Tesco Express and St. Annes burnt out and demolished. Rising Sun a burnt out furniture store. Times and the district have changed and, for us old Leeds gimmers, for the worse.

yorkiesknob · Post by **yorkiesknob** » Sun 02 Feb, 2014 12:11 am

Dewhirst's was a good chippie for sure. We always knew it as the " Far Beechwoods" chippie for some reason. In between the Stanmore's and Dewhirst's was the Lumleys chippie on Lumley Rd. The Bray family had it in my day with both their children attending Brudenell school as I did in the 60s.

majorhoundii · Post by **majorhoundii** » Sun 02 Feb, 2014 12:56 pm

As everyone on here will know by now, I'm a Morlean, born there, brought up there, lived there all my life, until December, when I moved to Shaw Cross. The chippy just down the road calls what are universally known in Morley, Leeds, and Bradford as "scraps" bits. I'm less than half a mile from the Leeds boundary, but I may as well be living in Huddersfield (where I know the call them bits, there's even a chippy called "Wi'Bits".) Just for the record they call the same thing "scratchings" in Wigan.