Coal-Fired Fish and Chip Shop

In England fried fish and chips is recognised  by most as the national  takeout dish (with curries being the only real competitor). Nowadays  fish and chips are most commonly fried in vegetable oil (partly because  of perceived health benefits) and, whilst frying in traditional beef dripping is not uncommon, doing so on a traditional coal fired fish and chip range takes place in only around half a dozen places in the country. This rather unassuming shop, in a tiny, brick built lock-up, in the tiny village of Upton, near Gainsborough  in Lincolnshire  is one of them.

It only opens on Friday evenings and Saturday  lunchtimes (this has been the case for many years). These amazing, traditionally cooked, fish and chips are fried in a coal fired range manufactured  in 1947 (according  to the proprietor, and contrary to the 1948 date in the literature) by Frank Ford of Halifax, Yorkshire (still in business but no longer making coal fired ranges) when the shop started trading. At that time coal fired ranges were the most popular  for fish and chip shops but they have largely been replaced by gas and electrically heated ranges.

Whether  because of the heritage  value of the shop or because  of the excellent products queues are common sometimes reaching well down the street with various lamp posts in the street known by the locals as being the 15 minute,30 minute and 1 hour markers for the line.