Web forum: Very fishy!

Feb 11 2010 by Andrew Jackson, Huddersfield Daily Examiner

IMAGINE if you were in Australia. You couldn’t pop back for a pint and a packet of pork scratchings in your favourite watering hole, could you?

But, on the forums at www.examiner.co.uk, we have a special section for ex-pats who want to get in touch with people from their past.

In this case, however, user Redback is more concerned with the smells and tastes of Huddersfield past rather than pals.

Typing from Australia, he wrote: “Can anyone help? As a kid in the 1950s I can recall the great fish and chips we had from Jones’ fish and chip shop on Lockwood Road, Lockwood.’’

New poster Reevesy logged in specially just to talk about the chippy: “Regarding Jones’ fish shop, you are going back a long number of years. The building is still there but sadly not the business. It became a Chinese takeaway which later closed and now it’s just standing empty. The owner of the fish shop sadly died.

“I live in Newsome but used to stay at my gran’s in Rashcliffe and went to Jones’ fish shop regularly.’’

Canetois seems to be a bit of a fish fan with plenty of detail: “Speaking of Newsome, you had a half decent chippy yourselves at the junction of Newsome Road/Stile Common Road. It was next door to an off-licence shop and was opposite the bus shelter, a sweetie shop and was not many a mile from the Lounge cinema.

“However, returning to the subject of fish and chips, one would have to venture back along Stile Common Road towards Pip Hill until you arrived at the policeman’s Tardis. Right next door you would find the providers of the best fish and chips in the whole wide world, Frank and Harry Hamer. Six old pence for a fish and thruppence for a dollop of chips. The bits were thrown on for now’t.’’

That’s not all, though. When forum user and former Stile Common School pupil Pat asked where she could buy a copy of the book Do You Remember? Memories of Stile Common School, Canetois was (sort of) to the rescue again.

He may not know much about the book, but Stile Common School in 1952 – easy.

He wrote: “At about the same era a walk up Newsome Road for football would have involved Mr Colin Garthwaite.

“Wally would have been guilty of extending lunch breaks by showing us all how to bowl googlies and other sundry spinners. More interested in keeping wicket myself.’