Jul 2012 - Issue 5 - National Federation of Fish Friers

THE fish friers REVIEW
Roland Geordie
The thoughts of a Northern fryer,
trading in a Cornish harbour
Romance isn’t dead!
My daughter and I were talking (now there’s a thing) the other day and
she started asking me things about my past....
How old was I when I left school? 14.
What did I want to be? A Chef.
Where was my first job and what was it? The Royal Turks Head Hotel in
Newcastle and I was a Commis Waiter.
When did I start with the fish and chip business and where (Mastermind
or what...)? In about 1985 in High Green, Sheffield.
And then she asked how I met her mother, my wife Lindsey. “Your
mother came and asked if there were any jobs” I replied, “at the chippy
in High Green, in about 1988”. I asked her to come back the next day for
a ‘working interview’, to see if she could do the job and what she was like.
I started Lindsey on a month’s trial and 24 years later...
Which leads me to ask “how many romances/marriages have developed
and bloomed in chip shops all
over the country over the
years?”
I always remember Harry Walker
from the NFFF in Sheffield. He
would call into the shop in High
Green for a cuppa to ‘collect
subs’... he was 85, when I first
met him!!! He would tell us
about the banter that him and his
wife would have with each other,
in his shop, in front of the customers. One day the customers would feel
sorry for Harry and the next day it would be for his wife. It was a double
act for the benefit of their customers as they queued around the shop. I
find now that its Lindsey and myself that are doing the double act, but it
always seems that the customers feel sorry for Lindsey?
Down the years I’ve met many lovely "chip shop" couples, the Scotts of
Ward Green Barnsley, the Rhodes, the Tates and the Musgraves at
Stairfoot in Barnsley. I had the pleasure of working for another couple,
Phillip and Janine Murphy of Wetherby Whaler fame. Well done for the re
launch of Harry Ramsden’s into the new Whaler by the way, it’s nice to
see that even after years of being in the trade together the Murphys still
believe that there is a future for fish and chips. Then there is my good
18
friends Richard and
Vicky Hoyland,
youngsters who took
a big gamble and
took over a little chip
shop in Mapplewell,
Barnsley.
These couples have
taken chances;
worked hard
together and most
important of all are
still together.
“
how many romances/
marriages have developed and
bloomed in chip shops all over
the country over the years?
Lindsey and Roland Lowery
Congratulations to
Carlyn Johnson of
Frankies up in Brae on her marriage to Mark Kearney, is he a frier by the
way? Is this another love story? And also congratulations to Lee Holt of
Nelson, who recently tied the knot.
“
I told Rosie of the time before
she was born; when Lindsey
and I were shopping in Asda
(other supermarkets are
available). It was Valentine’s
Day, I said I was taking her out
and the greeter mentioned
over the tannoy thing about
their Valentine specials. I
slipped off and had a word with
him and then re-joined Lindsey
in the fruit and veg.
“This is a message for Lindsey Lowery in the fruit and veg aisle”, came
the announcement over the tannoy thing.
“Roses may be red,
Violets may be blue,
But it’s the smell of fish and chips that remind me of you”
Yes folks we ARE still together. Romance is not dead, it is blossoming in
fish and chip shops all over Britain. And remember, behind every
successful man... There is a pushy woman.
Have you got a romance story to tell?