Fish and Chip shops

Thanks for the info on Sir Thomas White and the covenant Dutchman. I can't say I ever visited the chippy in Craven Street, but then again a visit to the chip shop was a rare treat back then, far more likely to have homemade using the chip pan.

Hi Norman, I was only a youngster back in the late sixties and can't remember an ironmongers being there before the butchers. I do however remember 'Ma' Cooper's ironmongers/hardware shop at the opposite end of the shops. David H - I can't comment on the steak pies but the fish, chips and scratchings were certainly very good with queues very often outside the door.

Just been reading this thread and my mouth's watering for a 'one all in' from mama at the Parsons Nose! In the 60/70's when I was at Foxford School a good mate of mine in Potters Green lived on Ringwood Highway opposite Diana Drive, his mother was Dutch and his father was either Greek or Greek Cypriot and he owned a chippy up in Wyken somewhere. The lad's name was Andrew and I think the family name was Allalumpa, pronounced 'Alla-lumpa'. It would be great if anybody can fill in the blanks if they know of the family!

Hi Sky Blue. The only knowledge I have of those shops was that my son occupied one of the flats and his father in law owned the newsagents. So although I was a frequent visitor I never lived there so your recollections are probably better than mine.

Hi Norman, The shops (and flats) were literally a stone's throw from our house. The first owner of the newsagents that I can remember was a chap called Len who then moved on to the newsagents at the top shops on Winsford Avenue. It was then owned by Mr Sutton (Bill??) who ran it for many years. I moved away from home in 1978 so don't know too much after then.

Even during the war there were bright sparks about. Hilda Harris ran the Aldermans Green fish shop, as she placed a fresh scoop of chips into the steaming fat, a bomb fell near by, the ground shook and falling glass was heard, Mrs Noakes said "God, Hilda, what sort of fat are you using?"

With wartime rationing, Mrs Noakes was coming out the fish shop with a small piece of fish. 'Hello Maisie, that looks a rum piece of fish'. 'You think so, you should have seen the b****r that got away'. 'Anyway this is out of a tin he wants me to try, it's called 'snoek'. 'Oh, I tried that, the cat turned his nose up at it, Alf buried it in the garden and the rhubarb died. You don't think I should try it then? If you do I'd talk to Hackett (undertaker) first!'

In a book I once owned (I had to dispose of over 400 books to 'downsize' in my move back to Coventry) there was a chapter title "Snoek Piquante" by a Susan Cooper. The book was about the austerity in the immediate post-war period. Here's a short extract: "By the summer of 1949, more than a third of the snoek imported since 1947 was still unsold: 3,270,000 half-pound tins, out of a total of 11,110,400 - with 1,209,000 still to come under existing contracts. The Ministry hopefully put out more recipes: snoek sandwich spread, snoek pasties, snoek with salad. Their leaflets were still going the rounds when in August 1949 two thousand more tons of tinned fish, in 8,960,000 half-pound tins, arrived from Australia to be sold at a shilling a tin. They called it barra

Just come across this on another thread: Library photo

I know we've mentioned The Parsons Nose on here before but you all must surely remember Maria

Fantastic photo, Neil. Yes, that's Maria, although everyone usually called her Momma. I have lost count of the number of times that woman fed me at all hours of the night, usually when I was well refreshed. Anyone who used the Parson's Nose regularly will have been familiar with the shout of "One all-in" which referred to a large, steaming tray of faggots, chips and mushy peas. She would usually ask, with a glint in her eye, "You want a-stuffing?" She was certainly one of Coventry's colourful characters. I would like to see some sort of plaque erected on that little patch of green where the place once stood, recognising the service it gave to hungry revellers for several decades.

Yes I was in the same queues - normally after a session in Georges/Park Lane :thumb: and escaping the madness up the road in 'battleground Burges.' Apparently Maria sadly passed away seven years ago after battling with dementia.

Yes, as a young-man-(on the odd occasion)-about town, it was always the Parson's Nose last thing (ok, the pork batch shop in Earlsdon now and then). In my schooldays, we used to cycle up to Vasilious in Torrington Avenue. My mate from Woodlands said his dad maintained that was the best chippy in Coventry. I never found any cogent evidence to the contrary, in the olden days.

Jack Bodell has died at the age of 76

Hi all A sad headline has caught my eye - Icelandic fishing dispute. There is currently plenty of mackerel & tuna, so no panic yet.