A chip shop in Stockport that’s been serving its community since the 60s has been named one of the best in the country.
Tucked between a pet food shop and an Iceland outlet, Taylors location in Woodley seems pretty unassuming – but according to a whole host of accolades, including an OBE being given to its owner for how well she treats her staff, this is the place to go if you want a cracking chippy tea in Stockport.
Owner Annie Wallace prides herself on using only the finest ingredients and stresses that the potato selection is just important as the fish. She has run the shop since leaving school at 16, with it having been opened by her parents in 1966, and reckons she won’t ever retire.
The popular local fish and chip shop has just been named in the ‘Official Guide to the UK’s Quality Fish and Chip Shops 2021′, an annual award it always wins, hosted by National Federation of Fish Friers (NFFF) and Sarson’s vinegar.
Regularly selling more than 200 fish at peak chippy tea time on a Friday, inside choices include staples like scampi, fish cakes, scallops, and a selection of breaded cod, haddock and hake – not to mention some of the chunkiest, vinegar-doused chips around.
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Image: Taylors via Facebook
Sausages are also available, but if you want batter you will be left disappointed – as it’s not on the menu. That said, there’s plenty of homemade pies like steak and kidney and meat and potato, plus mince, chilli, and chicken nuggets, so they aren’t exactly short of meaty options either.
And at Christmas, they do mini battered sausages wrapped in bacon and served with Cranberry sauce – the ultimate treat worth waiting for.
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Elsewhere, you’ll find classic sides like mushy peas and gravy, baked beans, curry sauce, Irish curry, hash browns, ketchup, special housemade tartar using Taylors’ own recipe, and muffins either buttered or filled with chips.
Image: Taylors via Facebook Image: Taylors via Facebook
It’s very reasonably priced too, with a large portion of chips coming in under £2 and a portion of battered cod at just under £5.
At 71, owner Anne has been in the shop her whole life – and still works alongside her 73-year-old husband Robert three days a week on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays.
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She told The MEN on a recent visit: “My mum was still frying fish and chips when she was 92 and I think it kept her young.”
The shop before the refit with its old team. / Image: Taylors via Facebook
Day to day the shop is now generally overseen by manager Jamie, who has himself been with the company since age 16.
As well as offering collection, the popular fish and chip shop always has a delivery service – both running their own within a 30-minute radius from the shop and also partnering with delivery app Just Eat.
You can find the fish and chip shop on Woodley Precinct, in Woodley, Stockport. It’s open from 11.30 am to 7 pm, Tuesday to Saturday.
Luxury Manchester gym Blok confirms permanent closure after weeks of uncertainty
Daisy Jackson
Blok Manchester has announced its permanent closure, weeks after the doors to the premium fitness facility mysteriously closed.
Around a fortnight ago, members began to arrive to their classes to find the gym on Ducie Street locked up and a forfeiture notice on the door – but at the time, Blok said that it was fighting to reopen.
Sadly, in an email sent to members today, its founder has confirmed that the studio is now permanently closed.
Blok – which has several very successful sites down in London – said that its relationship with its landlord has ‘broken down to a point where trust has been lost’.
The gym wrote that it’s been left with ‘no workable way forward’.
They said: “BLOK Manchester was a space built by our loyal and dedicated community. Whether you joined us for one class or one hundred, we are deeply grateful. You helped create something genuinely special in an incredible city.”
In the immediate future, they said they’ll be supporting the team of fantastic trainers who worked here, as well as looking after members.
Members will be contacted within a few hours with options and refunds owed.
Blok Manchester has announced its permanent closure. Credit: The Manc Group
CEO and founder Ed Stanbury said: “While this marks the end of a chapter, we don’t see it as the end of our story in Manchester. We’re already speaking with developers about potential future sites and remain committed to returning to the city when the time is right.
“Thank you for being part of our story so far. Let’s shape the future of wellness. The mission continues.”
Commenting on Blok’s Instagram post – its first in almost a fortnight – people have been sharing their sadness at the closure of its Manchester site.
One person wrote: “beautiful space, beautiful staff and beautiful community.”
Another said: “Sending love to all the instructors !! :(((( gutted”
Someone else commented: “THE BEST CLASSES. I’m gutted.”
‘The average cost of a pint’ in the UK by region, according to the latest data
Danny Jones
Does it feel like pints keep getting more and more expensive almost every week at this point? Yes. Yes, it does, and while you can’t expect a city as big as Manchester to be one of the cheapest places to get one in the UK, we do often wonder how it compares to other parts of the country.
Well, as it happens, someone has recently crunched the numbers for us across the nation, breaking down which regions pay the most and the least for their pints.
The data has been examined by business management consultancy firm, CGA Strategy, using artificial intelligence and information from the latest Retail Price Index figures to find out what the ‘average cost of a pint’ is down south, up North and everywhere in between.
While the latest statistics provided by the group aren’t granular enough to educate us on Greater Manchester’s pint game exactly, we can show you how our particular geographic region is looking on the leaderboard at the moment.
That’s right, we Mancunians and the rest of the North West are technically joint mid-table when it comes to the lowest average cost of a pint, sharing the places from 3rd to 8th – according to CGA, anyway.
Powered by consumer intelligence company, NIQ (NielsenIQ) – who also use AI and the latest technology to deliver their insights – we can accept it might seem like it’s been a while since you’ve paid that little for a pint, especially in the city centre, but these are the stats they have published.
Don’t shoot the messenger, as they say; unless, of course, they’re trying to rob you blind for a bev. Fortunately, we’ve turned bargain hunting at Manchester bars into a sport at this point.
We might not boast the lowest ‘average’ pint cost in the UK, but we still have some bloody good places to keep drinking affordable.
London tops the charts (pretends to be shocked)
While some of you may have scratched your eyes at the supposed average pint prices here in the North West, it won’t surprise any of you to see that London leads the way when it came to the most expensive pint when it came to average cost in the UK.
To be honest, £5.44 doesn’t just sound cheap but virtually unheard of these days.
CGA has it that the average cost of a beer in the British capital is actually down 15p from its price last September, but as we all know, paying upwards of £7 for a pint down that end of the country is pretty much par for the course the closer you get to London.
Yet more reason you can be glad you live around here, eh? And in case you thought you were leaving this article with very little, think again…
Georgina Pellant -
29th October 2021 
